February 13, 2023 Over 36,000 dead from quake in Turkey and Syria

The Syria Civil Defense volunteer organization, known as the “White Helmets,” has declared an official mourning period in the rebel-controlled areas in north and northwestern Syria following the catastrophic earthquake that struck the country and parts of Turkey last week.

The group said they will fly the White Helmets flags at half-staff for seven days, starting Monday until February 20, to mourn the victims of the earthquake in both countries, according to a post on Twitter. 

The White Helmets also said the operation “to recover bodies of the deceased in several places in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo on the eighth day since the deadly earthquake struck the region” would continue.

More than 36,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have been injured in Syria and Turkey, officials said.

Some background: The volunteer organization, which formed in late 2012 during the Syrian civil war, operates in parts of rebel-controlled areas. The group’s main tasks are medical evacuation, urban search and rescue in response to bombings, evacuation of civilians from dangerous places and other tasks.

Survivors are struggling to cope with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria a week ago, according to Jose Andres, founder of World Central Kitchen.

Andres is in Adana, where his charity organization is providing food assistance.

“The devastation is something like we cannot still understand,” he said, describing the quake as one for the ages.

The renowned Spanish chef explained resources are extremely limited and it’s difficult to get to all of the cities and towns impacted by the quake. In Adana, people are too afraid to go back to their homes and are sheltering outdoors in freezing temperatures, he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“They don’t go into their homes — even if they were safe —because they are afraid that the house will collapse above them. So many of people are outside living in tents… or living in their cars,” he said.

The food provided by his organization not only fills people’s bodies but “gives them warmth in these very cold nights of Turkey.”

He added that he feels his charity is “only just putting a finger in one hole of hundreds and hundreds of holes,” in Turkey.

More than 36,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria one week ago, officials said.

How you can help: Donate to victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria here.

Last week’s catastrophic earthquake demonstrated how critical it is to get more humanitarian aid crossings into Syria, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Monday.

The single crossing from Turkey approved to transport UN aid, the Bab al-Hawa crossing, had been inaccessible for days after the earthquake.

Price said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his close ally Russia should forget politics and do what is right.

“When the one crossing that Russia would agree to in the Security Council was made inaccessible after the earthquake, it was a stark reminder to the rest of the world of the need for redundancies,” Price said.

In response to news that Assad finally agreed to open two crossings into Syria, according to a new statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday, Price said he hopes the Syrian president “is serious about this.”

“It hasn’t been only Russia that’s been opposed to this in the past,” Price said. “If the regime is serious about this, and if the regime is willing to put those words into action, that would be a good thing for the Syrian people,” he added.

As hope fades for survivors from last week’s quake that devastated northwest Syria, a notebook found in the rubble recalls happier days.

On Monday, the humanitarian organization, The White Helmets, tweeted images that memorialized a time when the region wasn’t ravaged by a decade-long civil war.  

In one entry, the author remembers celebrating Eid back home with friends and loved ones. Those moments of joy are fleeting ones. 

The author describes the joy of Eid as “if it was never-ending.” 

The author writes of longing for what they call moments that have long been lost.

Eid now is no longer a day of laughter, but a day of tears and longing. 

Rescuers hope to find the author of the notebook.

“The sight of the notebooks broke my heart,” said Muhammad, a White Helmets volunteer in Jindiris, according to the tweet.  “My thoughts turned to my own children. I didn’t pause for a moment as I searched. Our hope was to find a child, woman, or father and reunite them with their family.”

Compounding devastation: For Syrians, the earthquake is just the latest in a decade-long series of tragedies. 

CNN reported, most of the casualties were in a region already struggling to rebuild vital infrastructure heavily damaged by aerial bombardment during the country’s civil war, which the UN estimates to have claimed the lives of at least 300,000 civilians since 2011. 

Half of northwestern Syria’s 4.6 million population had been forced out of their homes by the conflict, with 1.7 million now living in tents and refugee camps in the region, according to the UN children’s agency, UNICEF. Last year, the agency reported 3.3 million Syrians in the area were food insecure. 

