United States ‘carefully hopeful’ on Gaza ceasefire– DW– 12/17/2024

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister has actually articulated uncertainty of the head of the team that led the topple of previous Syrian President Bashar Assad and called into question the degree to which Syria’s brand-new de-facto leaders have actually deserted their jihadist ideas.

“These are terrorist organizations and this is a wolf in [sheep’s] clothes,” stated Sharren Haskel of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani

“It is important to avoid falling for the attempt to whitewash jihadist [groups] in Syria. “We understand that they are and their real nature, also if they transform their names, and we recognize exactly how unsafe they are to the West,” she stated.

Al-Golani, that has actually currently abandoned his nom de guerre for his genuine name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, defended Al-Qaeda in Iraq in the results of the 2003 United States intrusion

He later on developed an Al-Qaeda subsidiary in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front, which was momentarily allied with the supposed Islamic State team.

However, al-Golani later on divided from and battled versus both jihadist teams, at some point rebranding Al-Nusra as the Islamist HTS.

Since taking Damascus previously this month, al-Golani has actually rejected having strategies to enforce rigorous Islamic guideline and vowed toleration of spiritual minorities.

While slamming Israel’s current attack right into Syrian region past the linked Golan Heights as an “unwarranted escalation in the region,” al-Golani additionally stated over the weekend break that “Syria’s war-weary condition, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations.”

He included: “The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction.”