The UAE welcomed the UN Security Council’s resolution for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria, said the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
“The UAE welcomes the UNSC adoption of the immediate ceasefire in Syria,” tweeted Dr Anwar Gargash early Sunday.
“Protecting civilians must be the international community’s first priority. The Syrian people have suffered enough.”
The security council on Saturday demanded a ceasefire, as new air strikes on the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta took the civilian death toll from seven days of bombing to more than 500.
It adopted a resolution on the ceasefire to allow for humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations, however, the measure did not specify when the truce would go into effect beyond saying it should be “without delay”.
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A member of the Syrian Civil Defense group carries a young man who was wounded during airstrikes and shelling by Syrian government forces, in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, Syria. Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP -
Injured people receive medical attention inside a hospital after bombs fell on rebel-held Douma, Eastern Ghouta. Mohammed Badra / EPA -
Children cry in a hospital in the rebel-held town of Douma, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, following reported regime bombardment on the area on February 24, 2018. Hamza Al-Ajweh / AFP -
A Syrian girl looks at another crying child sitting on a hospital bed in a make-shift clinic in the rebel-held town of Douma, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, after they arrived to receive medical attention following reported regime bombardment on the area. Hamza Al-Ajweh / AFP -
The after effect of shelling on a steets of rebel-held Douma, Eastern Ghouta, 24 February 2018. Mohammed Badra / EPA -
American Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks after the United Nations Security Council voted on a resolution demanding a 30-day humanitarian cease-fire across Syria on Saturday, February 24, 2018 at United Nations headquarters. Craig Ruttle / AP Photo -
A demonstrator holds a flag and a doll during a Syria solidarity protest outside the Houses of Parliament, in central London. Paul Hackett / Reuters -
Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Ja'afari (C) speaks after the vote on the resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire for the purpose of allowing humanitarian aid to reach citizens in Syria at a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York. Peter Foley / EPA
After the unanimous vote by the 15-member council, Syrian warplanes — backed by Russian air power — launched new raids on Eastern Ghouta, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
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Read more:
UN demands ceasefire as warplanes pound Ghouta
Eastern Ghouta: the guilty parties have a terrible account to settle
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At least 127 children are among the 519 dead in the bombing campaign that the regime of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad launched last Sunday on the rebel enclave, just outside Damascus, the Observatory said. On Saturday, at least 41 civilians were killed.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are expected to speak by phone on Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin to push for the ceasefire to take hold “in the coming days”, said the Elysee.