“It’s a crisis within a crisis,” says Leena Zahra, a Syrian American humanitarian worker focused on increasing mental health access to globally displaced people. “This tragedy will impact children, entire families, some that have been displaced over 20 times. It’s just going to be adding on to the psychological impact that they’ve already faced.”  

 The United Nations welcomed President Bashar al-Assad’s decision on Monday to open “the two crossing points of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee from Türkiye to north-west Syria for an initial period of three months to allow for the timely delivery of humanitarian aid.”

“Opening these crossing points – along with facilitating humanitarian access, accelerating visa approvals and easing travel between hubs – will allow more aid to go in, faster,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

The delivery of urgent supplies to quake-hit rebel-held areas in northern and northwestern Syria has been complicated by a long-running civil war between opposition groups and the Syrian government.

Starting last Thursday, the UN was able to get the first aid convoy into Syria from Turkey since the earthquake struck, through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. Since then, additional UN aid convoys entered via the same border crossing. 

At least 1,362 children in Turkey were separated from their parents after a massive earthquake struck a week ago, according to the country’s Minister of Family and Social Services Derya Yanik.

To date, 369 have been reunited with their families, the minister said. Another 792 children are in hospitals and 201 children are in “institutions affiliated with our ministry.”

Yanik said that 291 of the children remain unidentified – and the first step is to figure out who they are so they can be reunited with any family members who are still alive.

“Once we have identified our children but found that they lost their family members and must be placed under the care of the state, then we can surely allow them to get into contact with families that are already known to the regular foster care system,” Yanik said.

CNN’s Ziya Dikbaş and Gokce Katkici contributed to this post.

At least 19,300 earthquake victims are under treatment in hospitals in Turkey, according to Turkey’s Health Ministry. 

They include 3,636 people who are in intensive care units, the ministry reported Monday. 

At least 8,851 patients had to have surgery, according to the ministry, and some of them are already discharged.

Martin Griffiths, UN under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Monday and discussed the need for aid.

Syrian state media, SANA, reports they talked about “urgent” humanitarian needs following the earthquake. 

“President al-Assad affirmed the need for bringing in the urgent aid to all areas in Syria including those that are subjected to occupation and the dominance of the armed terrorist groups,” SANA reported.

“The President also stressed the necessity for the international efforts to concentrate on reconstructing infrastructure in Syria as this issue is an urgent need for the stability of the Syrian people and the return of Syrian refugees to their cities and regions,” SANA reported.

What the UN is saying: Griffiths said earlier Monday that the UN will help move aid from government-controlled regions in Syria to the rebel-held northwest of the country.

“We’ll have assistance moving from here to the northwest. But the northwest is only one part of Syria as you know,” Griffiths said.

A total of 58 interagency UN trucks carrying aid have crossed into northwestern Syria through the Bab Al-Hawa crossing from Turkey since Thursday, according to information provided by UNOCHA spokesperson Madevi Sun-Suon.

Remember: The delivery of urgent supplies to quake-hit areas of northern Syria has been complicated by a long-running civil war between opposition forces and Assad’s government, who is accused of killing his own people. Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad says any aid it receives must go through the capital Damascus.

CNN’s Mostafa Salem, Celine Alkhaldi and Niamh Kennedy contributed to this post.

A 10-year-old girl named Ayca Ceplin was rescued alive Monday in the 185th hour of Turkey’s earthquake, according to CNN’s sister network CNN Turk.

Ayca was pulled from the rubble of the Ebrar apartment complex in Kahramanmaras, CNN Turk reported.  

Rescuers promised strawberry milk and a local pastry known as a poğaça to a young girl after she was pulled from the rubble during the 178th hour of rescue efforts in the Turkish city of Adiyaman.

In a video shared by Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Twitter on Monday, rescuers can be seen placing an oxygen mask on the young girl, named Hivay. 

Rescuers have worked tirelessly to pull children and adults from the rubble one week after the powerful earthquake struck southern Turkey and northwestern Syria. 

