Press TV – December 9, 2024
Israeli forces seize towns in Syria’s Quneitra, moving towards Dara’a
Israeli forces have captured two towns in the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and are moving towards the neighboring Dara’a province, after militant groups took control of the Arab country.
Israeli troops seized the towns of Madinat al-Baath and Hader after they pushed into the buffer zone in the Quneitra area and launched artillery shelling in the strategic region.
According to Israeli media outlets, the incursion was launched following heavy shelling of surrounding areas.
Israeli army soldiers are now heading towards areas in Dara’a, located about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital Damascus.
Earlier, Israeli soldiers had taken over a Syrian army outpost at the summit of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights.
Soldiers from Shaldag, the Israeli Air Force’s commando unit, captured the outpost “without encountering resistance,” according to Kan TV News.
The commander of the Israeli military’s Northern Command, Ori Gordin, and the commander of the Training Command, David Zini, also visited the summit, the broadcaster said.
The Syrian army reportedly left the post amid the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Israeli media also reported the entry of the regime’s tanks into Khan Arnabeh, which is to the northeast of Quneitra and five kilometers from the border of the occupied Golan.
The regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the decades-old agreement with Syria had collapsed, and he ordered Israeli forces to grab a buffer zone in the Golan Heights after Syrian soldiers had abandoned their positions.
The Israeli military also issued a warning, calling on residents of five towns in southern Syria to stay in their homes until further notice as it carried out dozens of air strikes against Syrian military bases, facilities and weapon depots.
These towns are Ofania, Quneitra, al-Hamidiyah, western al-Samadaniyah, and al-Qahtaniyah.
Armed groups, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants, announced on Sunday that they had fully captured the Syrian capital and confirmed reports of the fall of the Assad government.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government.
Syria's Assad in Moscow, given asylum by Russia
Bashar al-Assad, the ousted president of Syria, has reportedly arrived in Moscow along with his family after his government fell to militants.
Citing a source in the Kremlin, several Russian media outlets reported on Sunday that the Russian government has granted Assad and his family asylum.
“President al-Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds,” the Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian presidency about his whereabouts.
Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said he had not spoken with Assad since Saturday. Jalali said that he would stay in Syria and was ready to work with whomever the Syrian people choose as their leader.
Militants, headed by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), declared a curfew in Damascus on Sunday until the following morning, after seizing the capital following a lightning offensive launched last week.
Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the HTS commander, said Sunday that Syrian state institutions would be supervised by Jalali until a transition of power takes place.
The HTS said it would work with the prime minister and called on Syrian military forces in Damascus to stay away from public institutions.
President Assad reportedly departed Syria on an airplane earlier in the day, bringing an end to more than five decades of his family’s rule over Syria.
In a statement earlier, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Assad had resigned and left Syria, but it did not provide details on where he had gone. The ministry said Assad had given instructions for a peaceful transition of power.
President Assad’s departure came after armed militants swept through the country in an offensive that saw them first capture Aleppo in the northwest and then advance south towards the key cities of Hama and Homs before storming into Damascus.
Assad’s exit raises concerns about who will lead Syria, a country that has grappled with years of foreign-backed militancy with rival factions vying for control over different areas of the country.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/08/738744/Russia-grants-Syria%E2%80%99s-Assad-asylum
Al Mayadeen – December 9, 2024
Day 430 of genocide in Gaza: 44,758 martyrs, 106,134 wounded
In the last 24 hours, the Israeli occupation committed three massacres, killing 50 Palestinians and injuring 84 others.
According to the newest toll released by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the number of deaths as a result of the Israeli genocide has reached 44,758 Palestinians, in addition to 106,134 injuries since October 7, 2023.
The Israeli occupation committed three massacres across the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours, killing 50 Palestinians and injuring 84 others who arrived at hospitals.
While some of the victims were transported to the few partially functioning hospitals in the Strip, most of them remain trapped beneath the rubble, with almost impossible means to get out, amid the continuous Israeli obstruction of rescue operations.
Earlier today, the Israeli occupation continued its relentless massacres and genocide in Gaza, while simultaneously imposing a suffocating siege on the entirety of the Strip, resulting in extreme stages of starvation, according to Al Mayadeen's correspondent.
In northern Gaza, several Palestinians were killed, including a doctor and his wife, in the ceaseless artillery shelling of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia.
