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Executive Summary for December 1st

We review key events in Syria, including devastating attacks and a new rebel coalition in Aleppo, Turkey and Russia agreeing a cease-fire is needed and the U.N. saying rules of war are “systematically disregarded” in the country.

Published on Dec. 1, 2016 Read time Approx. 2 minutes

The Battle for Aleppo Continues

Rebel factions in Aleppo said they would join forces in an effort to be better militarily organized and to defend territory from pro-government forces’ ongoing offensive, which includes a ground operation into the opposition-held area launched almost a week ago.

Two Syrian opposition officials in Turkey told Reuters that the rebel coalition would be called the “Aleppo Army” and would be led by Abu Abdelrahman Nour, a Jabhat al-Shamiyya commander.

Eastern Aleppo has seen heavy clashes and intense airstrikes this week, forcing some 50,000 people to flee, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). More than 700 people have been killed by aerial attacks this month alone, including 118 children, according to a new report from the Syrian Institute for Justice.

On Wednesday, at least 26 civilians were killed in an air attack on the Jeb al-Qebba neighborhood of eastern Aleppo, including seven children and five women, according to SOHR. Many of the victims are believed to have been hit while fleeing a government ground advance.

The government has blamed rebels for the deaths of eight civilians, including two children, from shelling in western Aleppo on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

Turkey, Russia Agree That Cease-Fire Deal Is Needed in Syria

Senior Turkish and Russian officials said on Thursday that their two countries want a cease-fire in Syria, the Associated Press reports.

Turkish foreign affairs minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who back opposing sides in the conflict, spoke at a joint press conference in the Turkish coastal town of Alanya following a meeting to discuss the situation in Syria.

“We are in agreement that a cease-fire is needed so that the tragedy can come to an end,” Cavusoglu said. The Turkish government has long been opposed to the government of President Bashar al-Assad and has been a primary supporter of the opposition, a standpoint that Cavusoglu said would not change.

Although Lavrov agreed on the need for a cease-fire, he said Moscow would not halt its support of Assad’s government until “Aleppo is cleared of terrorists,” Reuters reported. He added that Russia would continue its efforts to supply humanitarian aid to Aleppo.

The meeting comes a week after Syrian government forces targeted Turkish forces in an airstrike in northern Syria, killing four Turkish soldiers and wounding nine others, according to Reuters. On Thursday, Lavrov said Russia was not involved in the attack.

‘No Red Lines’ Left in Syria: U.N.

The rules of war have been “systematically disregarded” in Syria, United Nations humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said on Wednesday.

“There are no limits or red lines left to cross,” O’Brien told the United Nations Security Council, reported Associated Press. “The rules of war – sacrosanct notions borne out of generations of costly and painful lessons and set more than 150 years ago in the First Geneva Convention – have been systematically disregarded in Syria.”

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