More than 36,000 people have died across both countries, according to authorities.

Seven days after the devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, teams are still finding victims that are alive. 

A man was rescued in Hatay on Monday in the 183rd hour of Turkey’s earthquake that struck 10 provinces on February 6.

State-run news agency Anadolu reported his name as Huseyin Berber.

The rescue operation took place at Mimar Sinan street of Antakya. Berber was immediately taken to a hospital, Anadolu reported.

Berber’s rescue followed the discovery of a 13-year-old boy in Hatay.

Turkish authorities arrested at least 97 people following theft and looting in the earthquake region, according to Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu. 

Following the earthquakes that affected 10 provinces, there have been 232 investigations related to theft, looting, and fraud in the region, Anadolu reported. 

Investigations regarding 232 incidents were initiated by Turkey’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. 

The rescue phase of the earthquake response is “coming to a close,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said during a visit to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Monday.

“I’ve been hearing stories here in Aleppo this morning that chill you, with what happened on those early hours of that terrible day. What is the most striking here is even in Aleppo, which has suffered so much these many years, this moment, that moment a week or more ago was about the worst that these people have experienced,” Griffith told journalists. 

Griffiths, the current under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief at the UN said his office will launch appeals in “the next day or so” for both Turkey and Syria to cover roughly three months of humanitarian needs.

“What we’ve seen happening in these zones of the earthquake is that the rescue phase is dragging live people out from the rubble and finding those who died in the rubble, that’s coming to a close. And now the humanitarian phase, the urgency of providing shelter, psychosocial care, food, schooling, and a sense of the future for these people, that’s our obligation now,” Griffiths remarked.

The aid chief said the UN had come to Syria to “raise money for the brave organizations which are helping these people of Aleppo, these people of Syria.” 

The UN will help to move aid from the government-held north to the rebel-held northwest, Griffiths added.

Six additional United Nations trucks carrying aid and relief from the World Food Programme crossed into northwestern Syria on Monday, according to a spokesperson from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The trucks carried food and non-food items (NFIs), Madevi Sun-Suon told CNN.

A total of 58 interagency UN trucks carrying aid have crossed into northwestern Syria through the Bab Al-Hawa crossing from Turkey since Thursday, according to information provided by Sun-Suon.

The head of Istanbul Social Services is pleading for more donations following the deadly earthquake that struck the region, saying the incoming aid in distribution centers is “not enough.”

Istanbul Social Services has more than 20,000 volunteers who work 24 hours a day, seven days a week across two main coordination centers, according to Enif Yavuz Dispar.

The city’s social services have been opening kindergartens, help centers for women and libraries for donations, and have sent more than 200 trucks, three planes and two ships of aid to the areas affected by the earthquake.

Turkish authorities have arrested a number of Turkish contractors and detained many after allegedly being connected to quake constructions in Turkey over the weekend and Monday, after two major earthquakes struck Turkey on February 6.

During his visit to Diyarbakir on Monday, Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said in a presser that in “all earthquake-affected places, the public prosecutor’s office launched judicial investigation. In terms of law, all evidence is evaluated and we are identifying the names of the people responsible for these buildings.”

Bozdag pointed out that “some of the buildings are 30 years old, some are older, some are 20, and some were built in the near future, so our municipalities have this information,” and added that “audits are subject to the evaluation of this information, and our public prosecutors carry out investigations to determine who is involved in these constructions.”

Bozdag also mentioned that in Diyarbakir alone, “the judicial process against 32 people has been started.” 

According to Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu, Malatya prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 31 people on Monday over collapsed buildings in the city.

Anadolu also reported last Saturday that Adana Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into the destroyed buildings, and as a result of that, 31 people were arrested on Monday. 

More on contractor arrests: Nazmi Tosun, the construction supervisor and technical representative of Emre Apartment, which was destroyed in Gaziantep province, was arrested in Istanbul on early Monday, Anadolu reported, citing the security forces. 

Another contractor was Mustafa Uncuoglu who was arrested in Istanbul on Saturday. Uncuoglu was the contractor for the Bahar apartment in Gaziantep province. At least nine people died who used to live in Bahar apartment, Anadolu reported.  

