Needed supplies arrive at Syrian camp

BEIRUT — A convoy of 78 trucks carrying life-saving assistance reached a remote camp for the displaced on Syria’s border with Jordan on Saturday, where tens of thousands of people are stranded in the desert with dwindling supplies. The United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said their joint convoy reached Rukban camp and would deliver assistance to 50,000 people. The convoy was supposed to arrive last month but was delayed due to logistics and security concerns. The U.N. said the operation is expected to last three to four days. The camp is home to around 45,000 people, many of them women and children, who are camped out in extremely dire conditions. At least four people have died in the past month due to malnutrition and lack of medical care as regional powers trade blame over who is responsible. “We are delivering food, sanitation and hygiene supplies, nutrition and health assistance in addition to other core relief items in cooperation with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent,” said Ali Al-Za’tari, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator in Syria. He said an emergency vaccination campaign to protect some 10,000 children against deadly diseases would also be conducted. People started gathering in Rukban three years ago, fleeing Islamic State militants and airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition, Russia and Syria. Jordan sealed its border and stopped regular aid deliveries in 2016 after a cross-border Islamic State attack that killed seven Jordanian soldiers.