UN urges action on Syria, but will anyone listen?

There is an urgent need for immediate humanitarian access to all civilians in need in Syria and a return to a U.N.-facilitated political process to end the bloodshed, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday.

He urged "all those with influence to do their part for the long-suffering people" of Syria and said all parties are obligated to protect civilians.

"Tens of thousands of civilians are at risk in a region already on fire," Guterres told reporters.

"We are seeing the bitter fruits of a chronic collective failure of previous de-escalation arrangements to produce a genuine nationwide ceasefire or a serious political process to implement Security Council resolutions," he said.

Antonio Guterres and the organization he leads have never done anything to stop the massacres in Syria or to denounce the interference of Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia.

Syrian rebels captured the city of Hama on Thursday, a major victory in a week-old lightning advance across northern Syria and a devastating new blow to President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies.