Aiming to boost the humanitarian situation in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, the UN and the Syrian Red Crescent have delivered a joint convoy into the area, with large caches of food and medicine.
The convoy is said to contain enough supplies for 7,200 people for about a month. That’s a big help for civilians within, but nearly 400,000 civilians live in the area, so clearly this is far from a cure-all.
Getting aid into surrounded, rebnl-held areas has long been a challenge in Syria, with getting convoys into the area needing permission from all relevant factions controlling all areas they have to pass through. Eastern Ghouta alone has several factions, so this is a lot of groups to deal with.
Eastern Ghouta is one of the longest-held parts of Syria for rebel groups since the Syrian War began, and while some parts of it have been retaken, there remains a substantial core of rebels within. The last significant rebel area near Damascus, it’s a high priority for Syria’s military to recover.