As patchwork truce hangs on, Syrians see glimmer of hope
HOMS, Syria -- Amid urgent calls for international discussions over alleged violations of the Syria truce Monday morning, the temporary cease-fire appeared still to be largely intact more than two days after it went into effect.
French Foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said his government wanted a meeting "without delay" of the taskforce -- led by Russia and the U.S. -- established to monitor the halt in fighting.
Activists and opposition figures have said Russian and Syrian warplanes are continuing to bomb moderate rebels in Syria, but Syria's government has also claimed violations of the truce since it took effect at midnight on Friday.
In spite of the claims, CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer said Monday the temporary cease-fire was still holding in many areas.
The partial truce, now in its third day, does not include the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or al Qaeda's branch, the Nusra Front, and both the U.S. and Russia had said the fight against those extremist groups would continue.
In the battered Syrian city of Homs, residents were hoping the halt in fighting could bring a more lasting peace.
Though the opposition has complained to the United Nations of numerous violations by the Syrian army, and at least 26 Russian airstrikes, for civilians in areas that are quiet Palmer said the patchwork truce had brought relief, and even a glimmer of hope.
The cease-fire is intended to create the circumstances under which peace talks can go further, hopefully bringing a broader and more lasting arrangement with international monitors and designated safe zones.
In some flattened neighbourhoods that have been reclaimed from rebels by government forces, Palmer said life is starting to return to the ruins.
Walking through the streets she saw business transactions, repairs being made to homes, and even schools operating in what had been a battleground.
The partial truce also is a rare bit of good news to the thousands of homeless Syrians who have been forced out of their towns and villages by more than five years of fighting, and who want nothing more than to return.
A new warning from the United Nations human rights chief Monday said thousands of Syrians may have died from starvation in besieged areas, where about a half a million people are thought to be almost completely cut off from aid.
The U.N. has said it wants to take advantage of the pause in fighting to deliver aid to 150,000 people in the next five days, and it's proposing a new round of peace negotiations starting a week from today.