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Beirut • The Syrian government refused the U.N. envoy's latest proposal for a truce in Aleppo on Sunday, calling on insurgents to withdraw and saying it would not grant autonomy to the rebel-held east in exchange for calm.
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said restoring government rule was a matter of "national sovereignty," and that Syria would not allow the people of eastern Aleppo to be "hostages to 6,000 gunmen."
"We agreed on the need that terrorists should get out of east Aleppo to end the suffering of the civilians in the city," he said. He spoke after meeting with U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura, who acknowledged a "major disagreement" with al-Moallem. He warned the military's approach would drive more moderate rebels into the ranks of the Islamic State.
At least 172 civilians have been killed since the government renewed its assault on the besieged enclave six days ago, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The U.N. estimates 275,000 people are trapped inside. By Saturday, the government had damaged or destroyed every hospital in the east, according to the Syrian American Medical Society.
The government denies striking hospitals. De Mistura said there was a "difference of opinion" about the attacks. He said he had proposed sending an observer team to inspect all the hospitals in Aleppo, but that the idea was not discussed further.
De Mistura has proposed that the Syrian government grant eastern Aleppo autonomy in exchange for peace and called on the estimated 900 al-Qaida-linked militants in the east to depart to other rebel-held territory.
Al-Moallem also called on the militants to withdraw and said he hoped that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration would cut off support for "terrorists" in Syria and "rein in" the states backing them, a reference to Turkey and Saudi Arabia. President Bashar Assad said last week that Trump could prove to be a "natural ally" to Syria.