Decoding the Syrian Chessboard: Unraveling the Great Game in a Post-Assad Syria [UPDATED]

Originally Published: The Global Mirror Feb'25

“The post-Assad era in Syria isn’t just a political shift—it’s the next move in a high-stakes game.” - Unknown

Introduction

Defenestrating the Assad Family from a 5-decade-long rule, Mohammad al-Jolani has become the ‘benign theocrat’ who would be replacing a ‘secular autocrat’ in Damascus. However, it would be naive to consider that the civil war in Syria is over or even close to that. Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain rightly says, “We are past the stage where one could luxuriously explain the backdrop of this hugely complex situation which has the potential to upset the entire apple cart of the Middle East.”[1] However, for the sake of history, the conundrum in Syria isn’t just a political strife between the Russia-Iranian-backed Assad Regime and the Turkey-US-backed Syrian Salvation Government of Idlib, but it includes forces of the US-Backed Free Syrian Army along with the Iraqi Kurdish & the PKK-backed AANES (Autonomous Administration of North & East Syria). The Salafi-Jihadists such as Al-Qaeda & ISIS fit into this as additional players. To further convolute the matter, Israelis have also joined in the picture. Indeed the field has been muddied beyond measure.

In this piece, we will decode what the fall of Assad means for Syria and the Levant. We will delve deep into the roots of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) & how the great power game is recalibrating itself and what this implies for Bharat.

The HTS Chapter: A Western Faustian Bargain

“No government in the world kills its people, unless it's led by a crazy person.” - Bashar al-Assad [2]

Getting the Story Right

So said Assad, who is now charged with using Chemical Weapons to suppress the protests of his very own people. BBC, CNN & various other media houses back then in 2013 peddled the story that Assad used Sarin Gas. Their articles that were cited by media houses across countries - at that time cited ‘unverified’ reports to buttress their claim. These reports in their pieces admitted the source of information to be coming from what they referred to as ‘rebels’ who were essentially the armed militants striving to topple the Assad Government. In February 2018, Jim Mattis, the American Secretary of Defence admitted that Americans had no evidence of the use of Sarin Gas.[2.1] As a matter of fact, the British helped Americans transfer Gaddafi’s arsenal to Syria, often using front companies established in Libya to do the job.[3] Furthermore, the British operating from Istanbul, were preparing videos, photos, radio material and websites for the anti-Assad Syrian fighters.[4] Just for the record, this isn’t the only time the West was in dalliance with Radical Islamists. Margaret Thatcher, a fortnight before the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan went on to advocate Islam as a counter to communism, “It is in our own interests, as well as the people of that region [the Middle East], that they build on their own deep religious traditions. We do not wish to see them succumb to the fraudulent appeal of imported Marxism.”[4] It needn’t be a surprise that the MI6 funded the Jammat-e-Islami to spread Islamic literature in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to incite religious rebellion in these Soviet Republics.[5] Further, Osama-bin-Laden was allowed to establish his Advice & Reformation Committee (ARC) in London in July 1994 & its staff included Ayman al-Zawahiri loyalists.[6] The ARC office was a facility for propaganda, communications with Al Qaeda cells and propagation of the Sharia wherein Osama bin Laden himself was in frequent contact with this London office from his base in Afghanistan – in fact, the London office sent out his fatwas worldwide.[7] There is ample well-documented literature such as Mark Curtis’s “Secret Affairs: Britain Collusion with Radical Islam” & Robert Dreyfuss’s “Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam” which shed light on this dalliance.

God’s Own Country & The ‘Right’ Story

Returning to Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa who uses the nom de guerre ‘Mohammad al-Jolani’ fought for Al-Qaeda from 2003 before being arrested in 2006 by the American Forces. He was imprisoned in Camp Bucca, the same facility in which Abu Al-Baghdadi was imprisoned then. Al-Sharaa was released in 2011 coinciding with the Syrian ‘Revolution’ or in other words when the Arab Spring attempted to blossom in Syria. In 2012, he formed the Al-Nusar front which was the extended arm of ISIS. Indeed, Al-Jolani was the protege of Abu Al-Baghdadi. Al-Baghdadi is stated to have said this in 2014, “We deputised al-Jolani, who is one of our soldiers, with a group of our sons, and pushed them from Iraq to Syria to meet with our cells in Syria and set for them the plans and drew for them the policy of work. We supplied them with half of what is in the treasury every month, and supplied them with men who had battlefield experience from among the muhajirun [“emigrants”; foreign fighters] and ansar [“supporters”; local jihadists], so they did well next to their brothers from the ardent sons of Syria.”[8]

