A new wave of bombs struck Syria's eastern Ghouta on Friday, which a witness described as the worst yet, ahead of a UN Security Council vote to demand a 30-day ceasefire across the country to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations.
For a sixth straight day, warplanes have pounded the densely populated agricultural pocket east of the capital, the last rebel bastion near Damascus.
Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that at least nine people were killed on Friday.
The latest deaths brought to 426 the number of people killed since the Syrian regime and its Russian ally intensified their bombardment of the besieged area on February 18.
Medical charities say jets have hit more than a dozen hospitals, making it near impossible to treat the wounded.
The Britain-based Observatory said regime warplanes and artillery hit Douma, Zamalka, and other towns across the enclave in the early hours on Friday. A witness in Douma, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters by phone that the early morning bombing was the most intense so far.
The bombing of eastern Ghouta since Sunday night has been among the fiercest of the war, now entering its eighth year.
The Civil Defense in eastern Ghouta said its rescuers rushed to help the wounded after strikes on the town of Hammouriyeh on Friday morning. The emergency service, which operates in rebel territory, says it has pulled hundreds of people from under the rubble in recent days.
The UN Security Council was considering a resolution, which Kuwait and Sweden drafted, demanding "a cessation of hostilities throughout Syria for all military operations" for 30 days to allow aid deliveries and medical evacuations.
A slightly amended text was circulated to council members, but it was unclear whether Russia would support the measure.
The vote is set to take place on Friday. The resolution does not cover the groups ISIS and al-Nusra Front.
Speaking hours before the vote, UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura renewed his urgent call for a ceasefire to stop both the "horrific" bombing of eastern Ghouta and indiscriminate mortar shelling on Damascus.
The ceasefire needs to be followed by immediate, unhindered humanitarian access to eastern Ghouta and evacuation of sick and injured, de Mistura said in a statement.
The three guarantors of the Astana process - Russia, Iran and Turkey - must meet urgently to re-install the de-escalation zones in Syria, he said.
