The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has raised fears that Syria could now be carved up among its neighbours, with Israeli forces seizing territory in the nation’s southwest while Turkish-backed factions push into Kurdish-held areas in the northeast.
Both Israel and Turkey, justifying their actions on the grounds of national security, are operating largely unchecked following the collapse of Assad’s forces and as his allies – Iranian-led militias and Russian troops – have abandoned the battlefield. The international community, meanwhile, has shown little appetite for intervention, analysts say.
But the invaders have starkly contrasting agendas. For its part, Ankara has thrown its weight behind the new transitional government that’s led by the Islamist-led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – a group Israel’s Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel labelled a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” last Sunday due to the faction’s roots in al-Qaeda.
Citing the threat posed by HTS, Israel has launched a sweeping campaign of air strikes since Assad fled to Russia on December 8, destroying much of Syria’s remaining military infrastructure and effectively rendering the country indefensible.
“Israel is exploiting an opportunity to make sure the next Syrian government is essentially demilitarised and will pose no threat,” said Barbara Slavin, a distinguished Middle East fellow at the Stimson Centre foreign-affairs think tank in Washington.