Al-Sharaa conveniently switched sides to Al-Qaeda in 2014, after Al-Baghdadi pressurized him to merge the Al-Nusara front with ISIS. After all, Al-Sharaa wanted to maintain his autonomy. Al-Sharaa through a video clip in 2014 swore allegiance to the Al-Qaeda by stating, “The sons of al-Nusra pledge allegiance to Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri.”[9] With the 2015, Russian Intervention in the civil war in support of Mr. Assad, the so-called “rebels” were forced to flee & the momentum swung back to Assad’s regime. Homs, Hama, and Aleppo were regained, and the militants took refuge under the ‘emir’ of Idlib, Al-Sharaa. While Assad desired to initiate an erasure of Mr. Jolani, his plan wasn’t supported by the Russians while the Turkish opposed any harm to this ‘emir.’ Al-Sharaa claimed to have ‘broken’ his ties with the Al-Qaeda in 2016. He rebranded his Al-Nusra front as the HTS & started to establish governance structures through his ‘Syrian Salvation Government’ in Idlib to keep hold of the people there. 

With the fall of Assad, Al-Sharaa has become the president of a transitional government who has stated that elections may happen after 4-5 years. The fact of the matter is that the Syrian Civil War isn’t over yet. While Al-Sharaa has announced the dissolution of all the armed groups along with the Arab Ba’ath Party & the Kurdish SDF, the SDF hasn’t dissolved but instead clashes between the ‘transitional’ government & the SDF have been reported over the Trishin Dam in what is dubbed as the “East Aleppo Offensive” of the SDF against the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) which had a couple of months back joined Al-Sharaa’s transitional government. Turkey which has militarily intervened nearly thrice for the SNA, leaving aside providing weapons for this group has permitted the group to join Al-Shaara’s Government, which is sufficient to hint at a story that we would be looking at later in this piece. Furthermore, while the Americans encouraged SDF to reach a deal with the Syrian Transitional Government (STG), the fact of the matter is that the deal is very ambiguous and it remains to be seen whether the SDF is divided up into the Syrian Army or retains a separate structure under a national apparatus. 

Nevertheless, western media houses such as BBC & CNN have been euphoric about how grand, moderate, democratic & secular the new regime of Ahmed al-Sharaa would be.[9.1][9.2][9.3] His way of governance in Idlib is copious to prove otherwise. The Syrian Salvation Government (SSG)’s Al-Sharaa has been a paragon of authoritarianism. HTS operates under a system where local residents have no real role in governance, the ‘suitable’ candidates are pre-selected and exclude women from participation further the group suppresses dissent through arbitrary arrests, secret trials, and intimidation, creating a climate of fear among critics and lastly HTS enforces strict social norms and moral policing over the territory it controls.[10] For that matter, they have been generating funding for their activities through prisoner exchange deals, the plunder of historical sites and the selling of artefacts, the claiming of private property from Christians and Assad government supporters, and through high taxes which caused a major protest in Idlib.[11] While Al-Sharaa assured reforms as a consequence of the protests, the only reform he implemented was a mass release of prisoners amidst parallelly arresting protestors.

Al-Sharaa’s statements since taking over Damascus have been very assuring in tone for the Alawite Minorities from which Assad belonged but there is a massive lacuna between Al-Sharaa's words & his actions. At the time of writing & original publication, the Alwaite Massacres hadn't happened but now that they have, more than 2 thousand Alawites & counting are getting ethnically cleansed.[11.1] And this news is nothing but a vindication of this article. Further, the education ‘reforms’ that his administration brought in changed the phrases “path of goodness” to “Islamic path”, “those who are damned and have gone astray” to “Jews and Christians.”[12] The word “martyr” was redefined from someone who died for a homeland to someone who sacrifices themself “for the sake of God.”[13] The phrase “defending the nation” is set to be replaced with “defending Allah.”[14] The phrase “God’s Sharia” was replaced with “Law of Justice,” and the phrase “human brotherhood” was changed to “faith brotherhood.”[15] Further, any references to deposed president Bashar al-Assad and his family have been removed.[16] Additionally, there were several changes to references to the Ottoman Empire. The phrase “Ottoman Administration” will replace “Ottoman Occupation,” and references to the 1916 mass execution of Arab nationalists under the Ottomans were removed. [17] Another proposed amendment was to remove references to evolution from the science curriculum.[18] However, their Education Minister Nazir al-Qadri said the curriculum is ‘essentially unchanged’ which is very indicative of this new regime’s character.

