The situation in Syria’s besieged city of Aleppo is now beyond desperate, and judging from eyewitness accounts and the frantic pleas from within what remains of the city that have inundated our social media accounts with increasing frequency over recent days, there is not much time left for the survivors if they are to actually emerge from the bloodbath as survivors and not as victims.

A much hoped for cease-fire deal between anti-Assad regime rebels and the Syrian government in the city effectively collapsed yesterday, with fighter jets resuming deadly air raids over the opposition's densely crowded enclave in the east of the city.

That ceasefire was designed to provide a humanitarian corridor for civilians to escape the carnage, for men women, children and families to flee the city for some semblance of safety, for what it’s worth in the war-torn country ravaged by violence.

The evacuation was supposed to begin at dawn but shelling resumed in the morning hours and buses meant to be used in the pullout of rebels and civilians returned to their depots empty. Activists and fighters trapped in the opposition's last sliver of territory in Aleppo said pro-government forces had struck their district with dozens of rockets since mid-morning.

At this point, it is quite irrespective who the warring factions are, who is right and who is wrong.  What does matter is that tens of thousands of civilians are stranded, trapped inside the city, and that they are under near-constant bombardment.  Lives and being lost and families are being torn asunder practically by the minute.

Doctors Without Borders last night said the remaining doctors in the square mile of eastern Aleppo under attack are "terrified" of possible retaliation from pro-government forces and, more than anything, want to be evacuated. 

The question is: what can average Western citizens, such as those reading these columns, do to prevent the catastrophe from laying waste to what remains of the city and its few remaining civilians?

The sad and tragic answer is: not much.  The most that we can do at this stage is to share the hell out of the videos and news emerging from Aleppo, to call on their country’s politicians to take all the steps that are within their power to take. 

Here in Malta we can urge our Prime Minister and foreign minister to redouble their efforts to seek a European Union solution to the bloody standoff.  European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has called on the Syrian government and Russia to do their utmost to spare civilians as they prepare to capture the last rebel holdouts in the besieged city of Aleppo.  She said in a statement yeste5rday that "the priority now, in these hours, is to protect civilians, guarantee them safe and monitored transit to a place of safety." 

She added that "this is particularly the responsibility of the Syrian government and its allies." She also warned that "those who perpetrate war crimes will be held accountable."

Part of that onus may very well fall on Malta’s lap over the coming six months in which Malta will hold the Presidency of the European Union and we Maltese must make it amply clear that we expect action, not lip service, and justice for those who have survived the horrors of Aleppo and of Syria.