Latest news with #BasharAl-Assad
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Harrowing final words of tortured prisoner executed in 'human slaughter house'
Warning: Distressing content. Thousands of people died inside Bashar Al-Assad's 'human slaughterhouse' prisons in Syria - and one man's harrowing final words were documented by a guard The conditions inside Bashar Al-Assad's 'human slaughterhouse' prisons in Syria were beyond most people's worst nightmares. Thousands of people died inside them, or vanished - but everyone incarcerated within them suffered. Torture was a daily horror, not just in the much-dreaded interrogations, but in the conditions within which the prisoners were held in such close proximity that some are even said to have suffered psychosis from oxygen deprivation. When his oppressive regime was finally overthrown, relatives of those who had been imprisoned flooded into the facilities, desperate for answers about where their loved ones had gone, and footage was recorded of families searching frantically through debris for any clue of their fates. Brit wife of exiled Syria dictator Bashar Al-Assad 'barred from UK' amid cancer battle Qatar Airways resumes flights to Syria after 13 year break due to civil war Prisoners were fed like animals from large pails, and lived in such cramped conditions that guards revealed it was not possible to see the floor. At the Air Force Intelligence branch in Harasta, conditions could not have been more hellish. The once-second-in-command of the facility, Colonel Zain, hauntingly admitted: "The place I worked in was very famous for its bloody practices and the number of detainees held there. We would pack 400 detainees in a room that was eight by ten metres. "You wouldn't set eyes on the floor when you entered; bodies of detainees blanketed it. The screams emanating from the interrogation room situated directly below my office were no secret. It was common knowledge how we conducted our interrogations. "The temperature was around 40 degrees, because it was so crowded. We saw strange cases of disease amongst prisoners, I think, due to oxygen deficiency because of overcrowding. These psychotic episodes soon turned into physical symptoms," he said to BBC Two's documentary Surviving Syria's Prisons. It has been estimated by Amnesty International that 13000 people died in these nightmare slaughterhouse prisons in just the first four years after the Arab Spring in 2011, which, after a brief hope it might bring better times, swiftly turned into a hellish civil conflict, with protests in Damascus put down ruthlessly. Inside these prisons, guards tortured - often entirely false - confessions from prisoners, threw execution parties, and were even told to "bury them alive". Hussam, another guard and former military policeman, told the BBC of the haunting last words of a prisoner who faced execution, and the extensive torture they inflicted on prisoners. "Our superiors would say, 'Torture them, don't let them sleep at night. Throw them a party... put them in a grave if you want to, bury them alive'. "When they'd call me to go and torture them, the prisoners would go back to their cells bloody and exhausted. On Wednesday mornings, we'd have an 'execution party'. Our role during executions was to place the rope on the prisoner - only an officer could push the chair." He continued, "One time, the chair was pushed, but after 22 minutes he didn't die. So I grabbed him and pulled him downwards, so another guard who was bigger and stronger said, 'go I will do it.' Before he died he said one thing: 'I'm going to tell God what you did'." An army nurse revealed in the documentary that they were not allowed to record the real causes of death, whether that was extensive torture or execution. "It was forbidden to record the cause of death as torture. Even those killed from gunshots were recorded as heart and respiratory failure." Over 130 mass grave sites have so far been discovered in Syria, with families facing the distressing prospect of struggling to identfiy their loved ones amongst the countless dead.
