BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the conflict in Syria and international diplomatic efforts to end the violence (all times local):

1:40 p.m.

The man who is heading up a humanitarian task force on Syria following an overnight agreement on a cessation of hostilities within a week, says the deal could provide a "breakthrough" to get aid needed to civilians in the war-torn country.

Jan Egeland, who heads the Norwegian Refugee Council, was to lead Friday's meeting in Geneva of the task force called for under an agreement reached by the International Syria Support Group, under U.S. and Russian leadership.

Egeland said the task force's main focus is gaining access to besieged towns. He said aid convoys have been denied access and left on stand-by "for too long."

In a statement, Egeland said a request for access to the most-affected areas was made Friday, and aid could be shipped to some of those areas by early next week.

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1 p.m.

Hezbollah's TV channel says Syrian government forces are in position to target the final supply route to the rebel-held eastern districts of Aleppo, after troops recaptured several strategic hills in the city's northern countryside.

The advance is part of a broader government offensive to isolate the rebel stronghold, which began in earnest last week when troops supported by allied militias and backed by heavy Russian airstrikes retook the villages of Nubul and Zahra.

The new positions south of Zahra allow forces to target the towns of Anadan, Hraytan, and Kafr Hamra, Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV says.

Government forces were repelled in an effort to retake the hills earlier this week, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports.

The Observatory reports heavy fighting between government and opposition forces a few kilometers south, around the town of Tamoura.