UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council has condemned Syrian authorities for attacking civilians and committing widespread human rights violations.

After more than three months of deadlock and silence on the escalating violence in Syria, the council adopted a presidential statement this afternoon condemning President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on anti-government protesters.

The trigger for the council to start negotiations on a text was the intense military assault launched by they Syrian government over the weekend that sent troops and tanks into the besieged city of Hama.

Presidential statements require approval from all 15 council members. Lebanon, a neighbor and close ally of Syria, didn’t block adoption of the statement, but it invoked a procedure last used 35 years ago and dissociated itself from the text.