Arabian Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- Arabian Post
Al-Shaara Proved He is Still a Jihadist Commander
By Manish Rai Recently, we saw large-scale violence targeting the Syrian Druze community in Sweida province in southern Syria. Druze are a small religious minority group in Syria and are around 3.20% of the total Syrian population. As per the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's forces and allied militias have carried out massacres in Sweida, and approximately 600 members of the Druze community have been killed, including 140 women and children. This eruption of violence was an eerie reminder of a series of violent attacks that have been launched against the Syrian religious and ethnic minorities since the current regime came to power. The Syrian National Army (SNA), which is also part of a coalition led by President Ahmad Al-Shaara's group Hayat Taheer Al-Sham (HTS) attacked Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in North-East Syria in December 2024. In particular, fierce fighting along the Tishreen Dam became the focal point. In March, indiscriminate killings of Alawites were carried out in the Syrian coastal areas, especially in the city of Banias. While exact figures remain difficult to verify, more than 1,300 individuals, most of them Alawites, lost their lives. In some cases, entire families were summarily executed. These atrocities were solely directed against the Alawite minority and instigated by militias affiliated with the new regime, ostensibly as part of a response to attacks in Latakia and Tartous from armed groups affiliated with the deposed Assad regime. In the name of fighting former President Bashar Al-Assad, loyalist collective punishment was inflicted on the Alawite community. In June this year church in the Syrian capital of Damascus was rocked by a suicide explosion; in this deadly attack, 25 people were killed. The Syrian authorities blamed the attack on the Islamic State (IS) group. However, a lesser-known Sunni extremist group, Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah, claimed responsibility for this attack. Many analysts believe this little-known group has deep links with HTS, as their relations with HTS stretch back to before the Bashar Al-Assad regime's fall. Then, it was allegedly part of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's broader coalition and helped HTS recruit cells to operate inside Assad-held territory. If we look at the pattern of all these past attacks, it clearly indicates that they were carried out on the instructions or at least with tacit approval of the current Syrian regime. The objective of these attacks was to subdue the minorities through terror, so they wouldn't demand their political rights. The current Syrian regime got emboldened by the recent lifting of Western sanctions and the informal recognition it got from Arab states and the United States. In May 2025, the US president met Ahmad Al-Shaara in the Saudi capital Riyadh and expressed admiration for him. He went further and mentioned Al-Shaara as a strongman, the brute, the resilient survivor, and declared him a 'Tough guy with a very strong past.' The US president should have done research and dug more into the past of Al-Shaara, as his past is one marked by links to al-Qaeda, nothing else. ADVERTISEMENT HTS subscribes to the Salafist school of thought, which is the same as Al-Qaeda's. The group imposed strict Islamic rule in areas it controlled in the past, and civilians in those areas say the group's practices are like those of the Islamic State. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham used to host a significant number of foreign fighters, including Arabs, Turks, Chechens, Uzbeks, and Muslims from China's Xinjiang province. The group's attitude toward heterodox minorities like the Druze and Alawites never changed. There is, for example, a small community of Druze in northern Idlib whose inhabitants were forced to convert to Islam by HTS predecessor, Al-Nusra Front, in 2015. We should always be mindful of the fact that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is no different from Al-Qaeda; it's just the old wine in a new bottle. In January 2017, HTS was born out of the merger of Salafi jihadists from mainly Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zinki, Liwa al-Haq, Jaysh al-Sunna, and Jabhat Ansar al-Din with Al-Nusra Front. HTS tried to showcase through various mergers with other groups that it has ended its affiliation with Al-Qaeda, but definitely, these mergers did not indicate an ideological split with Al-Qaeda but were part of a strategy to increase the group's appeal within Syria. Ahmad Al-Shaara should come to his senses and understand the fact that just by taking off his military attire and wearing a business suit, he can't fool the world. Syria is a multiethnic society consisting of Sunni Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians, Armenians, Turkomans, Alawites, Druze, and Yazidis. To keep the country united and stable, the future Syrian state should be a nation that accommodates and grants rights to all the ethnic and religious groups, so that everyone feels their participation in running the state. Unless the current regime doesn't follow this approach honestly, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) must be isolated and marginalized by the international community. As with the current jihadist ideology and criminal actions, the current regime of Al-Shaara remains a ticking time bomb that arguably poses a greater long-term threat to the region and Syria's stability. Also published on Medium. Notice an issue? Arabian Post strives to deliver the most accurate and reliable information to its readers. If you believe you have identified an error or inconsistency in this article, please don't hesitate to contact our editorial team at editor[at]thearabianpost[dot]com. We are committed to promptly addressing any concerns and ensuring the highest level of journalistic integrity. 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Al-Ahram Weekly
