12 December 2024
In just a matter of days, Syria has been transformed from a brutal but relatively stable dictatorship run by the Alawite Al-Assad family, to a collapsed state where competing rebel groups are vying for power and control, potentially supported by regional powers.
The course of events have taken the world by surprise. The landscape of the Middle East has changed dramatically and irreversibly. The implications are largely unknown. For Israel it is a game-changer.
These dramatic developments were triggered by the chain of events following Hamas’s premeditated but ill-timed attack on Israel on 7th October 2023. Since then, Israel has under Netanyahu’s leadership gone on the offensive, and all but defeated Hamas, destroyed Hezbollah’s military capabilities in Lebanon, and even taken out Iran’s capacity to threaten Israel. And now Iran’s main ally in the region - in which it invested billions of dollars over the years - has suddenly collapsed without a fight.
With surprising speed and ease, Syrian rebel groups took Homs, Aleppo and then, last weekend, the capital Damascus. The rebels are led by Islamist alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) along with an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army.
The Syrian army barely put up a fight. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia where, it is reported, he and his family have been granted asylum. His government is still in place.
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"Israel has taken the opportunity to destroy Syria’s strategic weapons to prevent them from falling into the hands of entities hostile to the Jewish state."
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Israel has taken the opportunity to destroy Syria’s strategic weapons to prevent them from falling into the hands of entities hostile to the Jewish state. The Israeli Air Force has conducted more than 350 aerial strikes against anti-aircraft batteries, Syrian Air Force airfields and dozens of weapons production sites in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia and Palmyra. Colonel Richard Kemp called it “a strategic masterstroke” and “perhaps the most intensive bombing campaign in [Israel’s] history”.
Israel has also announced the establishment of a temporary demilitarized zone beyond the buffer zone Israel has taken over in the border area on the Golan Heights. This “sterile defensive zone” in southern Syria aims to eliminate potential terrorist threats to Israel.
How all of this will play out is highly uncertain. Clearly this is a major loss for both Russia and Iran, both of which were heavily invested in the Assad regime. One of the questions is what will be the influence of Turkey - host to about 3 million Syrian refugees - which occupies part of northern Syria and supports various rebel groups. Another is how Iran will respond to the fall of its most strategic ally in the region. Some fear that Iran will speed up its race to make nuclear weapons, which could provoke an Israeli strike.
The fate of the Christian minorities in Syria is uncertain. They need our prayers.
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"The fall of Damascus and the potential role to be played by regional powers such as Russia, Iran and Turkey suggest we are witnessing the unfolding of as-yet-unfulfilled prophecies concerning the region."
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The fall of Damascus and the potential role to be played by regional powers such as Russia, Iran and Turkey suggest we are witnessing the unfolding of as-yet-unfulfilled prophecies concerning the region. Are we potentially seeing the emergence of the alliances that will be drawn into war against Israel, as foretold in the Gog and Magog prophecies of Ezekiel 38? It is too early to say with any certainty. In any event we do well to watch this closely as we seek to understand the signs of the times.
Let us lift the nation and people of Syria , the nation of Israel, and this complex regional development, before the Lord.
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‘Arrow of Bashan’: Israel destroys most of Syria’s strategic weapons
JNS:The IAF has carried out more than 350 strikes since Assad's ouster.
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Will the Syrian rebels attack Israel?
Ryan Jones at Israel Today: The West is busy putting a fresh coat of paint in old ISIS and Al Qaeda terrorists, but their men reveal they don’t plan to stop at Damascus.
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Time of essence in response to Iran, former Israeli, US diplomats say at Tikvah event
JNS: “It’s got to occur to the Israelis—the iron is hot, do we strike now?” Elliott Abrams, former U.S. special representative for Iran, told JNS.
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What will happen to Syria’s Christians after Assad’s fall?
Recent history gives community pause as the country adjusts to new leadership. It's a time to wait-and-see ... and pray.
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'The lens we use to understand this conflict'
Eylon Levy is a prominent advocate for Israel and he was the spokesperson for the Israeli government during the first months of the war between Hamas and Israel. Representing the State of Israel on international television and radio in around 400 international television, radio, and podcast interviews and briefings across the globe.
In this interview Levy explains why it is important to use the right lens to understand this conflict.
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SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:
Ezekiel 38:2-9
“Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal; prophesy against him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you. “ ‘Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.”
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