The UN Security Council is meeting on Monday to discuss the conflict in northern Ethiopia, even as rebels claim to be advancing towards the capital, Addis Ababa.

The open session in New York will discuss the humanitarian crisis, where nearly eight million people are facing what the UN has described as near-famine conditions.

Previous UN Security Council meetings ended with no concrete resolution on ending the fighting, but the US has withheld millions of dollars in aid to Ethiopia and has threatened punitive actions against those instigating the conflict.

Both sides have rejected proposals to have face-to-face negotiations to end the year long-conflict.

Over the weekend, top UN and African Union envoys visited Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region, and appealed for a ceasefire and a safe passage for humanitarian assistance to the millions in need of urgent food aid.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Sunday in support of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his war against the Tigray rebels.

They chanted songs and waved banners denouncing what they said was interference by the West in the internal matters of Africa’s second most-populous nation.