The Istanbul police force also arrested another contractor, Mehmet Ertan Akay, the contractor of a large residential building in the hard-hit Hatay province after his building collapsed during the quake in Gaziantep.

The Turkish security forces arrested Mehmet Yasar Coskun on Saturday at Istanbul Airport on his way to Montenegro while attempting to leave Turkey. Coskun was the contractor of a large residential building in Hatay province. He claimed that he did not know why his building collapsed and that his flight to Montenegro had nothing to do with his collapsed building, Anadolu reported. 

The Turkish Police also arrested Hasan Alpargun in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus after some buildings made by his construction company collapsed in the southern Adana province over the weekend, Anadolu reported, citing the security forces. 

Yavuz Karakus, the contractor of many destroyed buildings in Adıyaman, and his wife Sevilay Karakuş were taken into custody at Istanbul airport on Sunday, according to Anadolu. The Karakus couple were the contractors of many buildings destroyed in Adıyaman. They were later detained in Istanbul. Anadolu reported that they had $16,000 and an additional 20,000 Turkish liras ($1,061,30) with them in Istanbul airport.

The United Nations will help move aid from government-controlled regions in Syria to the rebel-held northwest of the country, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said during a visit to Aleppo in northern Syria Monday.

“We’ll have assistance moving from here to the northwest. But the northwest is only one part of Syria as you know,” Griffiths said.

Griffiths said on Sunday that the UN has “failed” the people in northwest Syria.

“We have so far failed the people in northwest Syria. They rightly feel abandoned, looking for international help that hasn’t arrived. My duty and our obligation is to correct this failure as fast as we can,” Griffiths tweeted Sunday.

UN aid to Syria: A total of 52 UN trucks carrying aid have entered the northwest since Thursday, through the only authorized border crossing from Turkey, UN OCHA spokesperson Madevi Sun-Suon told CNN. Assad has received planeloads of aid from countries around the world.   

The delivery of urgent supplies to quake-hit areas of northern Syria has been complicated by a long-running civil war between opposition forces and the Syrian government, led by Assad, who is accused of killing his own people.

Syrian officials have repeatedly said the government is “ready” to send aid into the rebel-held territories, but no aid has reportedly entered from government-held territories since the February 6 earthquake. The Syrian government approved sending aid into rebel territory in the northwest on Friday, but no timeline was provided.

Quake aid held up by hardline group: Earthquake aid from government-held parts of Syria into rebel-held territory has been held up by “approval issues with Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS),” a source familiar with the matter told CNN Sunday.

HTS, a reincarnation of the al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, is currently the dominant force in Idlib, Syria.

Both Turkey and Syria are grappling with the repercussions of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked the region last Monday, as hopes of finding further survivors dwindles amid freezing temperatures.

The United Nations has recognized failures to support quake victims in Syria, and Turkish police have made more than a dozen arrests in connection with online misinformation “spreading fear and panic amongst citizens.”

Here are the latest headlines:

The death toll from last Monday’s earthquake in Turkey and Syria has now topped 36,000.

In Turkey alone, more than 31,000 have died, making the quake one of the deadliest in the country’s history.

Here’s the disaster in context:

Every time Abdulrahman Al-Dahhan closes his eyes at night, he hears the screams of friends and family in Syria pleading for help.

The voice messages he’s received chronicling their pain make it impossible to sleep, he says. Haunted by their cries, he lies awake tormented by guilt. He worries that each moment he rests, thousands back home in Syria are still buried alive under rubble.

More than 36,000 people have died across Turkey and Syria since a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the region on February 6. Nearly a week later, a lucky few are still being pulled alive from the rubble but hopes of finding additional survivors dwindle amid freezing temperatures.

“It’s destroying me,” Al-Dahhan, 31, told CNN. “When it happened, I was receiving constant voice messages, jumping from number to number on WhatsApp, each one is someone crying, telling me they are seeing people dying around them. I can’t stop hearing them.”

