The Latest: UN official: Great potential for Idlib fighting

BEIRUT – The Latest on Syria related developments (all times local):

6:05 p.m.

A top U.N. humanitarian aid official for Syria says he sees "great potential for a lot of fighting" in rebel-held Idlib province despite an accord between Russia and Turkey that has delayed a military offensive.

Jan Egeland says "it's not over" and that air raids and ground offensives are likely to continue against U.N.-listed terror groups whose fighters live near civilians.

Egeland said some militants were prepared to fight to the end, and it was "totally legal and recommended to speak to armed men, even listed terrorist organizations, to end the conflict without bloodshed for civilians."

He added: "No one's asking for any impunity for terrorists here."

Egeland also said the situation in southeastern Rukban, where some 50,000 civilians are in camps near the Jordanian border, has "rapidly deteriorated in recent days."

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3:20 p.m.

Israel's air force chief is flying to Moscow to brief Russian President Vladimir Putin on the incident over Syria that led to the downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane.

Syrian missile forces on Monday mistook the Russian Il-20 for an Israeli aircraft, shooting it down and killing all 15 people aboard. Russia's Defense Ministry initially blamed the plane's loss on Israel, but Putin sought to defuse tensions, pointing at "a chain of tragic accidental circumstances."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to share data with Russia on what was happening in the sky over Syria that day and dispatched the Israeli air force chief to Moscow. The official is due to arrive in Moscow on Thursday.