Artillery shelling also targeted the northern area of Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, while the city of al-Daawa, in the northeastern part of the camp simultaneously came under direct fire launched from Israeli vehicles.
Several casualties were also recorded after an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential apartment in Nuseirat and Israeli artillery shelled the vicinity of al-Izz school in its north.
In the northern Gaza Strip, the occupation placed explosives in several homes west of the Jabalia refugee camp, demolishing them, while shelling eastern areas in Beit Lahia. Israeli warplanes also launched strikes on the northern Gaza Strip and military vehicles fired their weapons at residential areas.
In Gaza City, specifically in the northwestern part, demolished homes around the Saftawi area. Homes were also demolished in the southwest of the city, where military vehicles also opened fired their weapons and artillery shelled the Sabra neighborhood.
As for the central Gaza Strip, the occupation targeted the vicinity of "Block C" in the northeast of the Nuseirat refugee camp, and fired artillery shells on the al-Nuseirat refugee camp, and a violent raid on Deir al-Balah. In the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli military vehicles also fired their weapons at areas in Khan Younis. They also opened fire toward the tents of the displaced in the al-Mawasi area west of Rafah City.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/day-430-of-genocide-in-gaza--44-758-martyrs--106-134-wounded
Israel kills nearly 10 Palestinians across Gaza, destroys more mosques
The Israeli military has killed at least nine more people across the Gaza Strip, keeping up Tel Aviv’s genocidal war against the coastal sliver.
On Monday, the regime’s forces targeted a group of civilians at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing three people and wounding a number of others.
They simultaneously issued heavy artillery and drone fire towards other civilians trying to reach their homes in Saftawi area, west of Jabalia.
In the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, Israeli troops blew up residential buildings in al-Jeneina neighborhood, besides shelling several other areas across the city, killing six more Palestinians.
Also in al-Jeneina, the forces destroyed the Istiqala Mosque, the 972nd mosque to be devastated by the regime since last October, when it brought the entire Gaza under the war.
According to Palestinian sources, as many as 819 of the structures have been completely razed by the regime’s forces.
In the central part of the territory, the Israeli military struck the vicinity of the al-Maghazi refugee camp, and targeted al-Da'wa area northeast of the Nuseirat refugee camp with artillery shells, while the regime’s tanks and bulldozers engaged in destructive operations in the area.
On Sunday, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza, said the regime continued to attack the facility with mortar shells and bombs as doctors were trying to treat injured people there.
According to Doctor Hussam Abu Safia, the aggression was underway as there were “patients in the intensive care unit and others waiting to undergo operations.” The operating rooms, however, could not be reached until sufficient electricity and oxygen were secured, he added.
Also on Sunday, Israeli troops killed at least 16 people across Gaza, including during an attack on a camp for displaced people in the city of Deir el-Balah in the central part of the territory, where they slew five members of a family.
At least 44,708 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed, and 106,050 others injured in the war that was launched on October 7, 2023 in response to a retaliatory operation staged by Gaza’s resistance movements.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/09/738774/Israel-war-genocide-Gaza-nine-Palestinians-killed
Al Mayadeen – December 8, 2024
Genocide rewarded
Tim Anderson
Clearly, some sort of deal was made, in part to save lives - but details are unclear. However, we do know who gained.
The US backed al Qaeda takeover of Syria follows Israeli retreat from Lebanon Within hours of the Israeli-Lebanese cease fire - essentially an Israeli retreat after making no progress against Hezbollah in the ground war in south Lebanon, indicted war criminal Netanyahu turned his attention to Syria, warning Syrian President Bashar al Assad that he was "playing with fire."
The Israelis had long attacked Syria and wanted to remove the independent state as the key link between Iran and Lebanon, a conduit for material support to both the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance.
At a NATO summit, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Syria's key allies - Russia, Iran and Hezbollah - "had all been distracted" by their own problems, and "it looks like HTS took advantage of that fact." More to the point, Washington, "Israel", and Turkiye took advantage of that fact.
