Security Council unanimously renews authorisation of relief delivery to Syria

Expressing outrage at the "unacceptable and escalating" violence in Syria, the Security Council reiterated on Wednesday its demand that all parties, in particular the Syrian authorities, immediately comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2332 (2016), the 15-member Council decided to renew, until 10 January 2018, the decisions contained in paragraphs 2 and 3 of resolution 2165 (2014) authorising United Nations humanitarian agencies and their partners to cross conflict lines and establish a mechanism to monitor the loading of all humanitarian relief consignments.

The Council further demanded the full and immediate implementation of all provisions of Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014) and 2258 (2015), recalling that some of the violations and abuses committed in Syria might amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Reiterating that the situation would continue to deteriorate in the absence of a political solution to the Syrian conflict, the Council recalled its demand for the full and immediate implementation of resolution 2254 (2015) to facilitate a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition, in order to end the conflict.

The Council reaffirmed that it would take further measures under the Charter of the United Nations in the event of non-compliance.