cease-fire

(Reuters) BEIRUT: At least eight missing Lebanese soldiers are presumed dead, it emerged on Sunday, after cease-fires were announced in battles against Daesh in the Syrian border region.

It is the third of four planned cease-fires reached in recent months under an agreement brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey in May that aims to "de-escalate" the violent and prolonged Syrian civil war.

Obama, on a trip to Estonia to reassure allies along Russia's border, said it was too early to say if the announced truce could hold, noting that ''we haven't seen a lot of follow-up on so-called announced cease-fires.''

Analysts noted that similar demands had not been met during previous cease-fires. As a result, they said any durable peace would depend primarily on a political agreement.

the cease-fires to numerous parties throughout Darfur.

But the government has charged that the rebels use cease-fires and peace talks to augment their strength by regrouping, reorganizing and procuring more arms.

In these cease-fires, "we are allowed to destroy the tunnels,'' said Amos Yadlin, a former Israeli chief of military intelligence.

But in the past, cease-fires began at midnight of the first day and ended at midnight of the deadline.

The United States cast doubt on Assad's readiness to implement local cease-fires, saying the regime had a poor record sticking to truces.

''They have obviously backdated the posters to suggest that this has been done before the cease-fires were independently declared by both sides,'' an army officer said on condition of anonymity.

Many of the outside players are showing little interest in stepping in forcefully to end the carnage, or even stop it temporarily, unless it helps achieve their top priority -- safeguarding the interests of Israel -- which is why none of the considerable talk about achieving cease-fires gives any hope to the Palestinians.