Syrian ceasefire appears to hold, but aid deliveries are on standby

A nervous calm appears to have descended on Syria on the first full day of a ceasefire, but aid has not yet been able to reach besieged populations.
Aid agencies stand poised to distribute much-needed assistance but say they are awaiting guarantees of security from all parties before beginning their deliveries to hundreds of thousands of desperate Syrians.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry says it refuses any entry of humanitarian aid to the city of Aleppo, a priority for aid agencies, unless it is coordinated through the Syrian government and United Nations — especially aid coming from Turkey, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, that there has been a “significant drop in violence” and that the “situation has dramatically improved, with no airstrikes.”

He said humanitarian aid has not yet been delivered because the Syrian government hasn’t sent a letter of authorization to the United Nations.

International Committee of the Red Cross spokeswoman Krista Armstrong said supplies were in warehouses ready to be delivered to rebel-held east Aleppo and other besieged areas as soon as they were cleared to enter. Between 250,000 and 275,000 people in east Aleppo have been cut off from assistance since early July, according to the United Nations.
But she said that “there hasn’t been a breakthrough in accessing new areas” without any guarantees on security.

The peace appeared to be holding Tuesday, with no major violence reported on the first full day of a hard-won ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia.

Both the Syrian government and opposition groups reported sporadic incidents in the first few hours after the ceasefire went into effect at sundown (11.45 a.m. ET) Monday.

One monitoring group reported five violations occurred in and around Aleppo in the ceasefire’s first hours, while state-run news agency SANA said rebels were responsible for a number of breaches in Aleppo and Homs.

The ceasefire’s start coincides with the beginning of Eid al-Adha — a holiday that commemorates when Ibrahim (Abraham in the Old Testament) prepares to sacrifice his son as God commanded, but God intervenes and stops him at the last moment.

The Feast of the Sacrifice celebrates the value of human life. It follows a weekend during which more than 90 people — including 28 children — were killed in airstrikes.

The ceasefire is the second such concerted attempt to bring peace to Syria this year. The United States and Russia coordinated a partial ceasefire in February, but violence soon resumed.
In the wake of the earlier failures, Kerry addressed criticism that the latest deal is flawed.
“Sure, this is less than perfect,” he said. “But flawed compared to what? Compared to nothing?
“This catastrophe developed step by step, folks, and it can only be reversed step by step. This is the best thing we could think of.”

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