Speaking via video conference, the Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura urged the Security Council to act and to resolve the recent military escalation in the south-west of Syria: “We do urge this council and all interested parties to help in finding an arrangement or a solution, in the south-west that will spare civilian suffering and large movements of displaced people and reduce potential tensions, so we do not see once again, seven years afterwards, perhaps when we are getting closer and closer to the end of this conflict, a repetition of what we saw sadly in Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta.”
The Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic Bashar Ja’afari disputed the findings of the latest Secretary-General’s report on Syria: “It is necessary to hold the report drafters accountable for their violations of the provisions of Security Council resolutions on combatting terrorism. They have named al-Nusra Front, Hay’at Tahrir Al Sham, and other affiliated groups as ‘the armed opposition in Idlib.’ These are groups that were designated as terrorist entities in the Security Council list.”
Syrian troops launched their major push on Eastern Ghouta in February, aiming to end the militants’ occupation that has been in place since 2012. Daily humanitarian pauses in the area began on February 27 as part of efforts by the Syrian Arab Army and Russia to help civilians leave the combat zone. The Russian military repeatedly said that the militants were using civilians as human shields, targeting those attempting to flee the terrorist enclave.