While Al-Sharaa assured women representation, the fact eludes his narrative. The ‘transitional’ cabinet has only one woman minister in contrast to Assad’s Cabinet and this isn’t merely about numbers but the statement coming from the HTS spokesperson was further indicative of their intent, “the essence of women and their biological and psychological nature does not fit all positions, such as the Ministry of Defense.”[19] The ingrained fact is that the BBC, funded by the British Government, like CNN and other media houses, do not report this news simply because it doesn’t fit their narrative of the story. For them, these ‘Islamic fundamentalists’ are ‘rebels’ with a ‘secular’ and ‘democratic’ outlook. This is why at the beginning of this piece I referred to Al-Sharaa as a ‘benign theocrat’ but a better way to refer to him might be a ‘nimble theocrat’ who is aware of imagery and the art of building narratives.

The American Medicare for ‘Rebels’

In 2015, the American-trained New Syrian Forces (NSF) gave six trucks of ammunition to the Al-Nusra Front.[19.1] That’s just the beginning of it. The Americans withdrew under Trump from Syria in a big way but those soldiers who were kept behind were ‘for the oil’.[19.2] Marco Rubio after his senate confirmation, reaffirmed his support for the SDF. SDF was supported by the Americans in 2015 for fighting alongside the Americans against ISIS. Currently, SDF controls a vast span of land in Northeast Syria where most of Syrian Oil is found. 

In 2024, the American Government allocated roughly 156 million USD to a fund, CTEF, which a Pentagon document states, “CTEF will continue providing small arms and light weapons to support the SDF.”(19.3) By extension the People’s Defense Units (YGP), a Kurdish Group, also avails to this funding. The CTEF is also funding another group called the Syrian Free Army (SFA). A Pentagon document describes it as, “The SFA remains a crucial partner for coalition forces operating near At Tanf Garrison (ATG) in southeast Syria.” Furthermore, the US Air Force Colonel Daniel Magruder argued be used as a point of leverage for the US to decide an "acceptable outcome in Syria". (19.4) 

In 2012, an email was leaked from the Obama Administration where the National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan stated the following to the former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, “AQ is on our side in Syria", referring to al-Qaeda, he further continued, “Al-Qaida leader al-Zawahiri called on Muslims in Turkey and the Middle East to aid rebel forces in their fight against supporters of Syrian President Assad in an internet video recording. Al-Zawahiri also urged the Syrian people not to rely on the AL [Arab League], Turkey, or the United States for assistance.”(19.5) 

If this wasn't good enough then their operation Timber Sycamore is an eye-opener. There is ample literature available online on it as to how they used this to fund Al-Sharaa's Al-Nusra Front along with other Syrian Groups & even sold weapons on the Black Market to ISIS. Along with the CIA, the British MI6, the Saudi Arabian Intelligence, the Jordanian Intelligence & the Qatari Intelligence Apparatus collaborated in this endeavour. Americans spent roughly 1 Billion USD from 2012 to 2017 on this before Trump 1.0  closed this down. (19.6) 

This very American Intervention prompted Assad to find a very useful ally in Vladimir Putin. With the deployment of the Russian Military along with their Wagner Group in 2015, the tides in the conflict did turn in favour of Assad. More on that later in this piece. 

House of Cards: The Regional Gambits

“Syria is geographically and politically in the middle of the Middle East.” - Bashar al-Assad

There are a plethora of players in Syria at this point in time. We’ve already looked at the role of the West. In this section, we shall look at the role of Israel, Turkey, Ukraine in this situation.

