DAMASCUS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Medical and food aid was delivered to people in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta in the eastern countryside of the capital Damascus on Wednesday, state news agency SANA reported.

The aid was delivered by Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) to 1,440 families in the Nashabiyeh area and surrounding towns in the Eastern Ghouta area, said SANA.

SANA blamed the rebels in Eastern Ghouta of besieging the civilians in that area, while opposition activists accuse the government forces of laying a siege on Eastern Ghouta, where an estimated 400,000 people live.

The situation has been tense in Eastern Ghouta and inside Damascus recently with shelling from the rebel sides targeted residential areas inside the capital, while the opposition accuses the government forces of carrying out airstrikes against areas in Eastern Ghouta.

Earlier in the day, the oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian warplanes haven't conducted airstrikes against Eastern Ghouta for 72 hours.

It added that the Syrian army is amassing forces to prepare for a major assault against that key rebel bastion.

Four key rebel groups are positioned inside Eastern Ghouta such as the Islam Army, Failaq al-Rahman, Ahrar al-Sham and the Levant Liberation Committee (LLC), otherwise known as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

A couple of months ago, the rebels in the city of Harasta in Eastern Ghouta waged a wide-scale offensive against a key military base in that city, triggering a military showdown in that area and shelling from both sides.