Truce in Part of Syria, Announced by Trump, Survives First Day The cease-fire, negotiated by the United States, Russia and Jordan, applies to a strategic area across southwest Syria, near its border with Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. On Monday, Syrian forces said they had attacked Islamic State fighters in one area covered by the truce, an assertion disputed by local rebels, some of whom have received covert aid from the United States and its allies. Syrian forces in Quneitra are backed by Hezbollah fighters, and on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, while welcoming the cease-fire, warned against "Iran and its proxies" establishing themselves in the area. Dara’a is where the rebellion against the Assad government began in 2011, and much of its countryside is held by rebel factions, armed and aided by the United States, Jordan and others. By SOMINI SENGUPTA and BEN HUBBARDJULY 10, 2017 BEIRUT, Lebanon — Representatives of Syria’s warring parties gathered in Geneva on Monday for the seventh round of peace talks, as a limited truce, negotiated by their big-power backers, appeared to be holding for a full day in southwest Syria, according to local residents and human rights monitors. The Syrian battlefield is populated by a mix of rebel groups, supported by Jordan, Turkey, Persian Gulf countries and the United States.
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