The United Nations is calling for an immediate one-month ceasefire in Syria, after more than 85 people were killed on Tuesday by Syrian government bombing and artillery strikes against two rebel-held enclaves: Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of the capital Damascus, and the northern province of Idlib. Tuesday was the deadliest day so far in a weeks-long escalation by the Russian-backed Syrian government against the two rebel-held areas. This is a United Nations spokesperson.

Jens Laerke: “We are talking about Idlib governorate, where we have about 2 million people of concern. Jan Egeland called it the other day it’s like one huge refugee camp. And that is essentially what it is. There are hundreds of thousands of people who are internally displaced there, on the run, extremely vulnerable, and they are being—they come under attack and under bombardment. That is completely unacceptable.”