Traction Grows Around Local Cease-fire Plan, as a Way to Alleviate Syrian Suffering

Traction is growing for local cease-fires in Syria as a way to ease Syrians’ suffering in light of the absence of a political solution to end the conflict, AP reports.

On Tuesday the U.N.’s envoy to Syria called for “incremental freeze zones,” starting with Aleppo, to stop fighting and allow better access to aid. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the idea is “worth studying.”

Much of Aleppo is now in ruins and under siege from several directions: on three sides by the Assad regime and by ISIS on the other.

Allowing the status quo to continue in that city “would mean condemning 300,000 men, women and children to a terrible fate,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius wrote in a column published last week, arguing for international intervention.

Some have argued that a truce in Aleppo would indirectly benefit the Assad government, allowing it to reinforce its forces elsewhere in the country.

But a new report by the Carnegie Middle East Center concluded that local peace deals would be the “best hope” to ease the suffering of civilians in the absence of a political solution. The report examined 35 negotiations for local cease-fires in Syria over the past three years.

“Peace in Syria should be brokered piece by piece, on the ground, but within the context of a national plan,” said Rim Turkmani, principal author of the report, “Hungry For Peace: Positives and Drawbacks of Local Truces and Cease-fires in Syria.”

The report claims that regional interference and influence, along with a war economy that allows warring parties to benefit from ongoing conflict, are some of the main obstacles to peace settlements.

Syrian Kurds Make Gains in Kobani But Fail to Take Full Control of Border Town

Syrian Kurds backed by Iraqi peshmerga fighters battling ISIS in Kobani reportedly made advances Tuesday along the town’s southern front, AFP reports.

“Top Kurdish officials told AFP their fighters were advancing “street by street,” voicing confidence that the IS would soon be ejected.”

Idris Nassan, a local official in Kobani, estimated that ISIS is in control of less than 20 percent of Kobani.

The fighters have managed to retake key villages around Kobani, but a Reuters correspondent “said the front lines in the town itself appeared little changed, with the insurgents still controlling its eastern part.”

“A video on YouTube distributed by Islamic State supporters showed fighters purportedly in Syria’s northern province of Raqqa promising to reinforce Kobani,” Reuters reports.

On Monday night, the U.S.-led coalition hit ISIS positions in Kobani’s southeast.

More than 1,000 people, mostly jihadists, have been killed in the fighting for Kobani, since ISIS launched an offensive nearly two months ago.

Over Seven Million Syrians Have Been Displaced by War, Facing Drastic Cuts to Food and Shelter

“About 13.6 million people have been displaced by conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and many are without food or shelter as winter starts,” Reuters reports.

“Now when we talk about a million people displaced over two months, or 500,000 overnight, the world is just not responding,” Amin Awad, UNHCR’s director for the Middle East and North Africa said.

7.2 million people have been displaced within Syria, and 3.3 million Syrian refugees are abroad, with a vast majority in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.

Awad went on to say that Europe should open their borders and share the burden of hosting Syrian refugees.

The U.N. World Food Programme is in a dire position and has been forced to cut rations for 4.25 million people due to lack of funds. Despite a recent pledge to avert immediate cuts, it will still need $325 million to covers its operations for Syria and the region for the remainder of 2014.

According to U.N. figures, the leader donors are the E.U., the U.S., Japan, Norway and some Gulf states, with Russia and China only contributing 0.1 percent of the total this year for Syria.

Recommended Reads:

• Al Monitor: Obama Wants $165 Million for Syrian Rebels

• BBC: Syria’s Disappeared

• New York Post: Video Shows Boys Rescuing Girl from Sniper Fire in Syria

• Daily Beast: ISIS and al-Qaida Ready to Gang Up on Obama’s Rebels

• USA Today: Why We Should Care about Syria

• BBC: Syria’s War: Living Without Water

• Daily Star: Syria Sets Terms for Helping Free Hostages