Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Citizens should avoid Salah al-Din Street because anyone who approaches it is at risk of being directly targeted
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Reality is that there is a very limited retreat of the vehicles, with the occupation forces providing cover undeer fire up to Salah al-Din Street
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Claims that the Israeli occupation has withdrawn from areas in the neighborhoods of al-Zaytoun, al-Tuffah, and al-Shujaiya are false
Hamas: The two delegations stressed that any negotiations must lead to the achievement of our people's goals and aspirations, foremost among which is ending the war and the complete withdrawal of enemy forces
Hamas: A delegation from the Hamas leadership, led by the head of the leadership council, Mohammad Darwish, met with an Islamic Jihad delegation, headed by its Secretary-General, Ziyad al-Nakhalah

Genocide rewarded

  • Tim Anderson Tim Anderson
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 8 Dec 2024 11:49
  • 15 Shares
4 Min Read

Clearly, some sort of deal was made, in part to save lives - but details are unclear. However, we do know who gained.

Listen
  • x
  • Within hours of the HTS takeover of Damascus, Israeli tanks had crossed into south Syria near Quneitra, allegedly
    Within hours of the HTS takeover of Damascus, Israeli tanks had crossed into south Syria near Quneitra, allegedly "to fight off Islamist rebels". (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

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).

Related News

Who will stop the kidnapping of women on the Syrian coast?

Millions of Syrians are at risk of water, food insecurity this year

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".

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • Syria
  • Abu Mohammad al-Jolani
  • war on Gaza
  • Israel
  • Lebanon
  • Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
  • Gaza
  • HTS
Tim Anderson

Tim Anderson

Director of the Sydney-based Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies.

Most Read

All
How is it that the Western regimes, which claimed to support the fake revolutions of Lebanon, Libya, and Syria, waged constant war against the actual Ansar Allah-led revolution in Yemen? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Understanding Yemen 1/2: The Revolution

  • Opinion
  • 30 Jun 2025
Why Netanyahu is on the ropes

Why Netanyahu is on the ropes

  • Analysis
  • 4 Jul 2025
Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

Ukraine’s Corporate Carve-Up Collapses?

  • Analysis
  • 11 Jul 2025
Africa’s top university’s ‘Gaza Resolutions’ outrages pro-'Israel' lobby

Africa’s top university’s ‘Gaza Resolutions’ outrages pro-'Israel' lobby

  • Analysis
  • 4 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
War on Iran

More from this writer

All
Understanding Yemen 2/2: Ansar Allah values

Understanding Yemen 2/2: Ansar Allah values

How is it that the Western regimes, which claimed to support the fake revolutions of Lebanon, Libya, and Syria, waged constant war against the actual Ansar Allah-led revolution in Yemen? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Understanding Yemen 1/2: The Revolution

Even if apartheid is dismantled or a Palestinian state is recognised, Liberal Zionists will use their influence to create a ‘deal’ with compliant elements of the Palestinian and Arab elites. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

The parallel struggle of Liberal Zionism

The new wave of ‘fact checkers’ and AI machines are mostly extensions of existing media monopolies, which aim to reinforce key messages of the Western hegemonic cartel. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

How Western fact checkers promote fake news

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS