"We declare this area a disaster area and it should be dealt with accordingly," said Hariri, who heads the High Negotiations Committee. He said work should be done to reach a permanent cease-fire in Idlib, not a truce that would crumble later. Mercy Corps, a global humanitarian aid group, said aid workers were rapidly scaling up operations to respond to the massive influx of newly displaced people. "Thunderous bombs and shelling keep getting closer to major civilian areas,” said Wolfgang Gressmann, Syria country director for the organization. “For thousands of innocent civilians the only choice is to flee, and now even their escape is a violent and frightening affair.”

Source: International New York Times December 27, 2019 16:40 UTC