Dealing with the Devil

Since the fall of Assad, the Israelis have been bombing the facilities of Iranian-backed proxies in Syria along with the Syrian Army's equipment to prevent it from going into the hands of Jolani, is what they claim. The Israeli forces invaded Syria to capture Mount Hermon and return to the ‘purple line’ or the line before agreeing to the 1974 Agreement vis-a-vis the Syrian side of the Golan Heights without any resistance. Furthermore, the ‘transitional’ government has decided to enforce a proper border with Lebanon. This border was largely porous during Assad’s reign as he wasn’t bothered about the flow of Iranian weapons & drugs among other things to Hezbollah in Lebanon through Iranian proxies in Iraq given the support that Iran extended to his regime. However, a visible shift is seen in this regard. The army of this ‘transitional’ government has invaded Lebanon to take onto the Hezbollah. In fact, the Syrian Army has occupied the bordering town of Hawik in the Hermel region to take on Hezbollah & their illegal drug & weapon smuggling networks.[20] While there is some literature out there coming from the likes of Simon Briman, an Israeli journalist & historian, as well as Yossi Melman who’re using the chronology of events and the outcome of events to hint at a covert alliance of sorts between the HTS & Israel’s Mossad against Assad, concrete evidences evade for now. Nonetheless, Israel has a a history of refusing to comment on or clarify its actions. Until 2019, Israel stated that it had given humanitarian aid to Syrian opposition groups across the border, while denying or refusing to comment on reports on supplying arms to it, however, in 2019, the outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot acknowledged that Israel did supply weapons to the Syrian ‘rebels.’[21] For that matter, Israel even armed Southern Syrian ‘rebel’ groups to attack Iranian Proxie.[22]

This, in no way, means that Israel has love & affection for these groups because, for the record, Hamas was an Israeli Mossad creation.[23][24] The cited material would be enough to have you open your eyes. The Mossad, pretty much like the ISI or the M16 or the CIA, has had a knack for creating their very own, personal monsters if not devils. Regardless of whether HTS was supported by Mossad or not, one thing is sure, Al-Sharaa has been appeasing vis-a-vis his narrative when he assured that Syria wouldn’t be used as a launchpad for attacks on Israel.[25] Al-Sharaa has furthermore ordered all the Palestinian Resistance Organizations in Syria to dissolve their military organizations & that they won’t be allowed to possess weapons, training camps or military headquarters in Syria.[26]

If Al-Jolani has been very ‘cooperative’ for Israel in their dalliant relationship then for Turkey al-Jolani has been a very important investment of sorts. We cannot be blind to the fact that HTS in 2020 adopted the Turkish Lira as its own currency. Furthermore, there is an abundance of material about how Turkey has trained & funded the HTS. People such as Fuad Shahbazov have alleged a collusion between the Israelis & the Turks to covertly support the HTS. 

Turkey has a clear national interest that the end of the Assad regime would mean the irrelevance of the SDF which their Government perceives as an organization aiding & harbouring PKK ‘terrorists’. It was, therefore, that the fall of Assad prompted the Turkish President Erdogan to urge ‘foreign’ countries to cease support to the SDF. By ‘foreign’, he meant European & American. For those who don't know, the YGP, PKK & SDF, all of these, already mentioned before, are groups with Kurdish ethnicity. Turkey has outlawed the Kurdish language & anyone using those words is often arrested & imprisoned. The Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK) has waged a war against the Turkish state & is a designated terrorist organization in Turkey, the US & the EU. It therefore wasn't a surprise when the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fiden, spurned the French proposal of deploying the French Armed Forces on the Turkey-Syria Border to ‘reduce’ tensions with the SDF. Turkey sees the fall of Assad as the apt time for the end of the SDF & the larger Kurdish insurgency. However, Rubio’s reaffirmation of support for the SDF doesn't sit well for this Turkish endeavour. Regardless, the SDF-HTS deal was definitely a product of an American-Turkish collaboration.

