The spokesperson for the European External Action Service denounced, on Thursday 23 January, the renewal of the offensive in Idlib (Syria).
The latest airstrikes by the regime and its backers have killed at least 35 people in recent days and more than 350,000 civilians have been displaced in the past month.
"The renewal of the offensive in Idlib, including repeated air strikes and shelling targeting civilians, are unacceptable and must cease", the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that yet another ceasefire has been flouted. In January, Russia and Turkey had announced a truce, but it never worked.
"Continued hostilities in Idlib risk destroying faith in the negotiated resolution of the conflict, that is the only way forward", the spokesperson argued. The statement also warned that the EU would continue to review its sanctions against Bashar al-Assad's regime as long as these "brutal attacks" continue.
Once again, the EEAS spokesperson stressed the "utmost necessity of guaranteeing rapid, safe and unhindered access to humanitarian organisations allowing them the delivery of humanitarian aid to all civilians in need", adding that ‘humanitarian corridors’ cannot substitute for the full respect for international humanitarian law.
Moreover, the fight against terrorist groups, as authorised by the United Nations, does not permit international humanitarian law to be ignored, the statement stressed. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)