According to Palestinian journalist in Washington Saeed Arikat, the HTS attack was coordinated by the Biden administration with Turkiye and "Israel" and "came as a result of American-Israeli emergency plan" as part of "an American vision" for the second day of the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, "especially in light of the failure of the Israelis to achieve a decisive victory" against Hezbollah and that this is "an effort to inflict a defeat on Iran and its allies in the region" such as the Syrian Army which regained control of Aleppo eight years ago. The plan was a tremendous success.
The rapid collapse of the Syrian army in city after city - Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and Damascus - made the takeover seem an almost bloodless coup. In the absence of any real resistance to the Turkish backed and equipped invasion (Erdogan's Muslim Brotherhood partners, the Qataris, have also been funding HTS).
President Assad and his family fled the country (apparently to Russia) and his Prime Minister Mohammed Gazi Jalali surrendered to HTS. The "rebel" leader al-Jolani made some placating noises about no reprisals and leaving public buildings intact, but the history of this group is bloody and sectarian.
Clearly, some sort of deal was made, in part to save lives - but details are unclear. We do know who gained. The Israelis have been rewarded, probably beyond their expectations, by the removal of the key link between Iran and the Palestinian and Lebanese Resistance. Netanyahu has been more than compensated for the Israeli defeat in south Lebanon and effectively rewarded for his genocide in Gaza.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is the successor to Jahbat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda franchise in Syria which has been semi-covertly backed by Washington and other NATO regimes, especially that of Erdogan in Turkiye, which has stationed Turkish troops in North Syria for several years. Unlike the Resistance groups Hamas, PIJ, and Hezbollah, which are only listed as "terrorist" in the Anglo American states and their allies, HTS is banned by the UN Security Council.
It remains to be seen how Washington and its hangers on will try to recognise a "government" led by a group still branded as "terrorist" under both US and international law. The HTS regime was also supported by the three foreign states which still militarily occupy Syria: Turkiye, "Israel", and the USA.
Some rebranding is on its way; but that is a US specialty.
Friendly relations between HTS "rebels" (many of whom are non-Syrians) and "Israel" are well known. Several years earlier Israeli hospitals were patching up al-Qaeda fighters and sending them back into Syria. "Israel" had then helped evacuate fighters and their crisis actors, The White Helmets, to Israeli territory, in 2018. More recently, HTS has sent reassuring messages to the Israelis, assuring them that their fight was only with the Assad government. HTS supporters even thanked the Israelis for killing Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah.
Nevertheless, within hours of the HTS takeover of Damascus, Israeli tanks had crossed into south Syria near Quneitra, allegedly "to fight off Islamist rebels".
https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/analysis/genocide-rewarded
Kremlin comments on fate of Russian military bases in Syria
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said it is too early to discuss the status of Moscow’s presence in the country after the fall of Bashar Assad’s government
The Kremlin has said it is too early to determine the future of Russia’s military bases in Khmeimim and Tartus, Syria. Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stressed that discussions about the bases will depend on the new leaders of Syria.
“Currently, we are witnessing a period of transformation and extreme instability,” Peskov told journalists on Monday. He noted that the recent developments in Syria have surprised the world, including Russia. “It will take time before we can engage in serious conversations with those who hold power.”
Russian military forces are present in Syria at Khmeimim Airbase and a logistics support center in Tartus, located in the western part of the country along the Mediterranean coast. In 2017, Moscow and Damascus agreed to station Russian troops at these bases for a period of 49 years.
According to reports, the armed Syrian opposition forces have approached the two key Russian military bases. A local source told TASS news agency that they are not currently under threat. “Opposition forces have neither invaded nor do they plan to encroach upon the territory of Russian military installations, which are operating normally,” the source said.
The militant groups that overthrew former President Bashar Assad’s government in Syria have pledged to respect Russia’s military installations and diplomatic missions within the country, a Kremlin source told TASS on Sunday.
Various opposition groups, including Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham jihadists and US-backed Free Syrian Army fighters, seized control of Damascus over the weekend as the Syrian Army retreated and Assad sought asylum in Russia.
https://www.rt.com/russia/609062-syria-military-bases-fate/
Why did Syria fall so fast and what happens next?
The unfolding events show the West’s willingness to use any means to achieve its strategic objectives and retain global supremacy
By Murad Sadygzade, President of the Middle East Studies Center, Visiting Lecturer, HSE University (Moscow).
With each passing day since October 7, 2023, the contours of the regional processes unfolding in the Middle East become increasingly clear. That day – a watershed moment for the entire region – left behind a multitude of questions that remain unanswered.
