No Civilian Deaths on First Day of Week-Long Cease-Fire

No civilian deaths have been reported in Syria in the first 15 hours of a nationwide cessation of hostilities.

The seven-day truce is an attempt to halt fighting across the war-torn country and enable humanitarian groups to deliver aid to embattled areas. Brokered by the United States and Russia, the deal excludes the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) and the former al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra.

United Nations officials said they are waiting for better assurances of peace before commencing aid deliveries to besieged areas. A U.N. spokesman told the BBC that they required “a laying down of weapons that satisfies us … and as I speak that has not yet been the case.”

Government shelling and airstrikes as well as rebel clashes were reported in the hours ahead of the cease-fire on Monday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. However, no violations or deaths were reported after sunset on Monday.

The Syrian army said it would commit to the cease-fire for seven days but would retaliate against any violation by armed groups. Rebel groups, including the hard-line Ahrar al-Sham militia, gave a hesitant and cautious welcome to the proposed ceasefire.

Qatar, a key ally of armed rebel groups in Syria, welcomed the cease-fire, Reuters reported. Saudi Arabia, another key rebel supporter, has yet to commit to the deal.

Israeli Army Denies Syrian Claim of Shooting Down Israeli Airplane and Drone

Syrian state media claimed the army had shot down an Israeli aircraft Tuesday morning near Quneitra. Israel denied the report a few minutes later, Al Jazeera reported.

On Monday Israel attacked a Syrian military position in Quneitra, near the Israeli border. The Israeli army had struck Syrian targets on Monday in response to a projectile from Syria that had landed across the border, the Israeli army said.

Syrian state media said Israel’s alleged attack was in support of opposition armed groups fighting the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

The Israeli military said the two Syrian missiles targeting its aircraft on Tuesday had both missed.

Turkey Says It Will Continue to Fight ISIS in Syria

The Turkish military said its warplanes killed 20 militants from the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) on Saturday, BBC News reported.

Turkey has a “binding duty” to defeat the militants in Syria, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, adding that Turkey’s recent intervention in Syria, Operation Euphrates Shield, was only a first step.

“It is our duty to our people to finish off Daesh in Syria, and to bring them to a level where they can’t carry out attacks in our country,” Erdogan said in a statement.

Last month, Turkey intervened militarily in Syria to push back ISIS from its strongholds on the border with the NATO-member country. Turkish officials also said the intervention was aimed at thwarting Kurdish ambitions of consolidating their territory in Syria. The Turkish government sees the main Syrian Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), as an extension of Turkey’s own Kurdish insurgency led by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been battling for autonomy since the 1980s.

Recommended Reads

• The New York Times: The Flavors That Unite Syrians
• Foreign Policy: Can Anyone Stop the Syrian War?
• ARA News: E.U. Think-Tank: Kurds Need Special Status in Syria
• Carnegie: The U.N. Enters Syria’s Moral Labyrinth
• The Washington Post: Flow of Foreign Fighters Plummets as Islamic State Loses Its Edge