The Situation Is Worsening in Syrian South as the US Tries to Defend Terrorists while Israel to Strike a deal with Russia
In the recent past, the situation in the Syrian south wasn’t covered hardly in media, as in Idlib and Deir Ezzor. The situation in the south deserves our attention.
After de-escalation zones in Eastern Ghouta and Homs have been essentially disappeared the question that was raised on a format like that as a tool in principle. It was noted that such action could hardly be considered as facilitating the settlement of the crisis in Syria.
In the zones under the guise of the so-called moderate opposition, the ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra have infiltrated and established control, as recent experience has shown. Hiding, their numbers reached tens of thousands.
Two de-escalation zones continue to function at present in Idlib Province and in southern part of Syria. Everything is clear with Idlib de-escalation zone, where all the radicals (including members of numerous terrorist organisations) operating in Syria have been expelled from all over the country for the last two years. But in the south, the situation is not so clear.

It should be recalled that southern de-escalation zone, bordering with Jordan, was negotiated in Astana and established in May 2017. In early July, its status was clarified during the talks between the representatives of Russia, the US and Jordan. That time, the US and Jordan – as guarantor countries – pledged not only to ensure the observance of the ceasefire by the armed opposition, but also to continue the fight against terrorism inside the zone.
Firstly, the bulk of ‘the southern zone’ was controlled in fact by the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) that was provided with money and weapons by Washington and Tel Aviv, as well as with the regular humanitarian convoys.
However, the situation on the ground in that area has changed significantly since the summer of 2017. The experts claim that approximately 55% of the zone’s territory passed under the control of the ISIS and al-Nusra to date. The total number of jihadists there comprises more than 5,000 people.
Such a development prompted to raise the question of an operation to eliminate terrorists in the de-escalation area. No wonder, Israel has become among the first to support clearing borderlines of the radicals. Tel Aviv even agreed to endure SAA’s returning up to the demarcation line in the Golan Heights that was really too difficult to embrace. The interest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is obvious. After all, so many terrorists located just near the Syrian-Israeli border are over the top, even for him.
Thus, Israel insisted on the withdrawal of pro-Iranian Shiite forces deep into the Syrian territory, as a condition for supporting the counterterrorist operation in ‘the southern zone’. It was done, as we know.

The Syrian Arab Army subsequently began to plan an offensive but the operation was postponed because of Washington’s position. The US stated that it would not allow the Syrian Army to enter the so-called de-escalation zone.
The US decides to create ‘the southern zone’ having far-reaching benefits, in fact. Apparently, by providing the radicals with money and weapons and by turning a blind eye to the ISIS expansion, the White House all the while has been preparing a foothold to attack Damascus located less than 100km from this zone of de-escalation. Does Washington strive to retain at least something to continue reverberating around Syria even at the hands of terrorists?

Boundless Ocean of Politics has received this article from Sophie Mangal, the special investigative correspondent, Inside Syria Media Centre.

Sophie Mangal

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das