By Bronx Anti-War Coalition
July 21, 2025
Tensions in southern Syria are escalating at a staggering rate. Yesterday, mainstream headlines reported that Israeli jets bombed Damascus and targeted HTS [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant group in Syria since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad] assets. Today, field reports reveal that Suwayda — a historic Druze stronghold — has been temporarily cleared of HTS forces after a brutal four‑day siege, with indigenous Druze fighters reclaiming their city through fierce, ground‑level combat.
Meanwhile, over 15 Israeli military and armored vehicles have advanced from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights into the southern Damascus countryside, reaching the town of Qatana, just 10 kilometers from Damascus. Simultaneously, mobilized Bedouin militias in coordination with HTS have seized control of Der al-Mayyas, northwest of Suwayda, and have begun shelling the city with mortar rounds. These developments expose a complex reality that corporate media outlets, including Al Jazeera, deliberately misrepresent.
The official narrative claims that Israel’s airstrikes are benevolent acts intended to “help the Druze” fend off HTS attacks. In truth, these airstrikes over Damascus were not meant to protect vulnerable minorities; they were a staged maneuver designed to remind HTS that Israel directs events on the ground and behind the scenes.
“David’s Corridor” (Source: thecradle.co)
Despite ongoing normalization talks with Israeli representatives — meetings that have taken place since HTS seized power under [the leadership of Abu Mohammad al-Jolani] in December 2024 (most recently in Baku, Azerbaijan) — HTS remains nothing more than a temporary puppet regime that serves Israel’s broader agenda. These bombings sent a clear message to HTS: as a mere proxy, it is expected to follow Israel’s directives and advance the Zionist agenda.
In light of these calculated actions, the relevance of prophetic warnings has never been more apparent. Martyred Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s enduring caution — that his insight grows ever more resonant with each passing hour, testifying to its timeless correctness — reminds us of the grave consequences if extremist forces prevail.
As he warned years ago: “If Syria were to fall into the hands of these groups, its present and future would spiral into chaos for years, only Allah knows for how long. A scene of endless infighting among factions devoid of reason or culture, drowning in extremism, bloodshed, sectarian rivalries and party feuds. They lack principles, accountability or any higher authority to refer to. They serve this state, that embassy and whichever intelligence agency pulls their strings.”
Nasrallah’s warning underscores the catastrophic outcome of a fragmented Syria — a scenario eerily reflected in today’s geopolitical maneuverings.
To fully understand today’s crisis, it is crucial to contrast two “Syrian revolutions.” The authentic revolution was the historic uprising led by the Druze and other Syrians against French colonial occupation in 1925 — a struggle epitomized by Sultan al-Atrash’s leadership, which forged true unity, national identity and independence.
In stark contrast, the so‑called “color revolution” championed by HTS under Jolani is a fabricated lie — a U.S.-sponsored regime change operation engineered to depose former President Assad and install an extremist Takfiri regime. “Takfiri” refers to militant Sunni supremacists, often adherents of Wahhabism or other Salafist trends, who deem other religions and Muslim groups — including Shias, Alawis and Christians — as kuffar, or infidels, and believe it is their divine duty to eliminate non‑believers.
These extremists have, throughout recent history, been exploited — wittingly or unwittingly — by Zionist and Western imperialist agendas to fuel sectarian divides in West Asia. Moreover, sectarianism is the primary tool of Zionism and the U.S. empire. Those who promote divisiveness are either funded by regional proxies or NATO allies, deliberately manufacturing internal strife to fracture societies and neutralize genuine resistance.
Under Jolani — whom we recognize as a Western asset with dubious claims to Syrian heritage (born in Saudi Arabia, with speeches ghostwritten by MI6, the British intelligence agency) — the new regime was charged with demilitarizing Syria. In December 2024, with his tacit approval, Israel promptly destroyed Syria’s stockpile of ballistic missiles and dismantled its advanced air defense network, a system once built by the Syrian people to repel relentless Zionist bombing. Now, Israeli jets operate unchallenged over empty Syrian skies, while Syria’s airspace serves as a launchpad for further Israeli strikes, even against Iran.
This calculated disarmament forms the backbone of a broader, coordinated agenda aimed at fragmenting Syria into weak, sectarian statelets ready to be absorbed by Israel. [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s recent declaration that, “We will not allow Syrian army forces to descend to southern Damascus or attack the Druze,” is not about protecting minorities — it is a ploy to impose a de facto demilitarized zone that favors direct Israeli occupation.
Israeli expansionist objectives extend further through a scheme known as “David’s Corridor.” Israeli mercenary and Druze separatist leader Hikmat Al-Hijri (a collaborator with the Zionists) has openly called for a corridor linking Suwayda with his “Kurdish brothers” in the Jazira region of northeast Syria.
This shadow project envisions a strategic path stretching from Qunaitra — already captured by Israel — through Suwayda and into Deir ez-Zur, potentially reaching Turkey or Kurdish‑controlled areas in Iraq, thereby granting Israel access to two of its primary adversaries, Iran and Turkey. Such measures are imposed by traitorous local leaders, collaborators and corrupt factions that have long betrayed their communities for personal gain.
Meanwhile, the real human tragedy of these operations has been deliberately suppressed. HTS militants affiliated with al-Qaida and ISIS set up a checkpoint near Suwayda and launched a sudden, brutal assault on Druze civilians, massacring approximately 500 people inside a local hospital and about 1,000 people in total.
After HTS’ temporary retreat, horrifying scenes emerged: bodies of civilians — including women, children and the elderly — were scattered throughout streets, homes and vehicles; reports of mass executions in narrow alleys surfaced; and the National Hospital became overwhelmed and non‑functional, its corridors filled with corpses. Essential services collapsed; electricity has been out for four days, communications are down, and water wells have ceased operating due to power and fuel shortages. Hundreds of homes have been looted and burned, and displacement shelters overflow with civilians in desperate need of aid.
This is not a one‑dimensional conflict but a multilayered geopolitical trap involving intersecting agendas of Israel, the United States, Turkey and various regional proxies. HTS is a disposable asset — a puppet that has willingly collaborated with its Western masters, even maintaining regular normalization talks with Israeli representatives. Its role is simply to execute the U.S. and Zionist strategy: Demilitarize Syria and fracture it into weak, sectarian enclaves, leaving the real power in the hands of external forces.
We call on all anti‑imperialists who cherish Syrian sovereignty to stand with the non‑partisan Syrian people in defending their territorial integrity, independence and dignity. Reject the deceitful narratives that portray these U.S.‑funded operations as acts of benevolent protection or as genuine popular uprisings. Instead, recognize that the on‑the‑ground realities — the horrific massacres, systematic disarmament, imposed corridors and staged provocations — reveal a meticulously orchestrated operation aimed at fragmenting Syria for the benefit of U.S. and Zionist ambitions.
For genuine peace to take root in West Asia, U.S. and Zionist occupation forces must be expelled, the extensive network of U.S. military bases dismantled, and all U.S. proxies deconstructed. Only by uprooting the root causes of this relentless aggression — which seeks to divide Syria into weak, sectarian statelets — can Syria reclaim its destiny and restore true sovereignty, free from external coercion.
This statement was lightly edited.