Read the full story here.

European soccer’s governing body UEFA will pay tribute to Turkey and Syria earthquake victims at all Champions League and Europa League matches taking place this week, according to a statement released on Monday. 

A moment of silence before kick-off “will be observed at four UEFA Champions League round of 16 first-leg games, eight UEFA Europa League knockout play-offs first-leg fixtures and eight UEFA Europa Conference League knockout play-offs first-leg matches,” UEFA said. 

“During the pre-match ceremony and the moment of silence, a commemorative banner will be displayed on the field with the message ‘We Are Together With You’ in Turkish and Arabic language(s). The message will also be shown by TV broadcasters and on giant screens in each stadium. The LED boards around the stadiums will remain unlit during the moment of silence as a sign of deepest sympathy and full support to the Turkish and Syrian people,” UEFA added. 

UEFA said they have made an “initial donation of $213,981 (€200,000) to support humanitarian efforts following earthquakes in Turkey and Syria” adding to their statement that “black armbands can be worn at the discretion of the teams and referees.” 

The death toll across Turkey and Syria following Monday’s catastrophic earthquake has reached at least 36,217 according to officials. 

Turkish police have arrested 14 people suspected to have shared disinformation regarding last week’s catastrophic earthquake. 

In a statement Monday, Turkish police said that 475 account managers had been identified “as being engaged in sharing provocative content” on social media platforms in relation to the earthquake “with the intention of spreading fear and panic among citizens.”

“Their details have been passed onto the relevant units, and in accordance with instructions issued by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, 56 individuals have been detained, 14 of whom have been arrested,” the statement said. 

Turkish police said they had also shut down 41 phishing websites and dealt with four social media platform accounts “that demanded money from citizens by using or imitating the names of government institutions.”

Police also identified the addresses of three crypto asset wallets being falsely used to collect earthquake relief. The wallets were “subsequently frozen,” according to the statement. 

Last Wednesday, access to the social media platform Twitter was restricted by Turkish authorities in the wake of the earthquake, before being restored. 

Turkish authorities have carried out a wave of arrests of property developers accused of “negligence” over building collapses due to last week’s earthquake, amid growing public anger over the government’s response to the disaster.

At least 134 people are being treated as suspects and under investigation regarding the construction of buildings that were destroyed during the earthquake, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said Sunday.

“Three of these suspects were arrested pending trial, seven of them in custody, seven banned from travel,” said Bozdag. “Negligence detected, we will do what the law necessitates.”

Yasemin Didem Aktas, structural engineer and lecturer at University College London, told CNN that while the earthquake and its aftershocks constituted “a very powerful event that would challenge even code compliant buildings,” construction issues did exist. 

“What we are seeing here is definitely telling us that something is wrong in those buildings, and it can be that they weren’t designed in code in the first place, or the implementation wasn’t designed properly,” said Didem Aktas. “We are also seeing in Turkey quite commonly that post occupancy modifications on buildings compromise their safety.”

But while the government cracks down on developers, feelings of anger and resentment continue to grow among those affected.

Turkey is no stranger to earthquakes and many feel that the government failed to prepare for another catastrophic event.

However Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended his government’s response, admitting to “shortcomings” but stressing that it’s “not possible to be prepared for such a disaster.” 

Germany’s International Search and Rescue team (ISAR) has ended its mission in Turkey’s earthquake-stricken region and is set to return home on Monday, it said in a statement.

“We will not forget the people in the disaster area,” ISAR said in the statement, which added it would travel back to Germany from Kirikhan, the northeastern part of Turkey’s Hatay Province.

“We are now examining which projects we can help with very quickly and sustainably,” it added.

Germany sent 50 recovery experts to Turkey last Tuesday, to locate and rescue victims. The country suspended its rescue and relief operations on Saturday, citing security concerns in the Hatay region, according to a statement issued by the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief.

In a separate statement released on Sunday, ISAR said the team had rescued an 88-year-old woman from “underneath the rubble” of a collapsed home in Kirikhan after hearing a “quiet voice” whilst conducting rescue efforts on the building.