The Saudis have been nothing but jubilant when the Crown Prince MBS welcomed Al-Sharaa on his first foreign visit after becoming the ‘interim’ President. This visit has been seen as a signal to Iran that it has lost Syria for the good. The Saudis were an integral part of Operation Timber Sycamore & they did have interests to have Assad out. However, the rapprochement that happened in 2023 when the Arab League welcomed Syria back in under Assad was very intriguing. Qatar will likely have the most benefit given that they never joined the Syrian Normalization trend & instead supported the opposition groups by giving them a platform & funds. Nevertheless, they were also part of the Operation ‘Timber Sycamore’. However, visibly the Qatari monarchy is playing it safe by allowing the Saudis to lead the new trend. 

While the Gulf States would indeed play a pivotal role in Syria, the only Gulf state to have a lot of friction if not major disagreements is the UAE. In 2023, UAE invested in a big way towards the rehabilitation of Assad's Syria & UAE's distaste & disdain for Islamists would be something worth observing as this might be a major driver in the relationship. 

All the Roads lead to Kyiv

Since 2022, Ukraine has been a very captivating subject. People have taken more interest in Ukraine's affairs, undoubtedly even more than in 2014. Nevertheless, it is nothing but intriguing to see a Ukrainian connection in Syria. This isn't merely about the ‘strategic partnership’ that both sides were speaking about a couple of months ago. Ukrainian Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov had made repeated remarks that Ukraine would be targeting Russia internationally.(27) Further, Ukraine has been coordinating intelligence with the HTS.(28) And they even supplied 150 first-person drones & 20 drone operators to the HTS.(29) Now this is definitely a good background for comprehending the ‘strategic partnership’ understanding. 

Conclusion

“You can't make war in the Middle East without Egypt and you can't make peace without Syria.” - Henry Kissinger

Takeaways for the World

While the former part hasn't, the latter part of this quote has aged very well. Regardless of the SDF-HTS Deal, it remains a matter to be seen if the Americans are genuinely committed to preserving the SDF or if they perceive it to be some kind of leverage over Mr. Erdogan whose S-300 Deal with the Russians & then attempts to enter the BRICS, being a part of NATO, caused some distress in Washington. This would entail that there is either a strategic commitment or a strategic leverage that Americans see in the SDF. 

The timing of toppling Assad was particularly interesting given that it happened when the Russians were more than just committed & engaged on the Ukrainian front. The Iranian influence was shrinking out as their proxies of Hezbollah & Hamas were nearly capitulated. In this muddle, Assad attempted to get some secret deals through with the Americans so that he would survive, even giving out intelligence to the Israelis so as to simply be allowed to flee to Moscow.(30) 

The recent publication of a new official map of Syria, omitted the Golan Heights, annexed by Israel in 1967, as well as the Alexandrette region, ceded to Türkiye in 1939.(31) Indeed, the writing on the wall is clear, the ‘new’ Syria is willing to reconsider territorial issues & adapt to geopolitical realities. Nevertheless, not all is lost for the Russians, as the new Syrian Administration has shown a willingness to allow the Russians to hold onto their two naval & air base notwithstanding the fact that the Russians are still evacuating.(32) Al-Jolani is exhibiting shrewd diplomacy at best by hinting that he keeps the Russian window open if the West cannot help him. 

There are plenty of discussions happening in Europe & the US to lift the sanctions against Syria. The Qatari government has gone on to officially advocate for this. For that matter, even the European Governments have halted the asylum petitions for Syrians & are planning to send the asylum holders back to Syria on the grounds that the situation in Syria has ‘improved’.(33) The Americans have drawn up internal plans for a complete withdrawal from Syria.(34) 

While media driven by performative politics have gone to insane lengths to highlight the importance of Assad's Syria to China & North Korea, the fact of the matter is both have very little to lose from the fall of Assad other than losing a friend of a kind. North Korean aid to Syrian Chemical Weapons & Nuclear Programs have been cited as ‘big’ ally examples but the ingrained fact is that beyond business, the last of which happened in 2022, doesn't hold much of a difference for North Korea vis-a-vis Syria.(35) The fringe Korea has revivified its bond with Russia & China which is more than adequate to replace the occasional Syrian business dealings. Similarly, Syria didn't attract any major investment despite being part of the BRI. Furthermore, nearly 2/3rd of the Gulf States share a ‘strategic partnership’  agreement with China & the list includes Syria which simply highlights that Beijing has ticked boxes with no tangible difference which is prototypical performance politics. 

