The UN's humanitarian affairs chief called Monday for an immediate ceasefire to be implemented in northwest Syria to prevent "the biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st Century."
Mark Lowcock said the "indiscriminate" violence in the region has reached "a horrifying new level," and has displaced some 900,000 people since a Syrian regime offensive backed by Russia and Iran began in early December.
The displaced "are traumatized and forced to sleep outside in freezing temperatures because camps are full," Lowcock said. "Mothers burn plastic to keep children warm. Babies and small children are dying because of the cold."
The Idlib region, including parts of neighboring Aleppo province, is home to some three million people, half of them already displaced from other parts of the country.
The offensive that began late last year has caused the biggest single displacement of people since the conflict began in 2011. The war has killed more than 380,000 people since it erupted almost nine years ago, following the brutal repression of popular demonstrations demanding regime change.
The violence has resulted in medical facilities, schools, homes, mosques and markets being hit, Lowcock said, without naming the perpetrators. He warned that the conditions are such that there is now a "serious risk" of disease outbreaks, and essential infrastructure is already failing.
"A huge relief operation, across the border from Turkey is underway, but it is overwhelmed. The equipment and facilities being used by aid workers are being damaged. Humanitarian workers themselves are being displaced and killed," Lowcock warned.
"We are now receiving reports that settlements for displaced people are being hit, resulting in deaths, injuries and further displacement."
"The biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st Century will only be avoided if Security Council members, and those with influence, overcome individual interests and put a collective stake in humanity first. The only option is a ceasefire."
US President Donald Trump on Sunday called for Russia to end its support for the Syrian regime's "atrocities" in the Idlib region, the White House said.
In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn northwest Syria's Idlib province into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
But since then more than 1,800 civilians have been killed in attacks by regime and Russian forces, flouting both the 2018 cease-fire and a new one that started on Jan. 12.
The Syrian regime's advances have sent hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians fleeing towards the border with Turkey, which already hosts more than 3.7 million refugees.
