People inspect the damage at a site after it was hit by shelling carried out by rebels at Syrian government-held areas of Aleppo, Syria, in this handout picture provided by SANA on July 11, 2016. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Tuesday it was deeply concerned about increased fighting in and around the Syrian city of Aleppo and called for humanitarian aid access and the safe and rapid evacuation of civilians.

U.N. spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva that intensified hostilities between government forces and armed groups had cut 300,000 people in eastern Aleppo off from humanitarian supplies and commercial goods, and prices in the city were already rising.