[3] In 2016, the Deir ez-Zor subdistrict of eastern Syria was one of the few remaining Syrian government strongholds in the embattled country.

[4][5] The attack triggered "a diplomatic firestorm",[6] with Russia calling an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting in response to the incident.

[8][9][10] According to the New York Times, the Red Crescent aid convoy of 31 trucks departed at 10:50 a.m from within Syrian government-held territory.

Since the convoy was originally meant to have been accompanied by U.N. staff members it was visibly marked with both United Nations and Red Crescent logos.

"[10] About an hour after departing, the aid convoy reached the Syrian government controlled "Death Square" roundabout (named years ago after a car accident), the last government held checkpoint before entering rebel territory, where the convoy's Red Crescent volunteers from Aleppo switched places with Red Crescent volunteers from rebel-held Urum al-Kubra.

On 1 March 2017, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) debunked the Russian and Syrian propaganda and issued a report on human rights situation during the battle of Aleppo, finding that the Syrian Air Force deliberately targeted the humanitarian convoy, and that this amounts to a war crime.