The United States and France made stern warnings to the Syrian regime on Monday over chemical attacks against civilians. US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned that if the UN Security Council fails to act on Syria, Washington “remains prepared to act if we must,” just as it did last year when it bombed a Syrian regime air base over a deadly chemical weapons attack. “It is not the path we prefer, but it is a path we have demonstrated we will take, and we are prepared to take again,” Haley told the 15-member Security Council. “When the international community consistently fails to act, there are times when states are compelled to take their own action.” Haley’s warning came as the United States asked the Security Council to demand an immediate 30-day ceasefire in Damascus and rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, where regime forces, backed by Russia and Iran, say they are targeting “terrorist” groups which are shelling the capital. The Security Council demanded a 30-day ceasefire across Syria in a unanimously adopted February 24 resolution. Russia had said the Security Council could not impose a ceasefire without a deal between the warring parties. French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile said France is prepared to launch targeted strikes against any site in Syria used to deploy chemical attacks that result in the deaths of civilians. Shortly before the UN was due to discuss Syria, Macron said Moscow had not done enough to permit relief efforts into the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta. Asked about the Syrian conflict at a news conference in India, Macron said France would be ready to strike if it found “irrefutable evidence” chemical weapons had been used to kill. “The day we have, in particular in tandem with our American partners, irrefutable proof that the red line was crossed — namely the chemical weapons were used to lethal effect — we will do what the Americans themselves did moreover a few months ago; we would put ourselves in position to proceed with targeted strikes,” Macron said. “We are cross-matching our own information with that of our allies but to put it very clearly we have an independent capacity to identify targets and launch strikes where needed.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefed the UN Security Council on Monday on the implementation of the ceasefire resolution. “There has been no cessation of hostilities,” Guterres said. “Violence continues in Eastern Ghouta and beyond - including in Afrin, parts of Idlib and into Damascus and its suburbs.” “Despite some limited convoy deliveries, the provision of humanitarian aid and services has not been safe, unimpeded or sustained,” Guterres said. “No sieges have been lifted ... To our knowledge, not one critically sick or wounded person has yet been evacuated.” Thousands of families are sleeping in the open in the streets of the biggest town of Syria’s rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave, where there is no longer any room in packed cellars to shelter from regime bombardment, local authorities said.