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Human Rights

Doctors in Eastern Ghouta appeal for international help

By Waleed Abu al-Khair in Cairo and AFP

A civilian carries a child found under the rubble of a building destroyed by recent regime bombardment in Eastern Ghouta. [Photo courtesy of Damascus Media Centre]

A civilian carries a child found under the rubble of a building destroyed by recent regime bombardment in Eastern Ghouta. [Photo courtesy of Damascus Media Centre]

As Syrian regime airstrikes continue to rain down on the opposition-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta, a local doctors' union has issued a statement appealing to the international community and humanitarian organisations for help.

The Wednesday (February 7th) statement, issued by the Union of Free Syrian Doctors and the Eastern Ghouta local administration, called on them "to intervene immediately and directly to lift the suffering of civilians".

It also called on the international community and aid groups to pressure the Syrian regime "to lift the siege and allow the entry of medicine and food".

According to the statement, five members of the medical cadre have been killed in the recent escalation of violence on the enclave outside Damascus, which on Thursday entered its fourth consecutive day.

A medic cradles a child rescued amid the regime bombardment of Eastern Ghouta, which has intensified in recent days. [Photo courtesy of Damascus Media Centre]

A medic cradles a child rescued amid the regime bombardment of Eastern Ghouta, which has intensified in recent days. [Photo courtesy of Damascus Media Centre]

Civilians search for survivors beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings in Eastern Ghouta. [Photo courtesy of Damascus Media Centre]

Civilians search for survivors beneath the rubble of destroyed buildings in Eastern Ghouta. [Photo courtesy of Damascus Media Centre]

Smoke rises from Eastern Ghouta following a Wednesday (February 7th) regime airstrike. [Photo courtesy of Damascus Media Centre]

Smoke rises from Eastern Ghouta following a Wednesday (February 7th) regime airstrike. [Photo courtesy of Damascus Media Centre]

At least 58 civilians were killed in Eastern Ghouta on Thursday in heavy regime airstrikes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the strikes hit at least six different locations in the besieged district.

The highest toll was in the town of Jisreen, where eight civilians were killed, while two children and a woman were killed in the town of Saqba.

Regime bombing raids left 38 civilians dead on Wednesday, the Observatory said in a new toll, with 80 civilians killed in strikes on Tuesday.

'Tragic medical situation'

Dr. Hanan Ibrahim, a union member who works in Eastern Ghouta, told Diyaruna it was necessary to appeal to international humanitarian organisations for help due to the tragic medical situation in Ghouta.

"If the bombardment continues at this intense rate, all medical operations will cease because of the lack of essential first aid material and supplies needed for critical surgeries," she warned.

Many essential medicines for patients with incurable diseases are lacking, she said, which has led to many recent fatalities, especially among babies and children.

The UN Security Council on Thursday held a closed-door meeting to discuss an appeal from UN aid officials for a month-long humanitarian ceasefire in Syria.

Sweden and Kuwait requested the meeting on Wednesday.

The UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Syria, Panos Moumtzis, has called for a month-long ceasefire to allow aid convoys to reach civilians in Eastern Ghouta.

"We are particularly concerned about attacks against civilians and civilian objects, such as hospitals," said Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog. "These attacks further compound civilian suffering, and are leading to large numbers of new displacements."

"A humanitarian ceasefire would enable the delivery of life-saving assistance and the evacuation of hundreds of critically ill patients urgently needing medical treatment" in Eastern Ghouta, he said.

Civilians under fire

Eastern Ghouta has been under regime siege for four years, and the bombardment that began about a month ago has escalated this week.

An estimated 400,000 people live under a suffocating siege, which has made food and medicine nearly impossible to access.

The intense bombardment has targeted residential areas and popular markets in Erbin, Douma, Hammuriyeh and Beit Sawa, in addition to Harasta and Zamalka, activist Mohammed al-Beik told Diyaruna.

The bombardment would stop for a while, he said, then "as soon as civilians come out of basements and hideouts to buy essential food items the airstrikes would resume".

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