Six days when the Syrian regime's planes dropped bombs and barrel bombs on the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta, which UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called "hell on earth". According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 468 civilians, including 108 children, died in the air raids and artillery bombings of the offensive launched Sunday by the Bashar Assad regime. And while the eyes of the world are focused on the continuous ferocious violence of the war in Syria, the UN Security Council is preparing to vote a resolution for a ceasefire of 30 days, with which to allow humanitarian aid and evacuation of the wounded. The vote at the UN, however, has been postponed twice and is delayed: initially scheduled for 17 Italian time, it was postponed first to 18 and then to 20.30; but just before 22pm Italian time the ambassadors' chairs in the great council chamber were still empty. According to diplomatic sources, it is with Russia to avoid a veto. The draft resolution under discussion for 15 days speaks of a ceasefire that would come into force 72 hours after the adoption of the text by the UN Council, that is, on Monday. The urgent delivery of humanitarian aid, ie medicine and food, would begin 48 hours after the ceasefire began, therefore on Wednesday. Meanwhile, from Brussels, the European Union has launched an appeal to put an end to the massacre: French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel sent a common message to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, asking him to say yes to the truce provided for by the draft to the UN. And Macron also said that "France is ready to welcome the people evacuated by the ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross" and to "organize the evacuations together with the ICRC." Since the war broke out in March 2011, the UN has failed to give a decisive turning point for peace, partly due to the rigidity of Russia, an ally of Damascus. Meanwhile, Turkey's incursion into the Afrin area has added to the chaos and intertwining on the ground. The war, according to UN counts, has caused the death of at least 340 thousand people, and the budget is set to rise. In eastern Ghouta, east of Damascus, the campaign is marked by a new intensity, despite international appeals, and - according to observers and media close to the regime - a prelude to a land offensive by the army to regain control. The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, which keeps the death toll on the ground, spoke of 468 civilians killed in less than a week, including 108 children. Also according to the NGO, at least 38 died on Friday, including 11 children. The UN estimates that around 400 people live in the region.
