Starving children FINALLY evacuated from eastern Aleppo - Hospitals empty as civilians are transported to safety

'I'm thinking of leaving. I'm thinking of what would happen if we didn't leave.'

Thousands of innocent, wounded and starving civilians have been evacuated from rebel-held eastern Aleppo.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - News of Syria's starving people and their lack of aid have splashed headlines for months but some of the country's people are finally free from the horrendous conditions surrounding the districts they once called home.

Trapped residents were evacuated by bus and ambulance as hospitals and neighborhoods slowly emptied.

The evacuations were set to begin Wednesday during a ceasefire but when the deal failed to see fruition, everything was put on hold until Thursday, when government forces - backed by Russian allies - took back nearly all remaining rebel-held areas in Aleppo.

According to the BBC, Syrian state TV reported: "4,000 rebels and their families would be evacuated from eastern districts on Thursday," adding "all the procedures for their evacuation" were ready.

CNN reported hundreds of citizens are already on their way to Idlib province but convoys carrying injured civilians have come under fire by snipers, leaving one dead and four injured.

The spotty ceasefires continue to interfere with ongoing evacuations but so far there have been over 40 packed vehicles transporting nearly 1,000 people to safety.

Human aid group International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Director Robert Mardini explained operations were "well underway" and "Our teams are safe and doing all they can on the ground."

There are thirteen ambulances carrying two wounded people each, with 20 buses transporting families to western Aleppo.

Ingy Sedky, Damascus-based spokeswoman for the ICRC told NBC News the vehicles will continue to evacuate civilians throughout the day.

Several reports from various humanitarian groups continue to come in, most sharing successful evacuations tinted with concerns of moving from one difficult situation to another.

Zouhir Al Shimale, an independent journalist in east Aleppo told Aljazeera: "There hasn't been fighting since the morning. ...Civilians are given the choice to stay or leave. If they stay, they'll be under regime control

"Most of the people want to go because they are afraid of potential massacres by the regime. In recent days, people are desperate to get somewhere where we have the supplies - food, medicine, fuel - like we used to have in the days before the siege.

"Even if they are in refugee camps, but people still want to leave the besieged area."

Abdulkafi al-Hamdo, an English teacher and activist with a 9-month-old daughter shared his concerns, "I'm thinking of leaving. I'm thinking of what would happen if we didn't leave."

Should he choose to evacuate, al-Hamdo hopes one day his daughter will return "to Aleppo as a young girl who knows the meaning of freedom."

Please pray the victims of the 5-year-war are granted safe passage and enter into new lives surrounded by protection and, at the very least, basic necessities and medical supplies.

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