The parties that spoke to As-Safir seemed very cautious about stating that an agreement took place and indicated that the withdrawals that are being talked about are limited and don’t differ from those of the past few weeks.

The latest cease-fire agreement is the first after a similar one in February [that promted the] evacuation of civilians from the old neighborhoods. According to the same sources, “The discussions need several days before a settlement is officially announced.”

The sources declined to declare the details of the agreement pending “the clarification of the vision and to make sure that the agreement gets implemented.” The mechanism of the cease-fire agreement still needs to be discussed.

High-level field sources in Homs told As-Safir that the various sides agreed on a cease-fire in Homs’ Old City and the al-Waar neighborhood between the Syrian army and the armed factions in both of those regions. The cease-fire may be a prelude to a settlement, whose details are being discussed.

Yesterday [May 2], the authorities in the city of Homs reached a tentative agreement — brokered by religious scholars and popular mediating committees — with the armed factions in two regions of Homs: the Old City and al-Waar. The agreement could constitute a framework for a major settlement to allow both sides to avert more fighting and destruction.

The concerned parties fear that someone will sabotage the agreement because of conflicts of interest among the armed factions, which have different loyalties, in the Old City of Homs. Those mediating between the parties fear a new escalation in the field would hamper a settlement, as happened before. It is no secret that organizations such as these oppose any settlements with the Syrian army. The same applies to Jaish al-Islam in East Ghouta, and Jaish al-Islam has influence over Liwa al-Haq in Homs.

Several days ago, the armed factions formed a “joint operations room” to break the siege around Old Homs. The joint operations room was composed of al-Ansar Brigades, Liwa al-Haq, Harakat Ahrar al-Sham, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Brigade 313. Jabhat al-Nusra announced it was preparing suicide bombers to target specific areas in Homs to break the siege.

The concerned parties considered the double bombing in Homs in the Abbasid area two days ago as part of the sabotage. Jabhat al-Nusra claimed responsibility for the two bombs and promised more to come. The latest bloody escalation made the government more determined to push more forcefully for a settlement, especially after a similar escalation three weeks ago when two car bombs blew up in al-Nuzha and Akrama neighborhoods. That in turn led to local reprisals in the Karm al-Zeitoun neighborhood, killing 14 civilians, including women and children. This threatened to complicate the situation.

The fighting intensified yesterday in Old Homs, and activists said that rockets targeted the area at night, after several locally made rockets fell near the oil refinery overlooking the international highway.

The Syrian army has made progress in the last two weeks in the Old City of Homs. The army gained control of several blocks in the Bab Hud and Jab al-Jandali neighborhoods and also tightened its nearly two-year-old siege to weaken militant groups in the area.

The agreement being negotiated stipulates that the fighters who wish to leave may do so, going to the East Homs countryside, specifically Talbisa and Rastan, the last bastions of fighters in the Homs countryside. Also the agreement allows anyone who wants to settle his situation to obtain a similar settlement to the one that affected nearly 1,000 fighters in the last three months.

The day before yesterday [May 1], 16 fighters left al-Qarabis and Bab Hud and surrendered to the competent authorities. The source monitoring the current negotiations said, “What happened today [May 3] represents an advanced step that could lead to good results,” pointing out that all “available indicators suggest that a settlement is possible and can expand to other areas.”

According to information obtained by As-Safir, some towns in the east Homs countryside, especially al-Houla, were being considered for an expanded deal that would include development. But that process stopped as the clashes continued. Yesterday [May 2], warplanes targeted gunmen sites near al-Houla. Earlier, two suicide attacks struck east of al-Houla in the villages of al-Humeira, Jadrin, and al-Muwalatain, leaving 30 dead and 50 wounded.

Observers fear that the settlement being prepared may have a similar fate to those that have failed repeatedly in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus. According to the above sources, “The radical groups and the foreign fighters have an interest in continued fighting, not in reconciliation,” and that these groups “can do nothing to prevent the Syrian army [from] announcing that all of Homs is under its control.”

Furthermore, the clashes are still continuing in al-Maliha and Jobar between the army and armed groups, amid shelling in areas in al-Maliha and the outskirts of al-Jisrain. Meanwhile, Jaramana was hit with mortar shells, as was Fares Khoury Street in al-Kassaa.

Since the day before yesterday [May 1], Jobar has been bombarded. Tens of buildings have been bombed before the Syrian army advances from the southern highway.

In the Hama countryside, 20 people, including 11 children, were killed and more than 50 were injured in two bombings in Jabrin and al-Humairi. State agency Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) quoted a security source saying, “A car exploded in Jabrin, southwest of [Hama], killing 20 people and wounding 50. Also, a car exploded in the town of al-Humairi west of Hama, killing one person and wounding others.”

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a Syrian security source, in the countryside of Aleppo the Syrian forces seized control of the northeastern entrance of the city and are about 1.5 kilometers [less than 1 mile] from the besieged Aleppo Central Prison.

In Daraa, the gunmen have captured Tall al-Ashtara and a battalion in the village of Adwan. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the armed factions have targeted a site for the Syrian forces in the farms around Tall al-Ashtara before advancing. Clashes are still ongoing near Nawa, Sheikh Saad, and Sheikh Miskin.