WAR

UN Security Council Votes Unanimously for Syria Ceasefire

After more than 500 civilians were killed in a matter of days.

The United Nations Security Council on Saturday voted unanimously in favor of a 30-day ceasefire in Syria, calling for all parties “to cease hostilities without delay” after hundreds of civilians were killed this week. More than 500 people, many of them women and children, were killed in airstrikes against the rebel-held district of Ghouta, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Security Council’s vote for a ceasefire had been stalled for days, with Russia blocking an earlier vote and pushing for amendments to the resolution. The bombardment on Ghouta continued Saturday even as members of the Security Council gathered to vote on the resolution. One resident in eastern Ghouta told The New York Times the relentless airstrikes on homes and shelters were like “the end of humanity,” but that a ceasefire might at least allow humanitarian aid to get in.