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| Syrian Forces Said to Drive Deeper Into Rebel-Held Aleppo | Syrian Forces Said to Drive Deeper Into Rebel-Held Aleppo |
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| BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian government forces pushed deeper into Aleppo on Wednesday, seizing areas around the medieval citadel whose narrow streets had long given rebels cover, pro-government websites and conflict monitors reported. | BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian government forces pushed deeper into Aleppo on Wednesday, seizing areas around the medieval citadel whose narrow streets had long given rebels cover, pro-government websites and conflict monitors reported. |
| Rebel leaders disputed the claims, but anti-government activists in the area sent increasingly desperate messages saying they believed they would soon be killed or arrested, while civilians said they were squeezing into a smaller and smaller area, with some calling for safe passage out. | Rebel leaders disputed the claims, but anti-government activists in the area sent increasingly desperate messages saying they believed they would soon be killed or arrested, while civilians said they were squeezing into a smaller and smaller area, with some calling for safe passage out. |
| Al Manar, Hezbollah’s television channel, quoting Syrian military officials, reported that pro-government forces had allowed rebels to leave the Old City neighborhoods in Aleppo through a designated corridor to other rebel-held areas to spare the historical quarter from further destruction. | |
| Rebels were asking for all civilians who wished to leave to be given safe passage to rebel-held areas, but not to the province of Idlib, where fighters and civilians not wishing to go to government areas have been bused in previous surrender deals. Instead, rebels asked for safe passage to the countryside in the north of the province of Aleppo. | Rebels were asking for all civilians who wished to leave to be given safe passage to rebel-held areas, but not to the province of Idlib, where fighters and civilians not wishing to go to government areas have been bused in previous surrender deals. Instead, rebels asked for safe passage to the countryside in the north of the province of Aleppo. |
| A statement said to be from all the rebel groups in Aleppo, issued on Wednesday, said that Idlib was already too full of displaced people and was a target of intensive Russian and government airstrikes. | A statement said to be from all the rebel groups in Aleppo, issued on Wednesday, said that Idlib was already too full of displaced people and was a target of intensive Russian and government airstrikes. |
| The statement also called for a five-day humanitarian cease-fire and for the evacuation of about 500 people in need of emergency medical care, under United Nations supervision with security guarantees. Only then, it said, would the fighters discuss a settlement. | The statement also called for a five-day humanitarian cease-fire and for the evacuation of about 500 people in need of emergency medical care, under United Nations supervision with security guarantees. Only then, it said, would the fighters discuss a settlement. |
| “Once the humanitarian situation has been alleviated in Aleppo city, the parties concerned can negotiate the future of the city,” the statement said. “What Aleppo has experienced in the last five months is nothing short of a war of extermination against its civilian population.” | |
| But the rebels’ bargaining power is shrinking with their territory, and as one of their main backers, Turkey, appears to be slackening support. Government officials say they will not slow their advance, asserting that they are liberating eastern Aleppo from radical jihadists holding people there hostage. | |
| Russian officials have said that anyone who chooses to remain in the rebel-held areas of the city will be considered terrorists and will be “destroyed,” as the foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said on Tuesday. But no agreement has been reached on how the evacuation would work. | Russian officials have said that anyone who chooses to remain in the rebel-held areas of the city will be considered terrorists and will be “destroyed,” as the foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said on Tuesday. But no agreement has been reached on how the evacuation would work. |
| The government has accused rebels of preventing civilians from leaving and of holding them as bargaining chips. Rebels say the routes are not safe and that some civilians are afraid to leave for fear of arrest or conscription once they reach government territory. | The government has accused rebels of preventing civilians from leaving and of holding them as bargaining chips. Rebels say the routes are not safe and that some civilians are afraid to leave for fear of arrest or conscription once they reach government territory. |
| Approximately 30,000 have fled to government-held areas of Aleppo from rebel-held districts in the past week, according to international humanitarian officials. Others — it is not known how many — have been displaced from their homes inside the rebel enclave, and still others have fled to a neighborhood controlled by Kurdish militias, hoping to reach other rebel-held areas. | Approximately 30,000 have fled to government-held areas of Aleppo from rebel-held districts in the past week, according to international humanitarian officials. Others — it is not known how many — have been displaced from their homes inside the rebel enclave, and still others have fled to a neighborhood controlled by Kurdish militias, hoping to reach other rebel-held areas. |
| Years of aerial bombing and artillery bombardment have wrecked many eastern Aleppo neighborhoods, destroying medical clinics, schools and homes. Rebels have also indiscriminately shelled government-held neighborhoods in western Aleppo. | Years of aerial bombing and artillery bombardment have wrecked many eastern Aleppo neighborhoods, destroying medical clinics, schools and homes. Rebels have also indiscriminately shelled government-held neighborhoods in western Aleppo. |
| The latest round of fighting has killed at least 341 people, including 44 children, in rebel-held Aleppo, and 81 people, including 31 children, in government-held districts, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring organization based in Britain. | The latest round of fighting has killed at least 341 people, including 44 children, in rebel-held Aleppo, and 81 people, including 31 children, in government-held districts, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring organization based in Britain. |
| The growing chaos in Aleppo came as a suspected Israeli attack hit the Mezze air base, minutes from downtown Damascus, the Syrian capital, according to the Lebanese news channel Al Mayadeen, which showed pictures of the complex burning. The base has been critical to the government’s fight against rebels in nearby suburbs. It also houses a prison. | The growing chaos in Aleppo came as a suspected Israeli attack hit the Mezze air base, minutes from downtown Damascus, the Syrian capital, according to the Lebanese news channel Al Mayadeen, which showed pictures of the complex burning. The base has been critical to the government’s fight against rebels in nearby suburbs. It also houses a prison. |
| Israel has periodically struck targets in Syria during the war, apparently targeting Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, which is fighting on the side of the Syrian government and has long used Syria as a conduit for weapons deliveries from Iran. The attack on the air base would be one of the closest strikes to Damascus and one of the most direct on Syrian government facilities. | |
| Hezbollah’s military press office released a statement saying that Israel had launched surface-to-surface missiles that hit near Mezze air base at 3 a.m., causing a fire but no casualties. | Hezbollah’s military press office released a statement saying that Israel had launched surface-to-surface missiles that hit near Mezze air base at 3 a.m., causing a fire but no casualties. |