French President Emmanuel Macron condemned on Wednesday the violence in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta near the Syrian capital Damascus. He called for a truce in the unrest to help evacuate civilians trapped by intense air strikes by the regime. "France is asking for a truce in Eastern Ghouta in order to ensure the evacuation of civilians and facilitate humanitarian access as quickly as possible," he told reporters, accusing the regime of using the fight against terrorism as a "pretext" to attack civilians. Macron said that France was "fully committed" to fighting terrorism in Syria as part of the US-led coalition. "But France clearly, vigorously condemns what is happening today in Eastern Ghouta," he said, calling for an "immediate" UN resolution on the situation. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday also called for an immediate halt in the fighting, saying Eastern Ghouta, home to around 400,000 civilians, had become "hell on Earth". "This is a human tragedy that is unfolding in front of our eyes, and I dont think we can let things go on happening in this horrendous way," he added. Germany urged Russia and Iran to push the regime to end the deadly air strikes on Eastern Ghouta, noting that the two had pledged to be guarantors of peace in Syria. "One has to ask where is Russia, where is Iran, which had pledged in Astana to guarantee a ceasefire also in Eastern Ghouta," said Steffen Seibert, spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, referring to peace talks in the Kazakh capital. "Without the support of these two allies, (Bashar) Assad’s regime would not be where it is today, and undoubtedly, without this support, this regime would have to show more readiness to negotiate in the UN (peace) process," the German government spokesman added. "We demand that the Assad regime immediately end the massacre in Ghouta and allow in humanitarian aid as well as medical evacuation. We also demand that the backers of the Assad regime use their strong influence to achieve this end," Seibert said. The regime stepped up its air strikes this month on the rebel enclave east of Damascus, where close to 300 civilians have been killed since Sunday. Warplanes continued to pound Eastern Ghouta towns on Wednesday, killing 24 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Later on Wednesday, Russia called for a UN Security Council meeting to be held Thursday on the violence engulfing Eastern Ghouta, Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. Nebenzia told the council that the open meeting would allow all sides to "present their vision, their understanding of the situation and come up with ways of getting out of this situation." "I think this is necessary given the concern that we heard today," he added. Guterres said he supported efforts at the Security Council to agree on a draft resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire in Syria to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations. Sweden and Kuwait presented the measure to the council on February 9, but negotiations have been tough-going, with Russia raising objections to the proposed truce, diplomats said "I fully support that effort, but I believe Eastern Ghouta cannot wait," Guterres told the council. Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog told reporters he hoped that a vote on the draft resolution demanding the ceasefire could take place "in the next few days," possibly as early as Thursday. Asked whether there was a consensus on the draft text, Skoog said: "That, I dont know yet." Russia has resorted to its veto power at the council to block resolutions targeting its Syrian ally. The latest draft text circulated last week calls for the truce to go into effect 72 hours after the adoption of the measure and for aid deliveries and medical evacuations to begin 48 hours after that.