AKIPRESS.COM - The U.N. humanitarian chief has called for Monday's delivery of aid to three besieged towns in Syria to be the first of many and welcomed a Syrian statement that such deliveries should be repeated and sustained, AP reported.

Stephen O'Brien told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors that the arrival of convoys to help civilians in the three towns cut off for months by the war in Syria must not be "either one-off or exceptional."

The U.N. says 4.5 million Syrians are living in besieged or hard-to-reach areas and desperately need humanitarian aid, with civilians prevented from leaving and aid workers blocked from bringing in food, medicine, fuel and other supplies.

Reports of starvation and images of emaciated children have raised global concerns and underscored the urgency for new peace talks that the U.N. is hoping to host in Geneva on Jan. 25.

Aid convoys with food and other supplies reached three besieged villages on Monday — Madaya, near Damascus, where O'Brien said about 400 people need to be evacuated immediately to receive life-saving treatment for medical conditions, malnourishment and starvation, and the Shiite villages of Foua and Kfarya in northern Syria.

An Associated Press crew saw the first three trucks cross into Madaya on Monday, although journalists were not allowed to accompany the aid workers. At the town's entrance, several civilians — including five children shivering against the cold — said they were waiting to be taken out.

Simultaneously, trucks began entering Foua and Kfarya, which are both under siege by rebel groups hundreds of miles (kilometers) to the north.

Tales of hunger and hardship have emerged from those inside all three communities: Pro-government fighters recently evacuated from inside Foua and Kfarya have said some residents are eating grass to survive. Residents of Madaya similarly have reported living off soup made of leaves and salt water.

Madaya has attracted particular attention in recent days because of reports of deaths and images in social media of severely malnourished residents. The aid operation, which is being facilitated by the U.N., was agreed on last week.