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Syria said Thursday it would allow the United Nations the temporary use of a border crossing with Turkey to reach millions of Syrians living in areas outside of the government's control.
"The government of the Syrian Arab Republic has taken the decision to grant the United Nations and its specialized agencies permission to use Bab al-Hawa crossing to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians in need in northwest Syria, in full cooperation and coordination with the Syrian government for a period of six months, starting from July 13, 2023," Ambassador Bassam al-Sabbagh told reporters at the United Nations.
Use of the Bab al-Hawa border crossing from Turkey into northwest Syria has been contentious. The government of Bashar al-Assad wants all aid to go through Damascus and across conflict front lines from within Syria. Its ally, Russia, used its Security Council veto on Tuesday to prevent a nine-month extension of an existing council authorization for the U.N. to move convoys of humanitarian supplies through Bab al-Hawa.
Since 2021, Russia has forced the council to shrink the cross-border operation and has threatened to let the 9-year-old operation shut down permanently.
"The cross-border mechanism is an obvious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, which because of circumstances was possible five to seven years ago, but looks completely anachronistic today," Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council on Tuesday.
More than 4 million Syrians live in areas outside of the government's control, and the U.N. says it reaches 2.7 million of them monthly with life-saving aid via Bab al-Hawa. Needs have only grown over 12 years of civil war as an economic crisis set in, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, and the north of the country was hit with a series of deadly earthquakes in February.
Russia had offered a six-month continuation of Bab al-Hawa in its own proposed resolution, but council members rejected it because it did not meet humanitarians' needs. The six-month extension also means the Syrian government could withdraw its permission in mid-January - in the dead of winter.
The Security Council's authorization to use Bab al-Hawa expired at midnight on Monday, and the U.N. ceased using the crossing at that time.
Following February's earthquakes, the Syrian government authorized the use of two other crossing points from Turkey. Those are open until August 13. The Assad government has not said publicly whether it plans to extend their use.
Syria's ambassador was noncommittal when asked if Damascus will renew them.