(excerpts)
Syria
Turning to Syria, earlier today, close to 4,000 people, more than half of them women and children, left the besieged town of Douma for Al-Bab City in rural Aleppo Governorate. An earlier convoy from Douma, carrying 4,395 people, mostly civilians and some fighters, arrived in rural Aleppo Governorate yesterday, where they were directed to the Al-Bil internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, east of Azaz. In eastern Ghouta, some 150,000 people are estimated to have left the enclave since 9 March. Of the 91,000 people who have arrived at IDP sites in Rural Damascus, about half remained in the sites as of 11 April. In addition, more than 58,000 people, the majority of them civilians, were evacuated to north-western Syria in recent weeks.
We once more underscore that the evacuation of civilians must be safe, voluntary, and in strict accordance with protection standards under international humanitarian and human rights law. It is also imperative that all those displaced are allowed to return voluntarily, in safety and in dignity, to their homes as soon as the situation allows it. Meanwhile, we are alarmed by reports of increased violence in Idleb. On 10 April, local sources reported that several people were killed and injured by shelling on Jisr Ash-Shugur town. The United Nations calls on all parties to the conflict, and those with influence over them, to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, to ensure freedom of movement and to allow for safe, sustained and unhindered access by all humanitarian parties.
Gaza
Turning to Gaza, our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tell us that, in the last 24 to 48 hours, the largest United Nations medical shipment to have entered Gaza since the beginning of the year has provided hospitals in Gaza with essential life-saving drugs and other supplies to meet urgent medical needs. It will help respond to the needs of 100,000 children and mothers in Gaza. So far, $3 million of the $27 million needed for emergency health support in the occupied Palestinian territory has been received.