The death toll across Turkey and Syria following Monday’s catastrophic earthquake reached at least 36,217. 

The death toll in Turkey has reached 31,643, Turkish Emergency Coordination Center SAKOM said Monday. 

The confirmed death toll in Syria is 4,574. That number includes more than 3,160 in opposition-held parts of northwestern Syria, according to the health ministry of the Salvation Government governance authority.

The Syrian death toll also includes 1,414 deaths in government-controlled parts of Syria, according to state news agency SANA.

This post has been updated with the latest figures.

One of Mexico’s beloved rescue dogs, deployed to Turkey to assist in rescue operations there, has died. 

“We deeply regret the loss of our great companion the dog: ‘Proteo,’” the Mexican Ministry of National Defense tweeted on Sunday. 

“You fulfilled your mission as a member of the Mexican Delegation in the search and rescue of our brothers in Turkey. Thank you for your heroic work,” the ministry said in the statement posted on Twitter. 

The ministry did not say how the dog had died. 

Proteo was one of 16 canines sent to Turkey from Mexico last week, to assist in search and rescue operations following last week’s devastating earthquake.

“The heart of our rescue team is currently flying to Turkey,” Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard tweeted on Tuesday.

Mexico, where there are regular earthquakes due to its tectonic setting, is well-known for its highly trained and specialized search and rescue dogs.

A woman who had been trapped under rubble for 175 hours in Turkey’s Hatay province was rescued Monday, more than a week after the powerful quake struck.

Footage released by the Istanbul Municipality showed the woman, identified as Naide Umay, being lifted on a stretcher from underneath the rubble and into the daylight.

The rescue team included staff from the Istanbul fire department and Turkish miners, who are among the thousands of workers helping with search and rescue efforts.

Teams are still rushing to save victims that could be alive under the rubble, though aid agencies and authorities have warned the chances of finding survivors are becoming increasingly slim.

One week after the devastating earthquake hit Turkey, teams are still rushing to save victims that could be alive under the rubble — even as aid agencies and authorities warned the chances of finding survivors are becoming increasingly unlikely.

After 167 hours, a man was rescued from the debris in Antakya, in southern Turkey’s Hatay province, video from CNN affiliate CNN Turk shows. The man is seen being hoisted up by rescue workers, who he then embraces and grasps hands with.

Earlier Sunday, a 55-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble after 159 hours buried, while an 85-year-old woman was rescued after 152 hours trapped in what her nephew described as a cavity around 30-40 centimeters (11-16 inches) wide, according to CNN Turk.

Two people — a 25-year-old Syrian man and a child — were also rescued in Hatay some 151 and 152 hours after the quake hit, local officials said Sunday.

The man was rescued after response teams detected noises beneath the debris while conducting a sound survey in the ruins of an apartment building in Antakya, according to officials.

The technology was also used by the teams to find the child, whose age was not disclosed.

At least 41 people were rescued from under the rubble in Turkey between the 141st and 163rd hours after the quake hit, state-run news agency Anadolu reported Monday.

Death toll: More than 34,000 people have been confirmed dead across Turkey and Syria, where relief efforts have been complicated by the long-running civil war. Rescue operations are over in rebel-held areas of northwest Syria, the White Helmets volunteer organization said Friday.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Sunday urged the UN Security Council to approve two additional access points to deliver aid to parts of Syria hit by the deadly quake last week.

“People in the affected areas are counting on us. They are appealing to our common humanity to help in their moment of need,” Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement.
“We cannot let them down — we must vote immediately on a resolution to heed the UN’s call for authorization of additional border crossings for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. We have the power to act. It’s time to move with urgency and purpose.”

The delivery of urgent supplies to quake-hit areas of northern Syria has been complicated by a long-running civil war between opposition forces and the Syrian government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, who is accused of killing his own people.

Russia, which backs Assad’s regime, has previously blocked approval for another aid route to Syria at the UN.

