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Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said the Syrian government was ready \"to provide all the required facilities to international organisations so they can give Syrians humanitarian aid.\"

\"PHOTO:
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO: Injured surviors of the earthquake receive treatment at al-Rahma hospital in Syria's town of Darkush, Feb. 6, 2023.
>

The country's two main allies – Iran and Russia – have pledged their support with aid deliveries already en route.

But the United States has refused to deal directly with Assad's government.

\"It would be quite ironic—if not even counterproductive—for us to reach out to a government that has brutalized its people over the course of a dozen years now—gassing them, slaughtering them, being responsible for much of the suffering that they have endured,\" State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a press briefing Monday.

\"Instead,\" Price added, \"we have humanitarian partners on the ground who can provide the type of assistance in the aftermath of these tragic earthquakes.\"

\"PHOTO:
Louai Beshara/AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO: Syrians gather at a convent around a fire to spend the night as they fear more tremors following a deadly earthquaked on Feb. 6, 2023, in Aleppo.
>

Germany's Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, urged the Russians to guarantee the aid would reach those in need.

\"All international actors, including Russia, should exert their pressure on the Syrian regime to ensure humanitarian help for victims can arrive,\" said Baerbock during a news conference in Berlin.

\"It's important that weapons are now set aside and all efforts in the region are focused on humanitarian aid and on recovering and protecting victims,\" said Baerbock.

Since Syria's bloody civil war began 12 years ago, aid agencies have found it difficult operating in Assad's regime and many of the international organizations felt forced to leave the sanctioned country.

\"There's a huge need for humanitarian support and assistance in the northwest and northern parts of Syria,\" Matthew Saltmarsh, UNHCR spokesperson said in a statement. \"In the northwest, there are 4.1 million people who require that assistance, the majority of whom, of course, are women and children.\"

12.1 million Syrians, more than half the population, were already \"grappling with food insecurity\" according to a World Food Programme report issued last week, days before the deadly earthquake.

\"Record highs of food prices, a fuel crisis, ongoing inflation, continuing conflict in some parts of the country, adverse weather and the war in Ukraine in early 2022 have taken a devastating toll on Syria's most vulnerable,\" the report noted.

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