Al Jazeera America: Besieged town awaits aid after starving Syrians eat pets, grass to survive
“Images of starving children and emaciated residents of a besieged Syrian village have drawn fresh attention to the civilian toll of the country’s civil war, as the government in Damascus finally agreed to allow in international aid…” (1/7).

BBC News: Syrian government ‘to let aid into besieged Madaya’
“The Syrian government has agreed to allow aid into the besieged rebel-held village of Madaya, the U.N. says, amid reports of residents starving to death…” (1/7).

Christian Science Monitor: Syria to allow aid to starving residents after release of graphic images (+video)
“…Tens of thousands of people in the Syrian city of Madaya have been largely cut off from food and medicine for close to six months, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a British-affiliated group that, along with several other international human rights organizations, issued an urgent plea for action this week…” (Regan, 1/7).

The Guardian: Syrian regime to allow aid into besieged, starving town
“… ‘The U.N. welcomes today’s approval from the government of Syria to access Madaya, Fua, and Kefraya and is preparing to deliver humanitarian assistance in the coming days,’ the office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said in a statement on Thursday…” (Shaheen et al., 1/7).

New York Times: As Rebel-Held Town of Madaya Starves, Syria Agrees to Food Aid, U.N. Says
“…But no firm date was set, and senior United Nations officials said that while they welcomed the government’s decision to allow the aid to enter, 42,000 people in Madaya remained ‘at risk of further hunger and starvation,’ citing ‘credible reports of people dying from starvation and being killed while trying to leave’…” (Barnard/Saad, 1/7).

NPR: Syrian Regime Allows Aid To Besieged Villages After Outcry Over Starvations
“…Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, said that since Dec. 1, 23 people have died of starvation at an MSF-supported facility in Madaya. ‘Madaya is now effectively an open-air prison,’ Brice de le Vingne, MSF director of operations, said in a statement…” (Domonoske, 1/7).

U.N. News Centre: U.N. calls for humanitarian access to besieged areas in Syria, welcomes new approvals from government
“…While the U.N. prepares to deliver humanitarian assistance in the coming days, it is recalling that international humanitarian law prohibits the targeting of civilians and their starvation as a tactic of war, and reiterates its call for immediate humanitarian access and for the facilitation of safe evacuation of civilians” (1/7).

VICE News: Celebratory Gunfire as Syria Allows U.N. to Bring Food Into the Starving Town of Madaya
“…The humanitarian situation within [Madaya] has deteriorated precipitously. The U.N.’s World Food Programme says that it has been unable to deliver aid since October 17, and food stores inside the town have long since run out…” (Asher-Schapiro, 1/7).

Washington Post: 23 starve to death in besieged Syrian town, medical charity says
“…According to Hassan Abu Shadi, a rescue worker in Madaya, one or two people have been dying daily of hunger over the past week, since snow fell on the mountain town and blanketed the last remaining vegetation…” (Sly/Haidamous, 1/7).