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator on Sunday stressed the need to “open more access points” to get aid out quicker. Meanwhile, the head of the White Helmets volunteer group urged the UN to act outside the Security Council to open three crossings for emergency aid.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has promised to bolster aid for Turkey as the country grapples with the aftermath of last Monday’s devastating earthquake. 

In a phone call Sunday, Von der Leyen told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “the Commission will mobilize additional support and respond to Türkiye’s latest request for more shelter capacity — in particular tents, blankets, heaters,” according to an EU readout of the call. 

Von der Leyen conveyed her “deepest condolences and those of the European Union for the catastrophic loss of life and destruction caused by the recent earthquake,” the readout added. 

The EU hopes to drum up additional funding for Turkey and Syria during a donor conference set to be held in Brussels in March. 

In a news release Wednesday, the bloc said its operation in the impacted regions is one of the “largest ever search and rescue operations” carried out through its Civil Protection Mechanism. A total of 21 EU member states and three participating states have so far offered 38 response teams, consisting of 1,651 people and 106 search and rescue dogs, according to the readout.

A convoy of 10 United Nations aid trucks entered northwest Syria through the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing on Sunday, UNOCHA spokesperson Madevi Sun-Suon said.

The trucks from the UN’s International Organization for Migrants (IOM) carried comprehensive shelter kits, Sun-Suon said.

She said it comes after 22 UN vehicles crossed through Bab Al-Hawa on Saturday, including:

The delivery of urgent supplies to quake-hit areas of northern Syria, much of which is held by rebels, has been complicated by the country’s long-running civil war.

On Sunday, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, tweeted from the Turkey-Syria border saying the people of northwest Syria “rightly feel abandoned.”

Israeli search-and-rescue group United Hatzalah is leaving Turkey after six days on the ground due to a “significant security threat” targeting the group, it announced Sunday.

United Hatzalah chief executive Eli Pollack and vice president of operations Dov Maisel said in a statement they had “received intelligence of a concrete and immediate threat on the Israeli delegation and we have to put the security of our personnel first.”

“We knew that there was a certain level of risk in sending our team to this area of Turkey, which is close to the Syrian border but we took the necessary steps in order to mitigate the threat for the sake of our lifesaving mission,” Maisel said. 

The decision came following a “a joint situational assessment with the heads of the [Israel Defense Forces] Home Front Command and Search and Rescue Units which took place on Saturday night,” they said. 

Due to the speed of the group’s departure and “lack of available planes,” Miriam Adelson —  the widow of the late American Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson — donated her private jet to fly the team back to Israel on Sunday. 

“We are extremely proud of what our team has accomplished in just a few days, assisting in the rescue of 15 individuals in cooperation with the IDF Home Front Command, Israel’s Search and Rescue units, local rescue forces, and the Turkish Red Cross,” Maisel said. “I want to thank Dr. Adelson for assisting us in bringing our people back quickly and safely.”

A second Israeli aid group, IsraAid, continues to operate in Turkey. 

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces team in Turkey to see whether it is also departing.

A baby began her life surrounded by chaos and devastation this week.

Reportedly named Aya — meaning “miracle” in Arabic — she was born under the rubble of last Monday’s deadly earthquake, still attached to her mother’s lifeless body by the umbilical cord when rescue workers found her.

Her story certainly seems miraculous, as she survived for more than 10 hours under the wreckage of her family’s five-story apartment building in northern Syria after it was leveled to the ground during the pre-dawn 7.8 magnitude quake.

“We heard a voice while we were digging,” the baby’s cousin, Khalil al-Suwadi told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday. “We cleared the dust and found the baby with the umbilical cord (intact), so we cut it and my cousin took her to hospital.”

Tragically, the baby’s mother did not survive and is thought to have died hours after giving birth. In fact, the newborn is believed to be the sole survivor of her immediate family, her cousin told the news agency.

Orphan Aya —  who was reportedly named by medics —  is now receiving treatment at a children’s hospital in the nearby town of Afrin, where pediatrician Hani Maarouf told AFP that she is stable but arrived with bruises, lacerations and hypothermia.

Read the full story here.