Feature: Despite doubts, Syrian refugees in Lebanon hope Geneva talks can end crisis

Ahmad abou-Ali, a Syrian displaced from the devastated city of Idlib, is sitting inside his tent on the shores of the Qaraon lake in western Lebanon.

He is following the news about the on-going Geneva peace talks, hoping that his misery could end soon so that he can return home.

"Although we have little hope as past talks have proven to be useless, the gathering is important... and is better than fighting," he said.

Salwa al-Alawi used to live in the Damascus neighborhoods. She wanted that the Geneva talks can be a beginning of an end to the Syrian civil war that is entering its sixth year.

"We do not understand politics, but our concern is that we see an end to the crisis in Syria," the widow and mother of four said. "We are following the news about the talks with teary eyes, but all we can do is praying."

Amal al-Houri was also from the Syrian capital.

"Please, give us peace!" She shouted while watching TV reports on the talks.

She lamented the global cut in aid, saying those in the talks should not leave without a solution, and what the displaced Syrians want to see is the land of their ancestors.

In a tent in the Bar Elias refugee camp in the western Bekaa, a heated debate about the ongoing talks is prevailing among the refugees.

"There is some hope, although it is very slim," said Jamal al-Jbouri.

However, Hazem al-Izzi, Jama's friend, is even more pessimistic. He believed that the talks would collapse and their misery would continue.

"We lost our properties and beloved," al-Izzi said. "We had to flee the ruined Syria and I do not think anything positive would come out of Geneva."

According to the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees, Lebanon hosts more than 1.1 million Syrians who fled their war-torn country since the uprising against President Bashar Assad started in March 2011.

The government and its opponents are holding indirect discussions in Geneva in a third round of its kind, amid a truce reached earlier this month despite pockets of breaches. Endit