A/HRC/28/69 the humanitarian conditions and contributing to displacement. Those who fled described a lack of adequate humanitarian aid and access to basic foodstuffs. 262. The siege of Yarmouk in Damascus has continued to be enforced by proGovernment forces, including elements from Branch 235 (also known as the Palestine Branch) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. These forces and the Syrian authorities accord irregular and inadequate access to humanitarian actors. 18,000 Palestinians remain inside Yarmouk. The absence of medical and surgical supplies in aid deliveries has created a chronically low supply of medicine in Yarmouk. Children suffer from acute malnutrition. Instances of humanitarian actors coming under attack by armed groups operating inside Yarmouk have been reported. Many of the residents whohave fled Yarmouk in the course of the conflict are currently displaced to Khan Al-Sheeh (Rif Damascus). Government forces have surrounded the area and conducted indiscriminate attacks in their assault against armed groups operating in the area. Palestinians living inside Syria are faced with a worsening situation and eroding protections. 263. Accounts consistent with previous reporting periods indicate that Government forces impose restrictions on movement, humanitarian access, medical supplies and basic necessities on areas with non-State armed group presence. This has resulted in severe shortages among the civilian population in Dara’a, namely in Khirbat Ghazala (Al-Tahwra), Nawa, Mhajeh, Al-Mohhayam and Tariq Al-Sad neighbourhood in Dara’a city. These areas have also been indiscriminately shelled, aggravating the humanitarian situation. Government forces periodically tighten and loosen the sieges in Dara’a as part of their military strategy. During the summer of 2014, wheat fields and agricultural land in Namar and Jasim were set alight as a result of mortar shelling by Government forces. Some residents who suffered the destruction of their harvest said the attacks had been punitive. In the course of the Government’s campaign against ISIS, a bakery in Minbeij (Aleppo) was aerially bombarded on 18 October 2014. 264. Government forces instrumentalise the basic needs of civilians, including access to medical care and food, as part of a military strategy to erode civilian support in areas under non-State armed group control and punish those perceived to be affiliated with armed groups. By refusing to permit humanitarian delivery of medical supplies to the civilian population, the lives of women, men and children are put at grave risk. Civilians are indiscriminately targeted by a systematic policy to prevent access to medical assistance. The consistent denial of medical supplies by Syrian authorities is in stark violation of their obligations under Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions to care for the sick and wounded, which includes both the civilian population as well as those taking an active part in hostilities. The denial of medicine has no military justification and is used as part of a punitive strategy. Attacks on civilian objects, such as bakeries, are unlawful. 2. Non-State armed groups Anti-Government armed groups 265. Since mid-2014, non-State armed groups have carried out an increased number of attacks against facilities necessary for the survival of the civilian population. Targeting the lifelines of communities under the control of, or perceived to be affiliated with the Government has emerged as a military tactic of some non-State armed groups, with dire humanitarian consequences for civilians. In Nubul and Zahra (Aleppo) armed groups controlling the access routes to the area prevent the supply of basic goods to the civilian population. 266. On 24 November 2014, armed groups attacked Ain Al-Fijeh, the source of fresh water for Damascus city, in retaliation for the Government offensive against their positions. 60