More than 200 civilians have been killed in Eastern Ghouta between December 2017 and January 2018, according to the White Helmets. Reports state that the majority of these deaths resulted from bombardment of the Damascus suburb by Syrian government forces.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 129 civilians, including 30 children, were killed in Eastern Ghouta between 29 December and 14 January. Eastern Ghouta is a key target for the Syrian government, as it is the last remaining rebel stronghold near Damascus, the seat of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government. According to the White Helmets’ annual report, as many as 1,337 civilians were killed in Eastern Ghouta in 2017 by regime forces. A UN report states that out of 417,000 people living under siege in Syria, 400,000 of them are living in Ghouta, which has been under siege for five years.

The dire situation in Eastern Ghouta has continued into February, as a ceasefire deal for the suburb, negotiated in Vienna by the Russians and implemented on 27 January, lasted only a few hours. The crisis continues, with reports of at least 136 civilians killed between 5 and 7 February. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, has called the situation in Eastern Ghouta “an outrage,” as relentless fighting between government and rebel forces in Ghouta and throughout Syria continues to affect over 400,000 civilians.

For more information, read:

https://www.albawaba.com/news/over-200-killed-eastern-ghouta-1-month-white-helmets-1079320
https://www.albawaba.com/news/better-days-are-coming-us-how-civilians-eastern-ghouta-fight-survival-1073488
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/02/accuses-syria-chemical-weapons-attack-east-ghouta-180202052604824.html
https://www.albawaba.com/news/civilians-syrias-eastern-ghouta-and-idlib-suffer-under-violence-un-1075270
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/02/110-people-killed-syria-eastern-ghouta-180207080342112.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-ghouta/bombardment-continues-in-syrias-ghouta-after-ceasefire-talk-idUSKBN1FG082
https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/db171027.doc.htm
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=58509#.Wng5V7ly6Uk