What this means for Bharat

Bharat has been very cautious with regard to Assad. The Bharatiya rapprochement happened vis-a-vis Assad only after the Arab League started it. However, politically Assad has been very supportive akin to the Chinese support for Assad. China has used the UNSC veto 16 times of which 8 times have been to protect Assad's rule.(36) That is essentially, 50% of the time the veto has been used to protect Assad. 

Unlike other OIC nations who have backed Pakistan on Kashmir, Syria has been supportive of India, asserting that India has a right to resolve the Kashmir issue in “any manner” and “without external assistance.”(37) Further, unlike the rest of the OIC, Syria dismissed Indian Revocation of Article 370 as India’s “internal matter.”(38) Riad Abbas, Syria’s then-ambassador to India said, “Every government has the right to do whatever it likes on its land to protect its people. We are always with India on any action,”(39)

Final Remarks

Whether Assad was right or wrong is a debate for another. The reality is that his regime is history. Nothing against his supporters & their Alawite-Assadist Insurgency, but their chances of succeeding are all but bright. Al-Sharaa is nothing but a radical Islamist who the Western Media rebrands to be a secular, moderate, and a hope for Syria. The game of narratives is such that Syria has been branded to be in ‘terminal decline’ due to Assad's policies from the early 2000s but an IMF report from 2008 states, “Syria's strong macroeconomic performance in recent years, as manifested in the rapid non-oil GDP growth, comfortable level of foreign reserves, and low and declining government debt.”(40) 

Earlier we discussed about how the BBC & the larger Western Media made unsubstantiated claims that the Assad Government used Sarin Gas but the fact of the matter is even UN Human Rights investigators found that the rebel forces in Syria used the Sarin Gas.(41) Few Independent investigators even claimed to have found a Syrian rebel hand behind the 2013 Ghouta Chemical Attack.(42) Let us disregard the apportion of inculpations because the purpose is not to prove Assad as some innocent leader but to stress the importance of imagery & narratives.

George Orwell once said, “Political Language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure winds.” Narratives indeed become perceptions with the passage of time and, ultimately, over generations, acquire the halo of received wisdom. Political correctness has its own perils but again, for the record, Radical Islamic Fundamentalists rule Damascus for now.

Citations:

1. Lt. Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, “An Unravelling in Syria,” Indian Express, 16th December, 2024
   
   
2. “TRANSCRIPT: ABC's Barbara Walters' Interview With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,”ABC News,7th December, 2011.
   
   2.1. “U.S. has no evidence of Syrian use of sarin gas, Mattis says,” PBS News, 2nd Feb 2018.
   
   
3. Vikram Sood, “The Ultimate Goal: A Former R&AW Chief Deconstructs How Nations and Intelligence Agencies Construct Narratives”, Harper Collins Publication, 2020, pg 144
   
   
4. Rory Cormac, “Disrupt and Deny: Spies, Special Forces and the Secret Pursuit of the British Foreign Policy”, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018, pg 261-62
   
   
5. Mark Curtis, “Secret Affairs: Britain’s Collusion with Radical Islam,” London Profile Books, pg 136
   
   
6. Vikram Sood, “The Ultimate Goal: A Former R&AW Chief Deconstructs How Nations and Intelligence Agencies Construct Narratives”, Harper Collins Publication, 2020, pg 140
   
   
7. Ibid
   
   
8. Stanly Johny, “Abu Muhammad al-Jolani: Syria’s jihadist-in-chief,” The Hindu, 8th December 2024
   
   
9. Ibid
   9.1. Mina Al-Lami, "Syria's rebel leaders say they've broken with their jihadist past - can they be trusted?", BBC, 20th December 2024
   9.2. "Who is Abu Mohammed al-Julani, leader of HTS in Syria?", Al Jazeera, 4th December 2024
   9.3. "Syrian rebel leader speaks to CNN in exclusive interview", CNN, 6th December 2024
   
   
10. Aaron Zelin, “The Age of Political Jihadism: A study of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham”, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, pg 42-58, pg 81-82
    
    
11. Al-Zaraee, Nisreen; Shaar, Karam. "The Economics of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham". Middle East Institute, 21 June 2021
    
