Humanitarian aid reaches Ghouta first time in 5yrs: Sources

CAIRO- 24 July 2017: Humanitarian aid will reach eastern Ghouta for the first time in five years following the Egyptian mediation that led to the ceasefire agreement signed between the Syrian regime and the opposition, according to statements made to Egypt Today by prominent member of Syria’s “Al-Ghad” (Tomorrow) movement, Qasem Al Khatib.

“The three day-negotiations included representatives from the Russian Defense Ministry, the Syrian regime, moderate and armed opposition located at eastern Ghouta, the Syrian regime and the Egyptian government,” Al Khatib told Egypt Today on Sunday.

He added that about 80 percent of the Syrian territories are under ceasefires and truces, as no clashes have been taking place in Aleppo and south Syria. As for the city of Homs, which was one of the four zones of reducing tension in Syria, according to the Russian draft proposed last May, Al Khatib said that “a ceasefire has taken place since the beginning of July, and humanitarian aid started to enter to it through safe paths.”

“[This ceasefire] however is the most important one signed during the past period, as Ghouta is located on [the]Damascus border,” according to Al Khatib.

On Sunday, Syria's Tomorrow opposition movement signed a ceasefire agreement in eastern Ghouta with the Syrian regime, according to an official statement.

The agreement’s conditions include, “a complete ceasefire binding to all parties, an entry ban on all military troops into eastern Ghouta, building Russian observation sites inside Ghouta to monitor the parties’ commitment to the agreement and opening safe paths for the aid, goods and Syrian civilians.”

“This agreement should ease the Syrian people's suffering, and improve their living conditions,” the statement read.

The movement also thanked President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and the Egyptian government for its mediation and efforts to host the negotiations and the agreement signing. “Finally we hope this agreement is one of the steps towards achieving peace inside the whole Syrian territory.”

According to Russia Today (RT) on July 5, Alexander Lavrentiev, the head of the Russian delegation to the fifth round of Astana talks on Syria, the final results were “positive.”

He added that “the agreed zones of reducing tension in Syria are already subject to truces; however, we didn’t sign official agreements on them.”

“This time I think the parties will commit themselves to the agreement, as there are Russian guarantees and supervision,” Al Khatib said.