Syria is not a problem in the U.S.: Turkey’s role in the rebuilding of Syria under Erdosinski’s rule

However, Erdogan’s ambitions will depend on Syria restoring relative stability. Under Erdogan, the Turkish military has often operated in Syria against various Kurdish groups that Erdogan views as a potential threats to his rule. If Erdogan chooses to operate against Kurdish factions in Syria, that could undermine efforts to rebuild Syria.

“Turkey can be a kingmaker,” he said. “Turkey will stand to benefit both domestically and regionally from a new and, potentially, a very friendly government in Damascus.”

“Those who are against the Assad government are returning to Syria, but others are getting displaced. The Syrians are coming to Lebanon and she says some of them are in her village.

The U.S. military carried out an unusually large airstrike Sunday on Islamic State bases in central Syria. The U.S. says this was done because a group of Islamic State fighters gathered to train, perhaps hoping to take advantage of the turmoil in Syria. The U.S. hit some 75 targets with a variety of aircraft, including massive B-52 bombers.

President Biden said the United States would continue to maintain a military presence. He said the United States would work with Syrians if they formed a new government after Assad’s downfall.

Trump is striking a different tone. He took to social media over the weekend to say that Syria is not a problem in the U.S.

Mouaz Moustafa, with the Syrian Emergency Task Force, an American aid group, said the U.S. forces have supplied humanitarian assistance to displaced civilians in a barren area on Syria’s southern border.

“If you asked the Syrians about the United States military, they would tell you they love it,” he said.

Iran’s axis of resistance in the Syrian civil war: A critical blow to the Iranian people and the defenders of Assad’s regime

Tehran has suffered a number of setbacks, the latest of which is Assad’s downfall. Persian Iran has spent the past four decades developing Arab partners and proxies in the region, collectively known as the “axis of resistance.” But in the past year, they’ve been tumbling like dominos.

As the country’s civil war raged, Iran was vital to the survival of Assad. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards maintained a strong presence in Syria until pulling out last week, just ahead of rebel advances. Iran also used Syria as a bridge to ship weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

But now Assad is gone, Hezbollah has been greatly weakened by its war with Israel, and another Iranian proxy, Hamas in Gaza, has been devastated by its own war with Israel.

“Losing Syria will deal a huge blow to Iran and its proxies in the region. “I feel like the leaders in Tehran might be feeling a bit anxious right now.”, said the Middle East Institute in Washington’s Gonul Tol. “This is a moment where Iran’s regional strategy has been dealt a huge blow, and at a time when the regime at home is being questioned by millions of Iranians.”

But Russia is now preoccupied with the war in Ukraine and carried out only a few airstrikes as Assad’s regime collapsed, demonstrating it was not able or willing to provide significant support.

Russia values the naval base and the air base it has in Syria. Russia’s only military base in the Middle East are very much at risk, and that’s because of it. Russia’s previous bombing campaigns inflicted heavy punishment on the rebels — and Syrian civilians — and they may not be inclined to let Russia keep that military presence.

The Battle of the Golan Heights: Israel’s Last Battle with the Sunni-dominated Regime on the Relatives of Damascus

Israel was at odds with Assad but considered him to be the devil. Assad was acknowledged by Israel as having kept the frontier calm even when the rest of the region exploded.

There is a high probability that there will be a significant role played by Islamist groups in Syria. Israel has been fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip for the past year. Israel is wary of a similar group in Syria.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed the strategic territory. Regardless of who the new leader of Damascus will be, Israel’s continued hold on the Golan Heights will remain a major point of contention.

In the nearby village of Younine, Fatima Salah picks through the rubble of what was once her family home while reciting a verse from the Quran. An Israeli airstrike damaged the house to a tangle of bricks, mangled metal and broken children’s toys.

The group’s rapid advancement threatens to leave Syrians loyal to the deposed regime out of a supply chain from Iran to Syria, and to Lebanon where Hezbollah is based. The surprise HTS offensive met little resistance from the Syrian military, which melted away from many regime-held areas in the face of the spectacular rebel juggernaut.

“The day it stopped over here, it started over there. It is not a coincidence. It’s the same war according to the man. Speaking of the Sunni groups such as HTS, she says: “They are next to us, they are on our borders … Aleppo, Hama, Damascus, and then us.”

Her fear is real. A decade ago, the same rebels who recently took over cities in Syria crossed into Lebanon just behind her house. They were part of HTS’ predecessors.

The terror in some areas was sent to Hezbollah, who were fighting alongside the Assad’s forces in Syria. These incursions drew Lebanon deeper into the Syrian conflict, forcing the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah to respond with military operations to reclaim these areas.

The consequences of this violence are important for people like Ali Zgheib. An international law student, Zgheib balances his academic pursuits with his family tradition of shepherding. Like his father and grandfather before him, he herds sheep along the Lebanon-Syria border — a terrain that has become a fault line in a wider regional war.

That alliance came at a cost. The road leading to his village is lined with craters from Israeli strikes. Hezbollah uses this border to transfer weapons from Iran to Lebanon. Those supply lines are what Israel has been targeting.

“I’d make a deal with the devil if it meant protecting my village,” he says. Hezbollah is not the devil. Our kids were going to school with them.

Nasrallah sees the border beyond his village as much more than a map line. It’s a place of torment and memory. Looking toward Syria, he recalls crossing the hills as a boy to attend Boy Scouts there.

Damascus: The beginning of a new chapter in Syrian war-breaking and rebel-controlled war-density

A revolution is almost done in Syria after a decade of war. In less than two weeks, Hayat al-shahad has captured many cities in the country, including the city of Damascus.

Nasrallah says the situation isn’t scary. “There is no bloodshed or executions. We aren’t worried if it stays like this in Syria. We will be prepared for the groups to come to Lebanon.

Younine is near the Lebanon-Syria border and the wind blows a cigarette smoke from Nasrallah as he gestures toward the horizon.

Nasrallah’s Christian village sits between two wars. Hezbollah and Israel’s fragile ceasefire is only taking hold in Lebanon. In Syria, where the rebels have taken control, they decimated the government forces and put an end to the Assad regime.

The United Nations states that Lebanon has the most refugees per capita in the world, and government estimates indicate about 1.5 million Syrian refugees live in the country. The influx has put a strain on Lebanon’s resources and infrastructure.