New York, Nov. 15 -- The top UN humanitarian official was in the Security Council on Wednesday to appeal for the renewal of an operation that delivers life-saving food and other aid relief to some four million civilians in northern Syria.

The mandate of the cross-border mechanism operating from Turkey will expire in January."Without the cross-border operation, we would see an immediate end of aid supporting millions of civilians," Mark Lowcock, the UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told the Council."That would cause a rapid increase in hunger and disease. A lot more people would flood across the borders, making an existing crisis even worse in the region."Rising humanitarian needsThe cross-border operation was mandated...