GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 429

Well, That Happened Fast

Assad Regime Falls

It all happened so quickly and I for one didn’t have Syria falling in a military coup in a matter of days as we read in a report from the Jerusalem News Syndicate:

Syrian President Bashar Assad has fled the country after a coalition of rebel groups stormed Damascus, ending his family’s five-decade rule over the Arab Republic, Reuters reported on Sunday morning.

The Syrian Army made it official:

Syria’s army command notified officers on Sunday that the regime had fallen, an officer who was informed of the move told the press agency.

An airplane took off and some think the was carrying Bashar al-Assad whose family ruled Syria for the last 53 years:

A Syrian Air plane took off from Damascus International Airport as the capital was being taken by the rebels. Reuters said it could not immediately ascertain the destination or who was on board.

As expected the insurgents were taking a digital and physical victory lap:

Rebel fighters declared the capital “liberated” in a televised statement carried on state television on Sunday. “Damascus has been liberated, and the tyrant Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown,” a spokesman stated, adding that “prisoners in regime prisons have been released.”

“We ask people and fighters to protect all property in Free Syria,” added the rebel spokesman. “Long live Syria free for all Syrians of all sects.”

Footage verified by CNN showed rebel fighters entering the presidential palace in Damascus on Sunday morning, firing in the air in celebration.

Why did Syria fall so quickly? Some believe that their allies left them to fend for themselves:

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Saturday Assad had been largely abandoned by his key allies, Russia and Iran.

Assad’s brutal and repressive reign left his government vulnerable and the people of Syria “fed up,” said Sullivan. At the same time, the wars in Ukraine and Lebanon had robbed Assad of his allies’ backing, he added.

Ruling From Exile

Before Damascus fell, supporters wanted Assad to rule from afar, something he failed to do:

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Assad remained in the country, though Egypt and Jordan had urged the dictator, who took over from his father in 2000, to flee and announce a government in exile.

As mentioned earlier, the Assad rule started in 1970:

Syria’s Arab Socialist Baath Party came to power in a 1963 coup. In 1970, Hafez Assad seized power in an internal party coup. Following his father’s death in 2000, Bashar Assad inherited control of the regime.

Assad was known as a brutal ruler and even attacked his own people:

After the Syrian president in August 2013 launched a chemical attack on his own citizens, killing more than 1,000, then-U.S. President Barack Obama failed to enforce a “red line” set the year prior. The government in Damascus proceeded to gas thousands of Syrian civilians to death.

Those who resisted Assad saw an opening after Iran and Hezbollah were weakened by Israel:

Government resistance appeared to be crumbling elsewhere as well on Friday, with U.S.-backed Kurds taking the city of Deir al-Zour in the east and rebel uprisings around Daraa province near the border with Israel.

Then a major city fell signaling that Assad was in trouble:

On Nov. 30, opposition forces stormed the Iranian consulate in Aleppo as part of their advance into the city, Tehran’s Foreign Ministry said at the time, after footage on social media showed fighters in the building.

Things spiraled out of control from there. An Iranian leader blamed Israel and the US for Syria’s downfall:

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed late last month that the surprise offensive was part of “a plot by the Israeli regime and the U.S. to undermine regional security,” Iran’s IRNA broadcaster reported.

The new leader hinted at how they will run Syria and anyone can see warning signs is what they were told:

Syrian experts told Fox News on Sunday that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham seeks to impose a “Talibanesque society with a few tweaks.”

Netanyahu Weighs In

We’re told in a report from The Jerusalem Post that Prime Minister Netanyahu agrees that Israel hastened the fall of the Assad regime:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood along the Syrian border with Israel on Sunday afternoon, hailing the end of Syria's Bashar al-Assad's 14-year rule and claiming Israel's "blows inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah" had a direct impact on the Syrian revolution.

At the same time the PM is making sure that the rebellion doesn’t spill over into Israel:

On a visit to the area near the border with Syria, the prime minister said he had ordered Israeli forces to seize areas in the buffer zone to ensure Israel's security and said: "We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border."

Netanyahu stated that the Syrian takeover was an extraordinary time in the Middle East:

Following blows to Assad and supporters Iran and Hezbollah, Netanyahu called the fall of the Assad regime a "historic day in the Middle East," noting another key player in Iran's web cutting off.

"The Assad regime is a central link in Iran's axis of evil - this regime has fallen. This is a direct result of the blows we inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, the main supporters of the Assad regime. This has created a chain reaction throughout the Middle East of all those who want to be free from this oppressive and tyrannical regime," Netanyahu said.

The PM thinks that these events are good for the area, but warns that there are hazards, too:

Netanyahu spoke of the toppling effect in the region as well as new opportunities for Israel.

"This has created a chain reaction throughout the Middle East of all those who want to be free from this oppressive and tyrannical regime," he stated, adding, "But it is also not without risks. First and foremost, we are working to protect our border. This area has been controlled for nearly 50 years by a buffer zone agreed upon in 1974, the Separation of Forces Agreement. This agreement collapsed."

The newly appointed Israel Defense Minister stated that the IDF is taking no chances:

Defense Minister Israel Katz announced a decision to deploy the IDF to the UN-monitored buffer zone with Syria, on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon. According to Katz, this action was taken to ensure the protection of Israeli communities in the Golan Heights. Israeli media cited an unverified report that this is the first Israeli military presence in the area since the Yom Kippur War.

After Assad's ouster, Katz made televised remarks on the decision to send troops into the buffer zone: "We came here to clearly state that we are determined to provide security to the communities of the Golan Heights. [The Prime Minister and I], with the approval of the Cabinet, have moved to seize the buffer zone and control points to ensure protection for all Israeli communities in the Golan Heights, Jewish and Druze, so that they are not exposed to threats from the other side.

Katz wants everyone to know that they have a plan in place and will do it’s best to keep the peace both inside and outside Syria:

"We are determined not to allow a return to the situation of October 6 - neither in the Golan Heights nor anywhere else."

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar wrote in a post on X that he spoke with Czech Foreign Minister about the ongoing and growing situation in Syria. "I emphasized the need to ensure the safety of the Kurdish minority in Syria, who are still facing attacks," he wrote.

As I mentioned yesterday, Christians in Syria are in great danger and the Kurds are trying to protect them even as they are in danger themselves. While the Syrian population is rejoicing overall, these rebels are not friendly to religious people other than Muslims so we need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are not in a good spot now. As we pray for the peace of Jerusalem let us also pray for all believers living in Syria.