As Syria war drags, MSF warns of Aleppo crisis

About 250,000 people are trapped in the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo as food and vital supplies dwindle, MSF reported on Thursday. Hospitals are straining to treat the number of patients, and the only road leading to areas not controlled by the government has been cut off.

Even as besieged Syrians struggle amid food and supply shortages, attacks launched on civilians by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad continue. Hospitals have been repeatedly bombed, and government-led airstrikes have led to dozens of deaths over the past several months.

MSF has been providing trapped civilians with food and supplies since 2014. The NGO's last shipment to Aleppo took place in April, when trucks were permitted to deliver 330 cubic meters (11,650 cubic feet) of equipment and provisions.

Earlier this week, the Syrian and Russian governments proposed to open humanitarian corridors leading from the besieged parts of Aleppo to government-controlled areas seen in the background here. Their plan came shortly after forces overtook key rebel supply routes leading into the rebel areas.

The regime-sanctioned plan was largely dismissed by the international community, with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura saying he wasn't even informed about it. Trapped activists and civilians, meanwhile, say it's an attempt to restore government control to the rest of Aleppo.

De Mistura called on Russia to hand administration of the humanitarian corridors over to the United Nations, as German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Moscow to establish a ceasefire.

"We once again demand the warring parties respect the rules of war," Pablo Marco, MSF's Middle East operations manager, said in the report. "The message is clear: stop bombing hospitals and civilian infrastructures, allow the severely sick and wounded to be evacuated, and do not cut the supply of food, drugs and vital goods into the city."