7 days ago
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Syria's existential moment - Region
The crisis facing Syria extends far beyond the Sweida clashes – it is consequential, just as those are. On Tuesday, the interim Syrian government said it was aware of major violations that were committed by individuals wearing security uniforms during the conflict that took place in Sweida last week. The statement came against the backdrop of alarming concern over Syria's social cohesion and territorial integrity, given the repeated ethnic confrontations in different parts of the country, the latest of which was in Sweida. Having started on 19 July and lasted for about five days, with considerable bloodshed and subsequent displacements, the Sweida clashes brought attention to the complex problems that are challenging the stability and territorial unity of Syria beyond the rule of the Assad regime that was toppled on 8 December 2024. The deadly clashes — which have started with what seemed to be common theft in a Druze-majority city in the south of Syria, Sweida, between the Druze, a Muslim minority sect, and Bedouin tribes, mostly Sunni — demonstrated the high level of ethnic tension. The Druze have a presence in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and historic Palestine. Those in Palestine chose to subscribe to the Israeli state and are serving in the Israeli army. When the Sweida Druze leaders warned of a deliberate massacre against their people, Israeli Druze militants moved into south Syria, with the direct support of the Israeli army, to reach out to the Druze of Syria. Israel bombarded Damascus allegedly to retaliate for the attacks conducted by the Bedouins on the Druze. Upon the intervention and pressure of the US, which shared a rare opposition to the Israeli strikes on Syria, the interim Syrian government decided to pull the non-Sweida militants out and allow for a fragile truce to go into effect on Sunday evening. A US-sponsored deal allowed Israel to send humanitarian and medical aid into Sweida. The interim government that stretched its security in the roads leading to the city succumbed to the Sweida Druze leader's decision to deny the entry of any government-associated or condoned militants into the city upon the execution of the ceasefire. The Sweida clashes, according to sources informed about developments on the ground, could escalate again. 'Tension is still very high; each side wants to avenge; regional players, including Israel, are trying to re-incite violence; and the interim regime is still unable to take matters into its own hands,' said an Arab diplomat who follows the developments in Syria closely. These clashes took place less than nine months after the ouster of the dictatorial regime of Bashar Al-Assad at the hands of the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a militant group of the diverse anti-Bashar forces that have been working to topple his rule since 2011. They came at a time when the interim regime of HTS leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa was attempting, with the mediation of Turkey and the US, to reach a political compromise with the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces). This leading Kurdish militant group has the support of both the US and Israel. They also occurred a few months after similar clashes took place on the western coast, which has a sizable presence of Al-Assad's Alawite, another Syrian minority. According to Cairo-based foreign diplomats, it is hard to deny the sectarian nature of the clashes. 'The regime security forces are not in control, and they cannot quell the radical Sunni groups who had previously fought alongside the HTS against Al-Assad, who was practically liquidating and bombing all segments of the Syrian opposition, with the help of some regional players, including Iran and Hezbollah,' one of those diplomats said. Today, the same diplomat argued it is not hard to see the radical Muslim Sunnis wanting to avenge the blood baths that Al-Assad had committed in his fight to stay in power. It is not hard, either, he added, to see why Al-Sharaa is avoiding a confrontation with those radical militants who were his allies. According to another diplomatic source, who is well informed on Syria, today some 30,000 to 40,000 radical non-Syrian fighters are heavily armed and running uncontrolled in Syria. There is no way, he added, that Syria's interim president could send home these thousands of Tajik, Igor, and Chechenian fighters – or, for that matter, to disarm them. 'It is an open secret that these and other radical fighters, including Syrians, are not at all happy about Al-Sharaa's current compromising political choices and that there have been at least two to three attempts on his life from these groups,' he said. "It is equally challenging to overlook the fact that the attempts of Al-Sharaa to reach a consensual deal with the Druze on the terms of rule have almost systematically failed due to the failure of the Druze leaders to commit," according to Rabha Seif Allam, a senior expert on Syrian affairs at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. She explained that the Druze had enjoyed a semi-autonomous set-up in the last few years of the rule of Al-Assad, who pulled out troops from Sweida to help with the fight against the 2011 democracy calls that he turned into civilian strife. It is equally hard, Allam added, to overlook the fact that Israel, via the Druze of historic Palestine, has been trying to breach the Syrian ethnic and political make-up. While some diplomatic sources have been speculating over the chances for Israel to succeed with its campaign to turn Syria into a federal state, with a weak central government, Allam argued that the recurrent ethnic-and-faith-based clashes in the post-Assad Syria are threatening 'disunity rather than an administrative federal situation.' 