Celebrations planned to mark the 14th anniversary of the Syrian revolution in Daraa province turned to mourning in the wake of the most violent Israeli strikes on the province since the fall of the regime.
Israeli forces continue to solidify their presence within Syrian territory, cutting off farmers and herders from their livelihoods and carrying out airstrikes and raids on former regime military sites.
Syria’s Ministry of Defense is meeting with military factions in Syria’s southern Daraa province—including the 8th Brigade—as it works to integrate them into a new army.
Communities in Daraa have taken care of themselves for years, fundraising to provide services and even paying teacher salaries to compensate for an absent state. With new authorities in Damascus, local initiatives arise to monitor local governance and root out corruption.
Immediately after the Assad regime fell, Israel launched a massive bombing operation targeting the full spectrum of Syria’s military capabilities across the country while beginning a ground incursion along the border with the occupied Golan Heights.
Local armed groups seized control of Syria’s southern Daraa province in a matter of hours on Friday. Why was the fall so sudden, and was HTS involved?
The view from the ground in the East Ghouta suburbs of Damascus is one of a worried regime withdrawing its forces from the interior of cities and reinforcing checkpoints on their outskirts “for fear of being targeted,” residents say.
Their positions exposed, Hezbollah and Iranian-backed militias are repositioning themselves in Syria to avoid being targeted, while Russia uses its own forces as a counterbalance.
As Israel wages a full-blown aerial and ground campaign in Lebanon, will Iran’s proxies in Syria come to the aid of its beleaguered ally Hezbollah?
The Baath Party is working to restore its activities and role in Syria’s southern Daraa province, while its headquarters remain closed in many cities and towns six years after the return of regime institutions.