One of the most formidable intelligence agencies in the world, Israel’s Mossad, failed to foresee or prevent the attack by Palestinian groups, sparking widespread astonishment.
However, beneath this shocking event lies a series of deeper processes, steadily propelling the region toward profound transformations. Mechanisms that once seemed hidden are now becoming more apparent, revealing a deliberate design to reshape those nations that long resisted Western influence and expansion.
On the morning of December 8, the region was shaken by news that, until recently, seemed unimaginable: Damascus had fallen to the forces of opposition and terrorist groups. The Ba’ath Party’s rule under President Bashar Assad has been effectively destroyed. Assad’s disappearance and the silence from official sources only amplified the sense of irreversible change.
Following a prolonged war with Hamas and the near-total defeat of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, international and regional actors shifted their focus to Syria, a key player in the ‘Axis of Resistance’ against Israel. Syria, which had long served as a cornerstone of Iranian policy in the region, became the latest link in a chain of nations succumbing to mounting internal and external pressures.
These events appear to be part of a broader scenario aimed at fundamentally altering the political and social landscape of the Middle East. With the weakening of key participants in the Axis of Resistance – from Palestinian groups to Syria and Lebanon – a crucial question arises: Who will be the next target of this rapidly unfolding plan? The fate of the region, as well as answers to pressing questions about the role of external forces in these developments, remains uncertain. But one thing is clear: The Middle East will never be the same again.
What happened in Syria and why?
The escalation in Idlib province that began 11 days ago has rapidly spiraled into a series of events that have dramatically transformed Syria’s situation. On December 7, armed opposition forces and fighters from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, designated a terrorist organization and banned in Russia) encircled Damascus, the nation’s capital. Within a single night, they seized the strategic city of Homs, encountering little resistance, and advanced into Damascus itself. Along their path, they freed prisoners from numerous detention facilities, including Syria’s largest prison, Saydnaya, symbolizing the regime’s total loss of control.
By midday on December 7, panic had engulfed the city. Syrian soldiers, shedding their uniforms for civilian attire, fled the capital in haste, leaving it nearly defenseless. By nightfall, the streets of Damascus were deserted of military personnel, replaced by frightened citizens scrambling to stockpile food and flee their homes. This exodus was particularly evident in the affluent northern districts, where residents departed en masse, fearing chaos. In contrast, the southern part of the city presented a starkly different scene: There, the opposition was welcomed as liberators. Crowds gathered in celebration, waving flags, and in a climactic act of defiance, the statue of Hafez Assad, founder of the modern Syrian regime and father of Bashar Assad, was torn down.
Amid these dramatic events, Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali made an urgent announcement. In a statement relayed by Al Arabiya, he declared the government’s capitulation and expressed his readiness to cooperate with the country’s new leadership.
Al-Jalali stressed that most ministers had remained in Damascus to ensure the continued functioning of state institutions and to prevent chaos during the transitional period. He also revealed that an agreement had been reached with HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Julani, marking a significant step in minimizing destruction in the capital.
The words of Hadi al-Bahra, head of the Syrian National Coalition, carried a tone of hope for a new chapter in the country’s history. He stated, “The situation is safe. The dark times in Syria have ended, and there is no place for vengeance in the new Syria.”
This declaration sought to reassure the population and highlight the opposition’s intent to avoid reprisals. Yet, behind the facade of such statements lies an undeniable anxiety about Syria’s future – its political fate and stability amid a period of profound transformation. A new day has dawned for the country, but whether it will bring peace remains an unanswered question.
The events unfolding in Syria are far from coincidental; they are the result of deep-seated processes that have been building for years. This tragedy was likely predestined by a confluence of internal contradictions, external pressures, and historical missteps, collectively creating a perfect storm capable of toppling even the most entrenched regimes. The Syrian crisis, which began as a standoff between the government and certain opposition groups, evolved into a prolonged conflict fueled by a complex mosaic of local, regional, and international interests.
Years of relentless warfare and an unwillingness to seek compromise led to worsening economic inequality, a brain drain of skilled workers, the collapse of state institutions and infrastructure, and the fragmentation and corruption of the political elite. Society, worn down by a lack of prospects, became deeply fractured, and the growing discontent among the population only hastened the weakening of the central government.
