Syria Today: Will Regime Advance Break the Stalemate? Palestinans reject aid from Hezbollah

June 6, 2013 | Scott Lucas in EA Live, EA Middle East & Turkey, Middle East & Iran

Qusayr  : After the BattleA day after the regime capture of Qusayr, the town near the Lebanese border serving as a strategic buffer for Homs, we begin with a straightforward question in an analysis, “What Next?“, and offer this answer:

The regime success in Qusayr does not touch the control of territory across much of northern and eastern Syria by insurgents. Nor does it resolve the situation in Aleppo, the country’s largest city, divided for 10 months. It does not even offer much for the continuing deadlock around the capital, with insurgents still holding suburbs.

So rather than portending “victory”, the development reinforces stalemate.

Palestinians From Syria Reject Food Aid From Hezbollah

Palestinian refugees from Syria on Wednesday burned around 1,500 food aid packages donated by Hezbollah, Lebanon’s Daily Star reports.  The incident was the second in a week.

The Star spoke to the head of the Saadnayel Youth League, Omar Halabi, who said that when refugees and local residents in the Bekaa saw that the food aid had come from Hezbollah, “the same party which is killing their people in Qusayr and other places”, they burned the boxes.

The food aid was delivered to the offices of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a group affiliated with the Syrian government, according to The Star.

Rights Group Slams Attacks On Schools

Human rights NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) sharply criticized on Thursday what it said were deliberate military attacks by the Syrian government on schools.

In a 33-page report, HRW said that forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad’s government have interrogated and beaten schoolchildren for alleged anti-government activities, and have used schools as military bases, barracks, detention centers and sniper posts.

Activists Post Pictures of “Qusayr Martyrs”

A pro-insurgency Facebook page set up to monitor the situation in al-Qusayr has posted photographs of Free Syrian Army fighters killed in the battles before the city was captured by regime forces on Wednesday.

Among the images posted is the above photograph of a man named as Alaa Jalal Al-Zohaily, who according to the description was injured several times during the fighting and was finally killed on Wednesday.

Insurgents Take Border Crossing in Golan Heights

The Israel Defense Force have confirmed that Syrian insurgents have seized the Quneitra crossing on the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Discussions Over International “Peace” Conference Drag On

A meeting between US, Russian, and United Nations officials in Moscow on Wednesday offered little hope for a proposed international conference to resolve the Syrian conflict.

The conference had been proposed for Geneva in June; however, it has been blocked by division between the regime and opposition over the pre-condition that President Assad step aside during a transition.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov re-confirmed that stalemate, saying that the conference will not be held before July, with another “consultative” meeting later this month.

Gatilov also indicated that the US and Russia continue to disagree over the involvement of Iran in the conference: “The issue of the participants…remains the most intricate sticking point.”

Casualties

The Local Coordination Committees claim 73 people were killed on Wednesday, including 18 in Damascus and its suburbs, 16 in Deir Ez Zor Province, and 12 in Homs Province.

The Violations Documentation Center reports that 62,774 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since March 2011, an increase of 62 from Wednesday. Of the deaths, 48,526 were civilians, a rise of 28 from yesterday.