Spotlight: Syria's future in limbo amid lingering uncertainties

Hopes of ending Syria's long-standing conflict hang in the balance as disturbing violence continues to blemish the war-torn country's political and military landscape.

Areas including but not limited to Aleppo and Homs have been particularly hard-hit by an upsurge in fighting between government forces and opposition factions in a war where civilians and healthcare workers have all too often been at the receiving end of shelling and bombing sprees.

With both sides contributing to the raging chaos, operations carried out by the extremist groups Islamic State and al-Nusra Front are further compounding the fragile state of affairs, as are attacks targeting critical infrastructure such as hospitals and healthcare centers.

In light of recent developments, Syria's predicament is in danger of returning to levels witnessed before a nationwide ceasefire came into force on Feb. 27.

Escalating tensions are also undoing ongoing efforts seeking to appease the humanitarian crisis.

Altogether, some 778,000 people living in hard-to-reach and besieged areas have been reached by cross-sectoral humanitarian assistance since the beginning of the year, an achievement which bolstered United Nations-mediated peace talks with a new sense of direction.

Despite this and a truce many considered historic, three rounds of UN-mediated talks have yet to make tangible progress as deep-seated disagreements continue to permeate proximity negotiations.

Perceived by many pundits as the only viable option for war-ravaged Syria, the issue of political transition is also where opposing delegations diverge the most.

While the Syrian government seeks to establish a broad-based national unity government to include members who reject terrorism as well as opponents in the national opposition who are not subject to foreign agendas, the High Negotiations Committee (the Saudi-backed umbrella group for Syrian opposition factions) backs the creation of a transitional governing body with full executive powers which has no place for incumbent Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The release of detainees from government prisons, humanitarian access and terrorism are also topics which have been repeatedly brought up by opposing delegations.

Ultimately though, such divides are of secondary importance for those seeking to find overlapping grey-zones between factions at war since March 2011.

The catastrophic reality on the ground is indeed spurring diplomats to push on with efforts in a desperate bid to get talks back on track.

While no date has been set for the next round of negotiations seeking to broker a political end to the five-year conflict, hopes are that they will resume this month.

In case of resumption, the plan is to finally address key issues on a substantial level to prevent more suffering in a crisis which has seen some 400,000 people lose their lives.

According to UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, the reopening of peace talks is contingent on an improvement to the lives of Syrians living in conflict-afflicted areas.

The most effective way of doing this is to implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities, but this is proving especially difficult in the current climate of enmity.

While the Syrian government blames the rebels in Aleppo for violating the February truce, opposition forces accuses Syrian warplanes of striking rebel-held areas in the eastern part of the city.

As recently as last week, de Mistura reported that one Syrian was being killed every 25 minutes.

It is in this context that both International Syria Support Group (ISSG) co-chairs, the United States and Russia, agreed that talks must be matched by marked improvement of the situation on the ground.

A shaky Aleppo truce, which took effect at 1 a.m. Thursday (2300GMT Wednesday) aimed to do just that amid reports that clashes in and around the symbolically important city have claimed the lives of more than 280 civilians since April 22.

The outcome of this localised 48-hour ceasefire could determine the fate of Syria whose future, as the UN has constantly reminded, hinges on a political settlement, not a military one. Endit