UN Security Council Resolution 2585, which extends the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syria, officially ended on Monday.
The mechanism was de facto extended for six months, that is, until 10 July 2022, without a new Security Council vote. The extension is interpreted as automatic by the West.
Last July, the Council renewed the authorization of aid delivery “for a period of six months… until 10 January 2022,” through the crossing at Bab al-Hawa on the Syrian border with Turkey.
Fierce negotiations are expected days before the meeting of the Security Council to be held on January 15.
Aid through the Bab al-Hawa crossing primarily serves the roughly three million people living in the Idlib region.
“The cross-border delivery of aid is essential,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during his daily briefing.
“We need aid to be delivered through cross-border and through cross-line. Those are essential elements for us to meet the humanitarian needs of all Syrians,” he added.
