With the Syrian army closing in this week on rebel-held areas in Aleppo, thousands of civilians in this war-torn city have been trapped in small pockets of opposition territory.
By some estimates, 50,000 residents are essentially waiting to either be killed or taken hostage, sitting helplessly in a one-square mile radius of town.
A UN spokesman has referred to the horrific situation as a “complete meltdown of humanity.”
Earlier this month, a seven-year old girl named Bana Alabed made global headlines when she posted multiple messages on social media that implied she and her mother were about to be captured.
Alabed and her mom, Fatemah – who have been tweeting the horrors from East Aleppo since September – appear to have avoided said capture…
… but they now fear as if their days on Earth are numbered.
Tweeted Fatemah on Monday:
She has since written the following, posted about seven hours ago:
“Dear world, there’s intense bombing right now. Why are you silent? Why? Why? Why? Fear is killing me & my kids.”
Here is a photo of Bana Alabed:
Fatemah is far from the only Aleppo resident recording this mass slaughter in real time.
As events continue to unfold in the area and the death toll continues to mount, those trapped in the city are screaming at the world over social media, saying goodbye forever; wondering why no one is helping them; or both.
“This may be my last video. More than 50,000 civilians who rebelled against the dictator [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad are threatened with field executions or are dying under bombing,” Lina Shamy, an activist in eastern Aleppo, said in a video shared on Twitter.
Calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations have been ignored by Syria and Russia, who is aiding the government with an intensive air campaign.
Officials from these nations have vowed to continue the offensive until the rebels surrender or die.
Elsewhere, a teacher and father (who tweets under the handle @Mr.Alhamdo) wrote on Tuesday afternoon of his simple desire to see his young daughter taste a banana for the first time.
He now doubts this will ever happen.
“I just wanted to make my daughter taste the banana,” he Tweeted. “She likes such food. She hasn’t tasted it yet. I might not be able to do that.”
There are no words to express how we feel about the situation in Aleppo.
It’s heartbreaking. It’s surreal. It’s the very worst of humanity.
We can only offer our thoughts and prayers to all involved.