The jihadist terrorist organization Hamas celebrated the victory of fellow jihadis Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Syria in a message on Monday, applauding their “aspirations for freedom and justice” prevailing over the now-defunct regime of Bashar Assad.
HTS, an al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist organization, had been waging war against the Iran-allied Assad regime for a decade in various forms – most famously as the former Nusra Front – when they mounted a campaign in early November that began yielding massive victories. Before November had ended, HTS took control of Aleppo, the second-largest city in Syria, and in less than two weeks the jihadists were able to march into Damascus. Assad, whose family ruled Syria for decades, fled Damascus on Saturday and is reportedly in Moscow, hosted by his longtime allies in the Vladimir Putin regime.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani claimed in a recent interview with CNN that his goal in to rebuild Syria into an Islamist state, but added that he would not exterminate the indigenous minorities of the country. He added that those who feared living under sharia, or the Islamic law, were simply ignorant about what it entailed.
The United States maintains a $10 million bounty for information leading to al-Jolani’s arrest.
The leaders of Hamas, a Sunni genocidal terrorist organization in control of the Gaza Strip, appeared to see HTS as allies and congratulated the terrorists on their overthrow of the Assad regime. Hamas had previously kept a distance from the Syrian civil war due to its ties with both the Sunni jihadist rebels and the government of Iran, Assad’s closest ally. Iran had for years aided Assad in keeping a stranglehold on power through its Shiite terror proxy Hezbollah, which launched a war against Israel late last year to support Hamas after its slaughter of over 1,000 people in Israel in October.
“We stand strongly with the great people of Syria… and respect the will, the independence, and the political choices of the people of Syria,” Hamas said in a statement on Monday, according to Reuters. Hamas celebrated the “aspirations for freedom and justice” of the Syrian people and urged the country to maintain “its historical and pivotal role in supporting the Palestinian people.”
Notably, Middle East Eye observed, the Hamas statement did not mention Assad or HTS, instead repeatedly referring to the “brotherly Syrian people.”
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“We call on all segments of the Syrian people to unite, strengthen national solidarity, and rise above the pains of the past,” Hamas urged.
Middle East Eye noted that Hamas was unable to maintain friendly relations with Assad and ultimately supported the Sunni jihadists attempting to topple him. By 2022, however, Hamas sent a delegation to Damascus to mend fences with Assad, the product of Iranian diplomacy as part of Tehran’s greater effort to create an “axis of resistance” against Israel.
In the aftermath of the conquest of Aleppo in November, Hamas publicly stated it would not actively encourage the overthrow of Assad.
“This is not our battle,” a Hamas spokesman, Basem Naim, told Newsweek on December 5. “Our battle is with the Zionist occupation, and our first goal is to liberate our country from colonialism.”
Naim added that Hamas wished Syria “all the best” and hoped that “dialogue” would solve the civil war “because the only beneficiary of internal fighting and instability is the Zionist enemy [Israel].”
Hezbollah, which had been fighting both Israel and HTS in defense of Assad before his ouster, treated the fall of his regime as a catastrophe. As recently as December 2, Hezbollah spokesmen were claiming that Assad had a strong grip on the country and the Syrian military – whose soldiers abandoned their posts in droves upon the arrival of jihadist forces – “does not need fighters” to keep Damascus fortified.
“They will not be able to achieve their goals despite what they have done in past days, and we as Hezbollah will be by Syria’s side in thwarting the goals of this aggression as much as we can,” Hezbollah secretary-general Naim Qassem, who replaced late terrorist Hassan Nasrallah, declared on Thursday.
Stunned Hezbollah leaders described the fall of Damascus on Monday as a “major, dangerous, and new transformation,” according to Reuters.
Hamas is far from the only Sunni terrorist group celebrating the arrival of Islamist rule to Syria. In Afghanistan, the Taliban – which mounted its own mostly bloodless capture of Kabul in 2021 – applauded HTS for their “advancements resulting in the removal of factor of conflict and instability,” referring to Assad. In a statement on Sunday, the Taliban urged HTS to adopt a “general amnesty” for Assad supporters and build a functional government.
“It is hoped that the power transition process is advanced in a manner that lays the foundations of a sovereign and service-oriented Islamic government in line with the aspirations of the Syrian people;” the Taliban said, “that unifies the entire population without discrimination and retribution through adoption of a general amnesty; and a positive foreign policy with world countries that safeguards Syria from the threat of negative rivalries of foreign actors and creates conditions for the return of millions of refugees.”
“Moreover, IEA-MoFA calls on all foreign actors involved in Syria to adopt policies of positive engagement & cooperation, both with each other and with the new leadership, that enables Syria to embark on a path towards good governance, security, and stability,” the statement concluded. “IEA” stands for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban’s name for itself; “MoFA” is short for Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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