A renewed Russian attack on Syria’s northwestern Idlib province on Friday caused the death of seven civilians including five children, while another 13 civilians were wounded.

According to the opposition aircraft observatory, the Russian warplane took off from the Khmeimim air base in Latakia and hit the Christian-majority villages of Al-Yacoubiyah and Judayda at 2:36 a.m. GMT.

According to initial reports, the White Helmets, or Syrian Civil Defense, officials said seven civilians, including five children, were killed and 13 others injured in the attack.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it confirmed the deaths, including "four children who were siblings, two men and an unidentified person ... as a result of Russian air strikes," in the Jisr al-Shughur countryside.

The children are all under 10 years old, said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the British-based Observatory.

Six of the victims are confirmed to be civilians, the Observatory said, adding that more people, including women and children, were still trapped under the rubble.

The victims are mostly displaced Syrians from neighboring Hama province, said the monitor, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria.

The attack comes days after Russia, Turkey and Iran pledged "to maintain calm on the ground by fully implementing all agreements on Idlib."

In a joint statement following the Astana meeting in Tehran, it was stated that the parties "agreed to make further efforts to ensure sustainable normalization of the situation in and around the Idlib de-escalation area, including the humanitarian situation."

The Syrian regime and its ally Russia have regularly targeted hospitals and civilian areas since the start of the war in 2011.

The Idlib region bordering Turkey is home to about 3 million people and is one of the last pockets to oppose Damascus.

For years, the Assad regime has ignored the needs and safety of the Syrian people, only eyeing further territory gains and crushing the opposition. With this aim, the regime has for years bombed civilian facilities such as schools, hospitals and residential areas, causing the displacement of almost half of the country's population.

The Idlib de-escalation zone was forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia. The area has been the subject of multiple cease-fire agreements, which the Assad regime and its allies have frequently violated.

A fragile truce was brokered between Moscow and Ankara in March 2020 in response to months of fighting by the Russia-backed regime.

Russia defends veto of aid

On the other side, Russia is also trying to close border gates to transport vital humanitarian aid to Syria’s northwestern regions.

Russia defended its veto of a U.N. resolution that would have extended humanitarian aid deliveries to 4.1 million Syrians in the opposition-held northwest from Turkey for a year, insisting that its demand for only a six-month extension was essential and accusing Western nations of using "sly" tactics and trying "to govern the world."

Russia’s Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky had to defend Moscow’s veto on July 8 of a resolution before the General Assembly for only the second time since the 193-member world body adopted a resolution on April 26 requiring any Security Council member that casts a veto to explain its reasoning during an assembly debate on the issue.

Polyansky insisted that a resolution should be limited to six months, with a new resolution needed for another six months to assess progress on Russia’s demands. He said these include stepped-up aid deliveries across conflict lines within Syria, more early recovery programs in the country, greater transparency in aid operations, and stopping "international terrorists" from receiving aid deliveries.

He accused Western supporters of a year-long extension of failing to progress on cross-line aid deliveries and early recovery projects. He said these demands were included in last year’s resolution extending aid deliveries from Turkey for a year.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Richard Mills shot back, accusing Russia of abusing its veto power for the 17th time on a Syria resolution, this time on a measure aimed at facilitating humanitarian help for millions of people suffering from 11 years of war.

To avert a shutdown of aid deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing point in Turkey, the Security Council approved a six-month extension on July 11 but Mills stressed the consequences: A second resolution will be needed in January when humanitarian needs, which are now greater than they have ever been, "will be greatest."

"That timeline risks leaving Syrians without blankets, without heating fuel, depriving them of a steady supply of basic food items during the coldest months if the resolution confirming the second sixth-month extension is not adopted," he warned.

Mills urged the international community to come together "and firewall any further politicization of what is a purely humanitarian issue."

By exercising its veto, he said, "the Russian Federation once again protected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria."

European Union counselor Thibault Camelli stressed that humanitarian actions in Syria "must not be disrupted, targeted or politicized," pointing out to the assembly that the EU and its member states are the biggest aid donor to the country.

"Humanitarian needs in Syria have increased and will likely continue to increase, especially in light of the food crisis due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine," he said. "Today, over 12 million Syrians are food insecure, relying on external food assistance for their survival."

Russia has argued aid can instead transit via regime-controlled parts of the country across conflict lines.

But aid groups have been reluctant to shift their massive operations to go through areas held by the regime of Assad, itself subject to sanctions.