THE delivery of humanitarian aid to north-west Syria from neighbouring Turkey was expected to get a green light to temporarily continue from the United Nations security council today.

The council’s authorisation for aid deliveries via the Bab al-Hawa crossing expired today, but two extension resolutions were due to be voted on.

A Russian resolution would continue aid deliveries for six months and a Brazil-Switzerland resolution, backed by most council members and secretary-general Antonio Guterres, would authorise a 12-month extension.

Aid workers have warned that closing Bab al-Hawa will have a devastating impact on aid efforts. Aid delivery has increased significantly following the devastation caused by February’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake that ravaged southern Turkey and north-western Syria.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad opened two further crossing points from Turkey to increase the flow of assistance to quake victims and extended their operation for three months in May until mid-August, but those crossings are not mentioned in either UN resolution.

Syria’s north-western province of Idlib has a population of some four million, many of whom have been forced from their homes during the 12-year civil war — hundreds of thousands live in tent settlements and rely on aid that comes via Bab al-Hawa.

Turkey has been strict in allowing access due to what it claims is terror organisation activity in the region.

The UN initially authorised aid deliveries in 2014 from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan through four crossing points into opposition-held areas in Syria. But over the years, Russia and China have pushed to reduce the authorised crossings to just Bab al-Hawa from Turkey — and the mandate from a year to six months – calling for delivering aid across front lines instead, to allow Syrian government control over shipments.