Two million people in the contested Syrian city of Aleppo lack access to running water because of escalated fighting, the United Nations said Tuesday, beseeching all combatants to declare a humanitarian pause to permit emergency deliveries of aid and to fix damaged pumps.

“The UN is extremely concerned that the consequences will be dire for millions of civilians if the electricity and water networks are not immediately repaired,’’ the organization said in a statement.

The statement also denounced the military targeting of hospitals and clinics, which it said “continues unabated.’’

The fighting in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city before the civil war, escalated sharply over the weekend, when rebel forces and their jihadi allies challenged the government’s siege of insurgent-held districts. They severed the primary government supply route, effectively isolating the entire city.

New York Times