But it was not solely internal factors that brought about this outcome. Syria became a battleground for geopolitical rivalries, where external powers exploited the crisis to advance their own agendas. From Western and Arab states backing the opposition to the direct involvement of foreign actors on Syrian soil, every side pursued its own goals, further deepening the conflict. Regional players like Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Israel saw Syria’s weakening as an opportunity to bolster their own influence. Yet for years, these plans failed to materialize due to the robust support Syria received from Russia and Iran. The intervention of militants and terrorist groups added to the chaos, turning the struggle for power into a lawless war.
A key turning point came when Assad lost the support of even those who had stood by him for years. Economic hardships, sanctions, and a growing sense of hopelessness led many to believe that change was inevitable, even if it came at the cost of destruction. The strategic mistake of the ruling elite – betting on a military solution to the conflict while ignoring political dialogue, both domestically and internationally – ultimately left Assad vulnerable to determined and well-organized adversaries.
Another significant factor was Assad’s own persona. Born in 1965 into the family of Hafez Assad, Syria’s long-time leader, Bashar had no initial ambitions for a political career, choosing instead to pursue medicine. Educated as an ophthalmologist in Damascus and later specializing in London, he was seen as a secular and educated figure, far removed from the cruder aspects of Middle Eastern politics. However, a family tragedy – the death of his elder brother Basil – altered his destiny, forcing him to return to Syria and assume the role of his father’s successor. In 2000, following Hafez Assad’s death, Bashar ascended to the presidency, inheriting a nation with great potential but riddled with deep internal contradictions.
Over the years, Bashar Assad found himself at the center of mounting challenges. Corruption within his inner circle, international pressure, and a protracted war drained both the country and Assad personally. Another blow came with his wife Asma’s battle with cancer, which she has fought for years. These circumstances likely influenced his willingness to consider change. Media outlets frequently reported that Assad was ready to hand over power to the opposition, although no solid evidence supported this claim. Perhaps war fatigue, personal tragedies, and the realization of inevitable transformation made him more open to compromise. The Russian Foreign Ministry recently confirmed that following negotiations with various armed factions within Syria, Assad decided to step down from the presidency, leave the country, and ensure a peaceful transfer of power.
The recent capture of Homs and the fall of Damascus marked the final act in this tragedy. Syria found itself trapped by its own missteps and the ambitions of external actors, with its people becoming pawns in a game where the stakes were not peace but power and resources. This crisis is not just about Syria’s fate – it is a stark reminder of the fragility of any state that ignores the signals of its society and allows external forces to dictate its future.
Who benefits and what’s next?
The fall of Damascus is a turning point in Middle Eastern politics, signaling not only the collapse of Assad’s rule but also a significant weakening of Iran, which had spent years building its influence through its alliance with Syria. Tehran had regarded Syria as a vital link in the Axis of Resistance, encompassing Lebanon, Yemen, and Palestinian groups. Syria served as a crucial logistical hub for arming Hezbollah and providing both political and economic support. However, the collapse of the Syrian capital and the ensuing chaos shattered these supply chains. Capitalizing on the situation, Israel deployed forces into the buffer zone on the Golan Heights, effectively expanding its occupied territory. This move not only bolstered Israel’s strategic position but also deprived Iran of the ability to counteract its actions effectively in the region.
The losses suffered by Hezbollah have dealt yet another blow to Iran. The Lebanese organization, long regarded as one of Tehran’s key instruments in its struggle against Israel, now finds itself isolated and weakened. The loss of arms supply routes and the destruction of its logistical chains have cast doubt on its combat readiness. The organization is now forced to reconsider its strategies, and its capacity to conduct effective military operations has been significantly curtailed. For Iran, this not only means a loss of influence in Lebanon but also the erosion of a major pillar of its broader Middle Eastern strategy. In this context, Tehran faces the daunting challenge of overhauling its foreign policy, a task that is causing a deep internal crisis.
