ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Schools in the besieged city of Kobane, where a large number of displaced families currently reside, lack basic necessities and are facing a “severe humanitarian crisis,” a war monitor reported Thursday, with the aid provided not meeting “even the minimum needs” of the displaced.

A large number of families who fled Damascus’ violent military campaign in Rojava (northeast Syria) have sought refuge in the Kurdish-majority city of Kobane, which has been under a suffocating siege for a week imposed by the Syrian Arab army and its affiliated factions.

The UN has reported increasingly worsening humanitarian conditions, days after five children died from severe cold and a lack of medical supplies.

The schools sheltering the displaced families “are suffering from a severe humanitarian crisis, with a near-total absence of basic services. These schools lack electricity, water, and heating, exacerbating the suffering of women, children, and the elderly, amidst a complete lack of effective humanitarian response,” the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday.

According to the Observatory’s sources, the aid provided by numerous humanitarian organizations, as well as the Syrian Arab Red Crescent “does not meet even the minimum needs of the displaced,” adding that the aid has not reached the majority of the schools sheltering the families.

The Kurdish-led Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES) has similarly stressed several times that the aid provided to the city is not sufficient, adding that international silence is exacerbating the situation.

Co-chair of Kobane’s health department Aziza Ibrahim told The New Region on Wednesday that the health situation in the city is getting worse, warning that “we only have medicine left for one more week.”

“If aid does not arrive, our warehouses and pharmacies will be empty. We call on international philanthropists to speak up to save the lives of children,” she stressed.

Concerns over depleting supplies are also mounting in other parts of Rojava, as Damascus-linked factions continue their attacks despite a ceasefire in place.

Days prior, Damascus-linked forces conducted an “intense shelling” of a village in Kobane's southeastern outskirts, killing at least five people and injuring five others, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Monday.