    11.1. "More than two thousand civilians and military personnel were killed in operations in the Sahel, including 1,557 civilians who were killed and executed by members of the Ministries of Defense and Interior and the auxiliary forces." Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 17th March 2025
    
    
12. “Syrian gov't proposes 'Islamic path' changes to education system”, The Jerusalem Post, 4th January 2025
    
    
13. Ibid
    
    
14. Ibid
    
    
15. Ibid
    
    
16. Ibid
    
    
17. Ibid
    
    
18. Ibid
    
    
19. “Spokesman for Syria's new administration sparks controversy after remarks on women,” Al Quads Al Arabi, 18th December 2024
    
    19.1. “US-trained Syrian rebels gave equipment to al-Qaeda affiliate,” The Times of Israel, 26th September 2015
    
    19.2. Pilar Melendez, “Trump: ‘We Left Troops Behind’ in Syria ‘Only for the Oil’,” Daily Beast, 13th November 2019
    
    19.3. “Did the US fund the Syrian rebels that toppled Assad?,” Middle East Eye, 11th December 2024
    
    19.4. Ibid
    
    19.5. The Leaked Email
    
    19.6. “Did the US fund the Syrian rebels that toppled Assad?,” Middle East Eye, 11th December 2024
    
    
20. RIZIK ALABI, “Syrian army advances into Lebanese territory, clashes with Hezbollah”, The Jerusalem Post, 6th February 2025
    
    
21. Judah Ari Gross, “IDF chief finally acknowledges that Israel supplied weapons to Syrian rebels”, The Times of Israel, 14th January 2019
    
    
22. Elizabeth Tsurkov, “Inside Israel’s Secret Program to Back Syrian Rebels,” Foreign Policy, 6th September 2018
    
    
23. Mehdi Hasan, Dina Sayedahmed, “Blowback: How Israel Went From Helping Create Hamas to Bombing It,” The Intercept, 19th February 2018
    
    
24. Brahma Chellaney, “Israel's historical role in the rise of Hamas,” The Japan Times, 21st November 2023
    
    
25. “Syrian rebel leader: Territory will not be used to launch attacks against Israel,” The Times of Israel, 17th December 2024
    
    
26. “HTS officials order Palestinian resistance factions to disarm, close bases in Syria: Report,” The Cradle, 13th December 2024
    
    
27. Carlotta Gall, “A Geopolitical Cauldron Simmers in Syria After Rebel Attacks,” The New York Times, 3rd December 2024
    
    
28. Stavroula Pabst, “US forces still fighting inside Syria amid power vacuum,” Responsible Statecraft, 10th December 2024
    
    
29. David Ignatius, “Syrian rebels had help from Ukraine in humiliating Russia,” Washington Post, 10th December 2024
    
    
30. “Assad's shocking final deal with Israel for his freedom exposed; What big allegations reveal?”, The Economic Times, 20th December 2024
    
    
31. Vladimir Bekish, “Syria sets new terms: Moscow must choose between Assad and its bases,” News.az International, 8th February 2025
    
    
32. “Syria Could Let Russia Keep Air and Naval Bases, New Defense Minister Says,” The Moscow Times, 6th February 2025
    
    
33. Sriram Lakshman, “Several European countries pause processing of Syrian asylum claims,” The Hindu, 10th December 2024
    
    
34. Courtney Kube, “Defense Department drafting plans to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria after recent Trump comments,” NBC News, 5th February 2025
    
    
35. Bruce Bechtol, “What Does Assad’s Fall Mean For North Korea?” The National Interest, 12th December 2024
    
    
36. Johnathan Fulton, “What the fall of the Assad regime really means for China, ” Atlantic Council, 18th December 2024
    
    
37. Sudha Ramachandran, “With Fall of Bashar al-Assad, India Loses a Friend, ” The Diplomat, 10th December 2024
    
    
38. Ibid
    
    
39. Ibid
    
    
40. “IMF Executive Board concludes 2008, Article IV Consultation with Syrian Arab Republic,” 26th January 2009, pg 3
    
    
41. Global Post, “Syrian rebels used sarin gas, says UN human rights investigator,” The World, 30th July 2016.
    
    
42. Michael Kobs, Chris Kabusk, Adam Larson, “GHOUTA SARIN ATTACK: Review of Open-Source Evidence”, pg 2