Urgent Humanitarian Appeal – Sheikh Maqsoud Neighborhood / Aleppo City
We issue this urgent humanitarian appeal in response to the ongoing clashes in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo City and the grave dangers they pose to civilians—especially children, women, and the elderly—as well as to the wounded and the sick.
According to field reports and testimonies from within the neighborhood, health facilities have been targeted on multiple occasions, including Martyr Khaled Hospital and Yasin Hospital, where civilians sought shelter to escape the horrors of fighting and shelling. This has led to a severe deterioration in the health situation and the partial suspension of medical services, at a time when emergency cases and critically wounded patients require urgent intervention and immediate evacuation.
Targeting, disabling, or using force against health facilities is prohibited under international humanitarian law, may amount to a war crime, and cannot be justified under any circumstances.
We urgently call for:
The immediate cessation of clashes and an end to all hostilities within residential areas in Sheikh Maqsoud and its surroundings.
The safe and immediate evacuation and transfer of the wounded and the sick, especially critical cases, and the evacuation of civilians who wish to leave, without obstruction or delay.
The opening of safe and guaranteed corridors, clearly identified, with effective assurances that they will not be targeted.
Full protection for health facilities, ambulance teams, and Civil Defense personnel, and an absolute prohibition on targeting these facilities, their surroundings, or ambulances under any circumstances.
Immediate access for humanitarian and medical organizations (local and international) to provide assistance, deliver life-saving supplies, and transfer critical cases to facilities capable of providing adequate care.
Enabling humanitarian actors to conduct a rapid needs assessment and to secure food, water, and medicine for besieged or affected civilians.
Legal and Moral Responsibility:
All parties bear responsibility for protecting civilians and the wounded, ensuring unimpeded access to medical care, adhering to the principles of distinction and proportionality, and taking all necessary precautions to spare civilians the consequences of war.
International guarantor parties also bear responsibility for any consequences and repercussions should they fail to intervene urgently and effectively to halt violations, protect civilians, and ensure evacuations and safe corridors.
We call on the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), humanitarian and medical actors, and all influential parties to act immediately and take tangible measures to protect civilians, stop the targeting, and ensure the delivery of humanitarian relief supplies.