French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned on Sunday that the rebel-held Idlib region in Syria could be the regime’s new target as it seeks to gain back ground from the opposition. Le Drian said: "There are 2 million people in Idlib now, including hundreds of thousands of Syrians evacuated from rebel towns recaptured by the regime." "There is a risk of a new humanitarian disaster,” he said in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche weekly a day after the US, Britain and France carried out strikes in Syria. “Idlib’s fate must be settled by a political process,” demanded the French minister. Idlib province is the last in Syria largely beyond regime control. In recent years, tens of thousands of fighters and civilians have fled there from parts of the country which the regime has recaptured. “Let’s not forget that our principal enemy remains ISIS, as well as other terrorist groups which are currently regrouping in the east of the country,” Le Drian added. The French warning came shortly after the regime recaptured Eastern Ghouta from the opposition. The scorched-earth battle ended after a chemical attack killed over 40 people in the town of Douma and which the West blamed on the regime. Le Drian said he hoped Saturdays strikes, aimed at punishing the regime over its use of toxic gas, would convince Russia to pressure regime head Bashar Assad into negotiations on ending the seven-year war. "We hope that Russia understands...we must combine our efforts to promote a political process in Syria that favors an end to the crisis. "France is ready to work towards this. Except that currently the one blocking the process is Assad himself. Its up to Russia to put pressure on him," he said. Le Drian also said Russia was denying reality in Syria and that its protection of Assad could not be justified. “There is a denial of reality, and he have seen this several times. Already in 2013 and then again in 2017 the Russians denied that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons,” he said. He said that at the time verification mechanisms already put in place by the United Nations had placed responsibility on the regime. “It is no wonder that Russia voted against the renewal of this mechanism last autumn,” he said, adding that when France proposed last week to put in place a comparable mechanism, Russia had vetoed it. Le Drian also called for “really” respecting a ceasefire in the war-torn country. He was referring to a 30-day ceasefire called by the UN in February to facilitate the delivery of aid and medical evacuations, which was never really implemented. On Saturday, the US, France and Britain on Saturday launched a new push at the UN for a ceasefire. In a draft text seen by AFP they also called for a mechanism to probe chemical attacks -- and also ascribe blame for them -- and demanded that Syria engage in stalled UN-led peace talks.