'The areas that Israel bombed, allegedly to retaliate for the violations against Syrian Druze, are exactly the areas that Israel would like to see emptied of any tribal presence,' Allam said. The objective, she explained, is to create corridors that connect all the Druze segments away from any other tribal presence. Allam said Druze leaders in Israel are lobbying some of their Syrian counterparts to seek some independence. She noted that this is neither helpful nor fair to the image of the Druze, who had played a very consequential role in Syria's independence at the end of the French mandate in 1946. 'Upon the Israeli occupation of the Golan [Heights in 1967], the Druze of Syria declined to either leave their lands or to be integrated into the Israeli entity,' she said. Throughout the decades, she added, a minority as they are, the Druze have been part of the Syrian political dynamics. Beyond their part in the fight for the independence of Syria, Allam stated that the Druze were part of the establishment of Baathist rule in the country in the early 1960s. Later, she said, they could carefully manage their relationship with the Al-Assad regime, both under Hafez Al-Assad and his son Bashar Al-Assad, whose successive rule spanned from 1971 to 2024. 'The Druze did not take part in the democracy protests of 2011, and they actually declined to serve in the army for its violations against the Syrian people,' Allam said. She added that it was only in 2023, when they had suffered profound humiliations at the hands of the Al-Assad security forces and considerable economic degradation, that they demonstrated against him, with Hikmat Al-Hijri at the lead. Comprising three percent of Syria's 23 million population, the Druze are divided into three groups under three leaders, with Al-Hijri being the spiritual guide and political leader of the largest segment. According to Allam, it is not just the Druze whom Israel is prompting to pursue a degree of independence from the central rule of Damascus, but also the Kurds in the north. Add to this the inclinations coming out from the Alawites, the Assad sect, in Al-Sahel, the western coast of Syria, she said. 'It becomes clear where the disunity might be coming from.' For the most part, she said, international and regional key players, including Washington, Ankara, Cairo, Riyadh, and even Abu Dhabi, are for the unity and territorial integrity of Syria. Diplomatic sources have suggested that the UAE has been more aligned with the 'federal scenario." However, Allam argued that Syria's unity serves the trade and economic cooperation interests of the Emiratis. Other than Israel, Allam 'so far' sees Iran as the possibly only other regional player who might be interested in a less central future for Syria, because it serves Tehran's interest to have an almost connected land route from Iran to Iraq, Syria, and then Lebanon. 'This scenario also contributes to the weakening of the Sunni regime in Syria that has distanced itself from the previous Damascus-Tehran alliance under the Al-Assad regime,' she said. 'With Iran and Israel not being candidates for any agreement, it is hard to see how they could both push for the disintegration scenario,' she noted. With such complex elements of the current situation in the country, Allam said it is not easy to have a clear or comprehensive forecast for Syria's political future. However, she said that one thing is clear: 'Ahmed Al-Sharaa is moving faster to pursue more alliances both inside and outside Syria – much more than he ever did since the ouster of the Al-Assad regime on 8 December 2024.' Informed diplomatic sources say Al-Sharaa has been particularly engaging with Turkey, on the Kurdish file, and with Israel, on the security file. Moreover, he, according to the same sources, has been less reluctant to the overtures of communication from Iran. However, the Cairo-based Syrian political activist Suuad Khubie said that without a committed quest for 'a serious and true national dialogue that would lead to a truly representative and comprehensive national dialogue,' there is little that the interim political regime in Damascus can do to serve the cause of unity and territorial integrity. 'It is all in the hands of the interim rule,' Khubie said. She argued that addressing the threats of disunity requires a clear recognition of the reasons behind the current state of affairs in the country, which is dominated by a sense of discord that was not there upon the ouster of Al-Assad in the winter of last year. 'We need to realize that the national dialogue that was engineered and managed by the new regime fell far short of being representative and fell far short of addressing the many concerns of Syrians,' she said. The same, she added, applies to the constitutional declaration, 'which was basically drafted and passed by the new regime.' Khubie added that there was a failure in the pursuit of a genuine transitional justice, which opened the door for vindictive and counter-vindictive attacks. 'So, we have been seeing crimes that are ethnic, sectarian, and political – with a subsequent dominating sense of fear and uncertainty on the ground among the people of all backgrounds,' she stated. Khubie argued that 'Syria needs a prompt process of justice' – both for the crimes that were committed during the Al-Assad regime and those that have been happening since last December. 'If criminals are left without a due legal process of investigation and trial, then the people would lose all faith in the ability of the regime to induce security and stability,' she said. In parallel, she argued that there is a need for 'a new and real political process with a true national dialogue that could produce a non-consensual and representative constitutional declaration.' With this, she added, there needs to be a new government 'of qualified technocrats rather than political alliances' to take control of the country's affairs. 'These are the key prerequisites to control and contain the spike of sectarianism, the hate speech, and the calls for violence,' she said. It is also essential for the containment of the over-expanded role of religious leaders at the expense of politicians in Syria, especially among the minorities. Syria needs to move towards state rebuilding and proper regime construction to make up for the vast damage caused by the war of the Al-Assad regime against the Syrian people and to cut off the influence of foreign fighters in the country, Khubie concluded. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
