MOSCOW/BEIRUT – The Russian military has offered Syrian rebels safe passage out of eastern Ghouta, setting out a proposal to let the opposition surrender its last major stronghold near Damascus to the Syrian government forces, which rebels have so far rejected.

The Russian defense ministry said rebels could leave with their families and personal weapons through a secure corridor out of eastern Ghouta, where Moscow-backed government forces have made rapid gains in a fierce assault.

The Russian proposal did not specify where the rebels would go, but the terms echo previous deals under which insurgents have ceded ground to the Syrian government forces and departed to opposition-held territory in the north near the Turkish border.

“The Russian Reconciliation Center guarantees the immunity of all rebel fighters who take the decision to leave eastern Ghouta with personal weapons and together with their families,” said the defense ministry statement. Vehicles would “be provided, and the entire route will be guarded”, it added.

Hundreds have been killed in the besieged enclave of satellite towns and rural areas on the outskirts of Damascus in one of the fiercest bombing campaigns of the seven-year-old war.

The United Nations believes 400,000 people are trapped inside the enclave where food and medical supplies were already running out before the assault began with intense air strikes two weeks ago.

Damascus and Moscow have pressed on with the campaign despite a U.N. Security Council demand for a ceasefire, arguing that the rebel fighters they are targeting are members of banned terrorist groups who are unprotected by the truce. The Security Council will meet on Wednesday to discuss the failed ceasefire.

The Syrian army has captured more than a third of the enclave in recent days. President Bashar al Assad said on Sunday the Syrian army would continue the push into eastern Ghouta, which government forces and allied militia have encircled since 2013. On Tuesday, Syria’s SANA state news agency said troops had captured the village of Muhamadiya at the southeast edge of the enclave.