The Assad regime has agreed to permit the UN to deliver aid to the besieged rebel-held village of Madaya, following reports of villagers starving to death.

Aid agencies working in the area around Madaya report the situation within the village to be “extremely dire”, with people of all ages struggling to survive within the Syrian military’s blockade.

The UN humanitarian co-ordinator said it was planning to deliver humanitarian assistance “in the coming days”.

In a joint statement, Yacoub El Hillo, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, and Kevin Kennedy, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, called for the “unimpeded humanitarian access to reach those in need in hard-to-reach and besieged areas in Syria”.

On Madaya, they said:

“Almost 42,000 people remaining in Madaya are at risk of further hunger and starvation. The UN has received credible reports of people dying from starvation and being killed while trying to leave. On 5 January 2016, a 53 year-old man reportedly died of starvation while his family of five continues to suffer from severe malnutrition.”

The village, situated near Damascus, is not the only besieged town and village in Syria, with rebel forces also besieging a number of village in northern Syria, such as Foah and Kefraya, where the situation on the ground is similarly bleak.

The UN has called for rebels to allow them to reach these areas under their control to provide humanitarian assistance.

in total, there are an estimated 4.5 million people living in hard-to-reach areas in Syria including nearly 400,000 people in 15 besieged locations who do not have access to the life-saving aid they urgently need, according to the UN.

The agreement by government and rebel forces to allow life-saving aid to reach those living in besieged towns and villages demonstrates how the Syrian conflict has reached a stalemate in recent months, with neither the rebels or regime strong enough to defeat the other.