After 13 years of war, 70% of Syrians need humanitarian aid

Seven out of 10 Syrians depend on humanitarian aid due to the impact of more than a decade of civil war, the United Nations said on Friday.

The latest data shows 16.7 million people need aid, the highest number since the conflict broke out 13 years ago, UN Syria Envoy Geir Pedersen said in a statement.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that around 23.2 million people live in Syria.

The international community must exert more pressure to get the talks between the Syrian government and the opposition back on track, he said.

"We must prioritize peace," Pedersen said. "If we do not do so, the grim downward trends across nearly all indicators in Syria will only continue in the year ahead. The Syrian people deserve better than this."

A lack of donations means aid organizations in Syria are having problems reaching people in need, reported the UN coordinators for Syria aid, Adam Abdelmoula and Muhannad Hadi. Many people do not have enough to eat, they said.

More than 12 million Syrian children, women and men have fled to neighbouring countries or within Syria since 2011.

"Please don’t forget displaced Syrians at home or abroad," said Matthew Saltmarsh, spokesman for the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR in Geneva.

So far this year, donor states have only provided a fraction of the necessary funds for refugee aid, he added.

The violence in Syria has escalated again recently and is exacerbated by the effects of the war in Gaza and associated regional tensions. Syria has been hit by military attacks and counter-attacks involving Israel, the United States and pro-Iranian militias.