How can we end Aleppo’s nightmare?

The conflicting interests at play in Syria make the war particularly intractable to solve

The besieged rebel-held al Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo. Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters

Nobody can watch what is happening in eastern Aleppo without feeling a sense of dread for the 250,000 civilians caught in the middle of the fighting. But while there is consensus in the shocked reactions to images of blood-splattered children, it is not matched by a similar unity on how to halt the carnage.

The fault lines of this conflict are clearly defined. The regime of Bashar Al Assad sees Aleppo as crucial to maintaining control of the core parts of Syria, while its ally Russia began providing military aid a year ago when it seemed that rebel forces might cause the regime to fall. The United States has striven to avoid becoming involved after messy and counterproductive forays into Afghanistan and Iraq but feels pressure to be drawn in by events ranging from the regime’s use of chemical weapons to the rise of ISIL and now the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas of Aleppo.

Adding yet further layers of complexity are the involvement of Iran – another regime ally and its proxies, such as Hizbollah – and the wide range of home-grown Syrian militias fighting for everything from democracy to a supposed new caliphate. Add to that the effect of the presidency of Barack Obama drawing to an end and a possible new approach by his successor, such as the no-fly zones and civilian havens postulated by Hillary Clinton or the unspecified escalation against ISIL proposed by Donald Trump.

With no side able to impose a military solution to the conflict, these conflicting interests explain why this issue has proven to be so intractable. As recently as this week, France and Spain tried to stop the bombardment of Aleppo through a United Nations Security Council resolution, only to be vetoed by Russia.

All this poses the question of how to stop the carnage in Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria and to solve the conflict for good. As with the long civil war in neighbouring Lebanon that ended in 1990, the absence of a military solution means there will have to be some kind of political settlement. But how? The tenure of Mr Al Assad is just one sticking point to finding a way to transition from war to peace.

In the meantime, how can the civilised world lessen the toll being paid by the innocents caught in the middle? Of the 250,000 civilians in eastern Aleppo, 40 per cent are children – as is clear from the heart-rending images that continue to emerge from the city’s bombardment. A ceasefire would be a good way to start, but how do we convince all those involved that this is the right path?