The view from Ankara - World - Al-Ahram Weekly
Approximately 1000 civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured since the outbreak of the clashes on 13 July in Sweida, south of the Syrian capital, Damascus. This marks one of the deadliest waves of civil strife in Syria since the overthrow of the Bashar Al-Assad regime in December 2024. On 15 July, the Syrian Interior and Defence Ministries announced that a ceasefire had been reached with 'notables and dignitaries' in the city. However, the agreement quickly broke down, heightening Turkey's anxieties, especially since Israel has seized the opportunity to involve itself directly in the unrest. Israel has been exploiting the Druze minority issue as a means to expand further into southern Syria and justify annexing more territory beyond Syria's occupied Golan Heights. On 19 July, Ankara called for an immediate halt to the violence in southern Syria and condemned the latest Israeli military strikes. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stressed to his US counterpart the need to bring the fighting in Sweida to an immediate halt, reaffirming Turkey's support for the constructive role played by the US in Syria and its eagerness to help promote a solution to the crisis. Turkey also demanded that the Netanyahu government should cease its 'provocative' military operations, warning that Israel's continued attacks on Damascus and Sweida would not go unanswered by the international community. The Turkish parliament last week passed a motion echoing the government's condemnation of Israeli behaviour. Describing the Israeli attacks on the Syrian capital and other parts of the country as another instance of Tel Aviv's disregard for international law, it stated: 'Israel, in blatant violation of the UN Charter and the fundamental principles of international law, is not only openly breaching Syria's territorial integrity but also launching new acts of aggression to distract from the genocide it is perpetrating against the Palestinian people…These attacks are aimed at destabilizing Syria and the wider region. At this critical point, the international community's inexplicable silence and ineffectiveness only embolden Israel's reckless and unlawful behaviour.' Ankara's stance on the situation in Sweida and Syria in general is informed by various factors, including one of Turkey's foremost concerns: the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Ankara suspects might take advantage of the disturbances in the south to push for formal autonomy in the Kurdish-controlled region in northeastern Syria. Turkey has cautioned the SDF against meddling in the fragile situation after some reports claimed the SDF had offered to support the Druze factions. Other reports suggest that the Druze have appealed to the Kurdish-led Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) for assistance. Against this charged political backdrop, the SDF is keen to reinforce its image as a viable political alternative. It has adopted a sympathetic tone towards the Druze while criticising the government's military operations in Sweida and the predominantly Druze suburbs of Damascus, such as Sahnaya and Jaramana. In May 2025, the Syrian Interior Ministry reported that Syrian government forces had intercepted a shipment of weapons en route from SDF-controlled territory to Sweida, suggesting that the SDF's support for the Druze factions may go beyond rhetoric. The SDF and Druze factions share resentment at being excluded from the National Dialogue Conference and Constitutional Declaration drafting committee, the outputs of which lent further popular and legal legitimation to the current transitional government. While Damascus reached an agreement, however fraught and fragile, with the SDF in March – with the US pressuring Kurdish leaders to speed up negotiations to finalise the details – Israeli belligerence remains unchecked. Consequently, Ankara may now be more worried by the Israeli than the Kurdish factor. On 14 June, Israeli Defence Minister Yisrael Katz said Israel would 'not allow any threat to the Druze community' or 'stand idly by' in the face of such a threat. Israel then bombed multiple sites in and around Damascus, killing at least three people, to drive its point home. It then ordered the Syrian government to withdraw its forces from Sweida. Israel's political goal, on the surface, is to cultivate loyalties among segments of the Druze population wary of the intentions of the current regime in Damascus. Turkey suspects that Israel's aims are larger: broader military expansion and territorial annexation across southern Syria, further jeopardising Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity. To compound Ankara's unease, some Druze militia factions have begun to advocate for autonomy in their region. Those calls gained momentum following the kidnapping of a Druze merchant – the incident that sparked last week's bloody events in Sweida. At the same time, Druze spiritual leaders rejected the entry of government security forces into that area and, on 14 