REUTERS: PARIS/GENEVA: Diplomats have started exploring whether they could get enough votes to pass a U.N.Security Council resolution to help aid groups get into Syria as the death toll mounts, a French diplomatic source told Reuters Wednesday.

 

Syria’s civil war has killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless, according to the U.N.

 

France’s foreign minister said Monday the Security Council, which has been deadlocked over how to respond to the war, needed to tackle the humanitarian crisis.

 

“There are ideas that are still being worked on to see if, at least on the humanitarian side, it would be possible to have a resolution on access,” the French diplomatic source said.

 

“At this stage it is a reflection, but it’s not certain it will lead anywhere,” the source added without specifying what access would entail.

 

Veto-wielding Security Council members China and Russia have already blocked three resolutions backed by the United States and European powers aimed at sanctioning Syrian President Bashar Assad.

 

Moscow, Assad’s main arms supplier, has also indicated it would not support any resolution opening up “safe zones” or “humanitarian corridors” in Syria, suggesting the West could use them as an excuse to intervene in the conflict.

 

French President Francois Hollande met the newly elected head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition in Paris Wednesday and said he stood by the organization.

 

France was working on political and humanitarian aspects of the crisis as well as “corridors that could be opened to support the population,” Hollande said.

 

After Hollande’s meeting with SNC head Ahmad Jarba, a second French diplomat told Reuters there was currently “zero chance” of getting an agreement on humanitarian corridors.

 

“But having said that the crisis is dynamic, is developing. There are options that disappear and others that emerge,” the diplomat added.The Council will hold an informal meeting with members of the opposition Syrian National Coalition Friday to discuss humanitarian access, how to end the violence and other issues, Britain’s U.N. envoy said Tuesday.

 

Suhair al-Atassi, vice president of the coalition who is in charge of its Aid Coordination Unit, told reporters earlier Wednesday 13 million people needed help.

 

“There is a big gap between the humanitarian needs on the ground and what the different donors give ... There is a lack of everything inside Syria now,” Atassi said in Paris.

 

Atassi added that the coalition was planning to set up a transitional government at a meeting on Aug. 3-4 – a move that would bolster its legitimacy as it moved to replace Assad’s government.

 

The International Committee of the Red Cross meanwhile warned Wednesday that thousands of Syrian civilians besieged by government and rebel forces alike were in desperate need of aid and condemned Syrian authorities for preventing humanitarian access in Homs.

 

“Tens of thousands of civilians in Syria are living in extremely harsh conditions in sealed-off areas, and humanitarian aid is being prevented from reaching them. The consequences could be tragic,” said the Geneva-based humanitarian group.

 

“Civilians living in areas encircled by government forces or the various armed opposition groups are not receiving regular supplies of food or other basic necessities. To bring them aid it is necessary to obtain the consent of all sides, which can at times be very difficult,” it added.

 

The ICRC revealed last Friday that it was negotiating a humanitarian pause to be able to enter Homs, where Assad’s forces have been conducting a heavy offensive against rebels.

 

“We have been trying, for close to 20 days now, to bring medical supplies and other aid to the old city of Homs,” Magne Barth, head of the ICRC delegation in Syria, said in a statement. “Despite lengthy negotiations with both sides, and three trips back and forth between Damascus and Homs, we have still not received the go-ahead from the Syrian authorities.”

 

Some 2,000 people are now believed to be trapped in Homs, according to aid agencies. Reaching tens of thousands of people in areas encircled by government forces or armed opposition groups remains one of the toughest challenges the ICRC faces in Syria, the agency said.

 

Under international humanitarian law, warring parties are obliged to allow rapid safe passage of humanitarian relief for civilians.