Islamic rebels have launched a major offensive against President Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime and captured Aleppo, Syria's second largest city.
“This is unprecedented for the rebels. The rebels have never controlled all of Aleppo, and in 2016 they controlled the eastern part of the city for a while before being expelled from all of Aleppo,” said Middle East Syria expert Analyst. said Jonathan Speier of List. East Forum said CBN News.
Throughout the weekend, the rebels continued moving south.
“The survival of the regime is not yet in jeopardy,” Speyer explained. “Nevertheless, this is undoubtedly a major blow to the Assad regime, which sees itself as Syria's de facto legitimate government and is accustomed to being seen as such.”
“Whether or not we give away some areas outside of our control, in fact I would give it to a larger regional alliance of which the Assad regime is a part, a regional alliance led by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added. Ta.
During a visit to Israeli Defense Forces recruits, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was aware of the situation in Syria and would protect Syria's interests.
“We are keeping a close eye on what is happening in Syria. We are determined to protect the interests of the State of Israel and defend the gains of the war.”
Regarding Israel's position on this issue, Speire said: “At this point, I can say that there is no big impact for Israel, because, of course, all of this is happening in northwestern Syria, which is quite a distance from northwestern Syria. ”. Golan Heights and the border between Syria and Israel. ”
“But if the uprising were to renew on a broader scale, if the unrest reached the border areas and there were signs of instability there, it would directly concern Israel. , Israel will have to think carefully and watch closely who this new force that is emerging near its borders is,'' he warned. “But we are not there yet.”
Syrian Christians in Aleppo fear for their safety as the city is in the hands of Islamic rebels.
“There is a legitimate reason for concern here, because we have seen in the past with HTS (Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) and its predecessor group Al-Nusra Front. – Qaeda in Syria – Well, we have seen in the past they take over areas where Christians live,” Cyper explained. “Christians have been treated badly, ranging from forced conversion to Islam and other similar acts. So nothing terrible has happened yet. But this is a legitimate concern, so It certainly needs to be closely monitored.”
Meanwhile, an unstable ceasefire in Lebanon could put pressure on Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. That's because Hezbollah, Hamas' strongest ally, has temporarily withdrawn from the conflict with Israel.
“Hezbollah, one of their major partners in crime here, now has a cease-fire agreement. They considered Hezbollah to be their ally until the end,” said US National Security Advisor Jake. Sullivan said. NBC's Meet the Press.
He hopes for a ceasefire and hostage agreement with Gaza.
“Our hope is that we can come to a ceasefire and hostage agreement,” Sullivan said.
Photo credit: ©RNS/AP Photo/Hussein Malla