Iranian media and officials have sought scapegoats for the unfolding catastrophe, and Assad has become the primary target of criticism. In its publications, Pars Today unequivocally places the blame on Assad, stating: “Bashar refused to stand to the end, and no one could change the outcome. Even Iran’s direct appeals had no effect on him because he understood that the army and society (for reasons ranging from betrayal to lack of motivation or corruption) would not support him. It was clear five days ago that resistance would not occur; only the speed of events was surprising. Bashar is not an ideologically driven leader like Yahya Sinwar, capable of holding out to the bitter end. For him, it was safe enough to leave Damascus. However, he will likely remember that Tehran was his only true ally over the last 13 years.” These words reflect the deep frustration of the Iranian elite, who recognize the extent of their loss of strategic influence.
The situation in the region has become not only a foreign policy disaster for Iran but also an internal challenge, further exacerbating divisions within Iranian society. Tensions are rising between reformist forces advocating for dialogue with the West and conservatives who insist that maintaining a hardline approach is the only way to retain influence and control. This divide is further intensified by the anticipated power transition from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to his son Mojtaba Khamenei, which, according to many analysts, could occur as early as 2025. This transition is likely to trigger a new wave of domestic political conflicts. Increasingly, there are fears that the Islamic Republic could face internal fractures, potentially escalating into open conflict between various political and ethnic factions.
Adding to Iran’s woes is the looming threat of direct military confrontation with Israel, which continues to consolidate its position in the region. Taking advantage of Iran’s weakened state and the vulnerabilities of its allies, the Israeli military may seize the opportunity to target remaining infrastructure linked to Iran, further undermining Tehran’s ability to safeguard its interests. Thus, the fall of Damascus is not merely a localized event but a symbol of Iran’s systemic crisis – one that is reshaping the balance of power in the Middle East and may lead to profound changes both within Iran and across the region.
The Syrian crisis is not just a localized conflict; it represents yet another element of both regional and global confrontation. It is evident that Western nations, led by the United States and its Middle Eastern allies, are backing the actions of rebels, opposition groups, and terrorist organizations. A clear indication of this is the recent interview given by HTS leader al-Julani to the American network CNN, despite the fact that HTS is officially designated as a terrorist organization by the US. This demonstrates the political support extended by Western nations, who view such groups as tools for achieving their geopolitical objectives in the region, even if it contradicts their proclaimed fight against terrorism.
However, the assault was not limited to Syria or Iran; it also targeted Russia’s interests in the Middle East. Western nations, spearheaded by Washington and London, have long expressed dissatisfaction with Moscow’s growing influence in the region over the past decade. Acting as a key ally of Assad and forging successful relationships with several Middle Eastern states, Russia had emerged as a critical player in this strategically vital area. Moscow’s achievements in both the military and diplomatic spheres, including its role in conflict resolution and cooperation with nations such as Türkiye, Iran, and Gulf states, deeply unsettled the West. The undermining of the Syrian regime was thus aimed at weakening Russia’s regional influence, stripping it of a key ally, and potentially ousting its military presence from Syria. While this could be seen as a blow to Moscow, it would be inaccurate to suggest that this significantly alters Russia’s broader Middle Eastern strategy or its relations with regional partners.
Washington, London, and their allies are not merely fighting to maintain control over the Middle East; they are striving to solidify their dominance on the global stage. Their actions demonstrate a willingness to use any means, including support for terrorist organizations, to achieve strategic objectives. This conflict is yet another theater of global confrontation, where the struggle for influence in the Middle East is directly tied to the West’s efforts to retain its global supremacy.
Türkiye, meanwhile, emerges as another potential beneficiary, celebrating Assad’s fall alongside opposition forces. While Ankara’s goals may currently align with those of the Syrian opposition, it is unlikely that these events unfolded in direct coordination with Türkiye. More plausibly, Ankara has reacted to the unfolding developments, seeking to portray itself as instrumental in the opposition’s success. Regardless of the specifics, this may lead to a cooling of relations between Moscow and Ankara, particularly if Türkiye is found to have played a direct role in coordinating events in Syria, violating previous agreements.
It is far too early to declare an end to Syria’s turmoil, as the experience of Libya vividly illustrates that regime change seldom leads to stability. Following Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow, Libya failed to achieve peace, descending into a landscape of bloody wars, factional conflicts, and shattered hopes for millions. The country remains divided among rival factions, each pursuing its own interests, leaving the population mired in chaos, insecurity, and the destruction of infrastructure. A similar fate may await Syria, where the fragile success of the opposition and its Western backers conceals the looming threat of protracted conflicts that could further fragment and exhaust the nation.
