The first UN aid convoy reached Syria on Thursday, bringing supplies including tents and hygiene products to disaster zones, according to UN sources.

The devastating earthquake in Türkiye and Syria has taken thousands of people's lives and brought down thousands of buildings, leaving many homeless in the brutal winter season.

The combined death toll for both countries is nearing 21,000, with certain areas having been hit particularly hard.

Live: The latest update on earthquakes in Türkiye, Syria

A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck southern Türkiye on Monday, followed by powerful aftershocks. Türkiye's southern province of Hatay and northern Syria's Aleppo suffered the most significant loss of lives.

A tough situation in war-torn Syria

The rescue work continues in Syria's disaster zones but is hampered by heavy snow and freezing temperatures. 

Winters in Syria can be extremely tough, especially when it is hit by torrential rains, strong winds and snowfalls, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Thousands are still trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings. In many areas, rescuers have to dig through debris with their bare hands or the simplest tools due to the lack of necessary equipment caused by years of U.S. and European sanctions against the country.

Syrian officials have blamed Western countries for impeding rescue operations in the country. Responding to a question by China Media Group, Syria's permanent representative to the UN Bassam al-Sabbagh said sanctions have blocked humanitarian aid, including medicine and heavy equipment, from reaching Syria.

A lot of cargo airplanes refuse to land at Syrian airports because of the American and European sanctions, he said, adding that even those countries who want to send humanitarian assistance cannot use the cargo airplane because of the sanctions.

There have been calls for lifting the U.S. and Western sanctions on Syria.

The catastrophe has been compounded by U.S.-led Western sanctions, said Syrian Ambassador to China Mohammed Hasanein Khaddam during an exclusive interview with CGTN.

"The sooner these sanctions are lifted, the sooner it (Syria) receives aids, the more people will be saved."

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Syrian ambassador: Earthquake sufferings compounded by Western sanctions

Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) President Khaled Hboubati on Tuesday called for lifting the U.S. and Western sanctions on Syria to facilitate relief efforts, as the country is in dire need of rescue equipment.

Speaking at a press conference in the Syrian capital Damascus, Hboubati stressed that the SARC needs equipment, ambulances and heavy machinery, but "the main obstacle is the sanctions imposed on Syria, which we demand to be lifted immediately."

"This tragedy drives home how urgently Western sanctions must be removed – they are killing Syrians every single day," tweeted Sharmine Narwani, a commentator and analyst of Middle East geopolitics and former senior associate at St. Antony's College, Oxford University.

Lingering effects of Western sanctions

In Syria, the disaster came in the wake of over a decade of conflicts and crippling economic situation that was hit by Western sanctions.

Millions of Syrians, who are living in dire poverty, have already been displaced within the country, while more people are seeking refuge in neighboring Türkiye.

Syria was designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. in 1979, followed by a series of economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its Western allies.

Western countries like Canada also imposed economic sanctions against Syria, such as prohibiting all investments in Syria, all imports of goods from Syria, and financial services related to the country.

Since the Syrian civil war started in 2011, the European Union suspended all its bilateral corporation with the Syrian government, including the trade in crude oil and petroleum products. In the following years, bilateral trade volumes dropped substantially with the EU's restrictive measures against Syria.

In May 2022, the Council of the European Union extended its sanctions for another year until June 1, 2023, including travel bans and freezing of assets of the Central Bank of Syria held in the EU.

The Syrian banking system is disconnected from the world, local people cannot even buy medicines, Khaddam told CGTN, adding that wars and the earthquake have destroyed a lot of infrastructure, and people who have survived lack shelter and medication.

Damage to roads and local infrastructure has compounded difficulties in the supply of relief materials in the country, and such delay could cost more lives.