July, issued a statement appealing for urgent international protection. Recent Turkish moves to push for calm are, in part, intended to forestall attempts by militant Druze factions to entrench a form of autonomy in Sweida. When sectarian clashes flared up again, these factions issued statements declaring they would not disarm in view of the ongoing threats to their community. Some also called for the establishment of a 'local security administration' not answerable to the transitional government. The authorities in Damascus fear that such calls would feed similar moves towards autonomous security entities elsewhere in the country, which would undermine the state's monopoly on arms and law enforcement. Turkey shares such concerns for reasons of its own. The interwoven dynamics of the sectarian violence, the tug-of-war between the central government and local Sweida factions and authorities, and, above all, the escalatory and destabilising effects of Israel's military and political games could disrupt Turkey's plans for expanding its influence in Syria and resolving the Syrian refugee crisis in Turkey. The Turkish strategy aligns with that of the transitional government in that it rests on the restoration of security and stability across Syria. Ankara worries that unrest, especially caused by sectarian strife, could harm the Syrian transitional government's image and, consequently, its ability to secure the international support it needs for reconstruction and development – all crucial to sustained stability. Israel's cynical manipulation of the Druze issue to justify the perpetuation of its military interventions clearly works in the opposite direction. * A version of this article appears in print in the 24 July, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Middle East Eye
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
How Israel's strikes on Syria are backfiring
Recent clashes in Sweida and Israel's subsequent military intervention have once again brought Syria to the forefront of regional politics. Since the fall of former President Bashar Al-Assad's regime last December, one of the most pressing questions has been whether a new Syrian administration would be able to consolidate its base amid deep ideological and political divisions across the country. To understand Syria's current political transition, it is essential to examine how the Sweida-centred conflict and Israel's involvement will affect the cohesion of the new administration's support base. The recent escalation in southern Syria began with clashes between Druze and Bedouin militias, prompting intervention by the Syrian army. Israel then launched air strikes in Damascus targeting critical military installations, including the army's headquarters, with bombing also reported near the presidential complex. After the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Sweida, clashes continued between Druze and Bedouin groups, deepening divisions and raising serious concerns about civilian safety in the region. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The Syrian army and its key ally, Turkey, have gained extensive combat experience through years of conflict. Together, they played a crucial role in overthrowing the Assad regime and reducing the influence of Iran and Russia in the region. Israel, which for nearly two years has been committing genocide in Gaza, is closely monitoring these developments and appears intent on using Druze leaders to further destabilise Syria. Its primary objective is to prevent the consolidation of the new Syrian administration, which it views as a threat, particularly given the regime's close cooperation with Turkey. Shifting tactics In response to Israel's air strikes on Damascus, and by demonstrating loyalty to the state, tribal groups have effectively become a new frontline for the administration of the interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The tribes have employed innovative strategies, such as using urban cover and burning tyres to obscure aerial surveillance, enabling them to advance to Sweida's city centre by Friday. Israel has not yet been able to carry out an effective intervention, as air strikes are not a practical method of targeting tribal groups situated in mountainous terrain. From Damascus to Gaza, Israel's doctrine of domination has one fatal flaw Read More » Syria's new administration has been plagued by questions around how to achieve political consolidation by bridging the internal diversity of its supporters. This challenge extends beyond the task of integrating groups such as the Kurds -the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)- and the Druze. The new Syrian administration includes a broad spectrum of ideological and political perspectives that must be effectively engaged, both militarily and politically. Israel's targeting of Damascus has concerned all supporters of the new Syrian administration, while facilitating greater cooperation at the local level, as demonstrated by the recent tribal operations. This dynamic is helping to ease the internal integration of the regime's supporters. Druze groups have also sought mediation through Damascus, with some leaders advocating for disarmament and integration within the new Syrian administration. In light of recent developments, these leaders appear to be gaining influence over Israel-aligned figures such as Hikmat al-Hajri. If the Druze successfully integrate, this would have significant implications for the disarmament process of Kurdish forces. Israel's targeting of Damascus has thus led many supporters of the new Syrian administration to prioritise responding to external threats. The integration of Druze groups into the central administration in Damascus would contribute to the country's national unity, while reshaping the broader power dynamics across Syria. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
