With the advent of Eid al-Adha, the Syrian army command announced a ceasefire leaving citizens uncertain about the true meaning behind reserving the right to respond to rebels.
A day without a murdered Syrian life has become an unreachable dream to many Syrians as the killing has been ongoing for 19 months consecutively. “All we are asking for are few hours of rest, quietness and peace of mind… we want to pray for the loved ones we lost and for all lost Syrians,” said Fara’a, 73, who had numerous close calls to being captured by missiles in Aleppo.
Although the Free Syrian Army agreed to the peace treaty, the opposition doubts the solidarity of this short peace treaty and believes it will only be a matter of few hours after Eid prayers and the cities will be under attack once more.
“We welcome any ceasefire,” activist Kareem Lailah told Al Arabiya. “I wish this truce can be followed word for word as it will save 400 lives in these four days of Eid… but I highly doubt the Syrian army will honor their statement, especially airstrikes.” Lailah said the Free Syrian Army assured its commitment to abide by the truce in completely halting military actions as well as freezing any relocation of tanks and military bases.
Other citizens reject the idea of ceasefire because they portray it as an alternative way to provide the Syrian army with time to collect more weapons and deploy more militias in areas they believe could be under attack after Eid.
“In general, the Syrian army never followed any plan, an example of that is when Kofi Anan imposed ceasefire during Eid al Fitr, the regime fired its weapons in Homs within hours after sunrise,” a Syrian activist who preferred to be called Abu Kodama, told Al Arabiya.
“Even if we ceasefire, this is only a temporary relief to a very complex and bloody situation we are in,” explained Zeina, who did not want to reveal her full name. “To be quiet honest, the situation in itself is a joke… each side is playing chess with the other and everyone set rules to the game and want the game to go according to their rules as we watch Syrians’ blood wasted left and right,” explained Zeina with rage.
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