Shelling in the besieged Syrian city of Homs has killed two Western journalists, while rights activists and Damascus ally Russia are supporting calls for humanitarian assistance.

Marie Colvin, an American working for Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, and French photographer Remi Ochlik died Wednesday in shelling that activists say killed at least 13 other people and wounded several more journalists.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe expressed condolences to the journalists' families, calling the deaths “murder.” He said the situation in Syria is worsening, and that he hopes an international meeting later this week will be a step towards a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

“It's another demonstration of the degradation of the situation in Syria and of a repression that is more and more intolerable. I hope that Friday at the “Friends of Syria” meeting in Tunis, we will be able to move towards a peaceful solution of the situation.”

The “Friends of Syria” contact group — made up of Western and Arab nations openly seeking Mr. Assad's downfall — is planning to use Friday's meeting in Tunisia to increase pressure on the Syrian government to halt the bloodshed. Russia and China back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's reform program, which the Syrian opposition has soundly rejected.

Russia's Foreign Ministry voiced its support Wednesday for a plan to implement a daily two-hour cease-fire in Syria in order to allow for urgently needed humanitarian aid.

The International Committee of the Red Cross proposed the cease-fire Tuesday, calling on Syria to immediately put it into place. ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger said that in Homs and elsewhere, entire families have been isolated for days, unable to secure food, water or medical care.

The opposition Syrian National Council told reporters in Paris it wants Russia to push the Syrian government to allow the aid convoys.

A spokeswoman for the council also said Wednesday the group increasingly believes armed conflict is the only solution to the crisis.

Wednesday's violence comes a day after Syrian security forces killed 63 people in assaults on northern villages and shelling in Homs.

The casualty figures could not be independently verified because phone lines have been cut and Syria restricts the operations of foreign media.

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday appeared to open the door to possibly arming Syria's rebels. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the best outcome for the country would be a political solution but that if Mr. Assad refuses to yield to diplomatic pressure, she said the U.S. “may have to consider additional measures.”

Homs is a major hub of the 11-month uprising against Mr. Assad's autocratic rule. Syria's military is under the control of Shi'ite Alawite officers, from the same minority sect as Mr. Assad, raising concerns the country is headed toward open civil war.

Human rights activists say the violence has killed at least 6,000 people.