23:22 – Security Council Thursday emergency meeting on southwestern Syria

The Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Thursday morning on the situation in south-west Syria, where a Syrian army offensive against rebel groups, supported by Russia, has provoked the exodus some 300,000 people, according to diplomatic sources.

This meeting, which will be held in camera late in the morning, was requested by Sweden, the current President of the Security Council in July, and by Kuwait, the Swedish diplomatic mission said Tuesday.

According to the UN, between 270,000 and 330,000 Syrians have fled since June 19, when the Syrian army launched its offensive against rebel groups. The shelling was continuing intensively Tuesday, according to the UN.

At the meeting on Thursday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) will report to the 15 members of the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in the southern province of Deraa, bordering Jordan

The worsening of the situation reflects "a further failure by the warring parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure," the Swedish mission said. "Efforts must intensify to reduce the violence and allow a UN humanitarian convoy, stuck on the Jordanian border, to deliver its cargo as quickly as possible," the source added. [19659002] Despite the continued influx of thousands of refugees, Jordan and Israel still maintain their closed borders to refugees. Jordan, which has nearly 650,000 Syrian refugees registered with the UN on its soil, said it no longer has the capacity to accommodate more.

At his daily press briefing, Farhan Haq, UN Deputy Spokesperson, stressed that "intense aerial and ground bombardments were continuing in several parts of the Syrian province of Deraa".

They result in "civilian deaths and injuries and greater displacement" population in the area since the beginning of the conflict, "he said.

" Our humanitarian colleagues estimate the number of people displaced between 270,000 to 330,000, including 60,000 at the border point of Nasib / Jaber ", a- he said, pointing out that the situation was aggravated by "sandstorms and temperatures up to 45 degrees."

"At least twelve children, two women and one elderly man died near the border jordanian because of scorpion stings, dehydration and diseases contracted through contaminated water, "reported Farhan Haq.

" The Human Rights Office asked the Jordanian government to open its border and to other countries in the region. to welcome civilian refugees, "said the spokesman.

Syria has been ravaged since 2011 by a war that has killed more than 350,000 people and thrown millions into the streets. All international calls for a halt to the Syrian offensive in the south-west of the country have been unsuccessful so far.