Daraa Leaders Mull Russian Proposal for Permanent Solution

Protests in Suwayda, Syria on Saturday. (Suwayda 24 website)
Protests in Suwayda, Syria on Saturday. (Suwayda 24 website)
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Daraa Leaders Mull Russian Proposal for Permanent Solution

Protests in Suwayda, Syria on Saturday. (Suwayda 24 website)
Protests in Suwayda, Syria on Saturday. (Suwayda 24 website)

Central negotiating committees in Syria’s southwestern Daraa Governorate have concluded their meetings with Russian representatives on Saturday by receiving a roadmap for a final settlement to end the escalation. The proposal will be presented to local leaders and the public for further discussion.

With another meeting set to be held on Sunday, both the committees and Russian representatives agreed to give negotiations the opportunity to develop over more sessions. Nevertheless, both sides want to have a final solution within a maximum of 15 days.

News sources revealed that a deal has been reached to reopen the Saraya crossing to the governorate’s capital city, also named Daraa. Regime forces, backed by Russia, had blocked Saraya to all vehicles.

During meetings with Daraa committees, Russia’s leading delegate to the Syrian south had vowed to present a new roadmap to settle the conflict peacefully in the next few days.

General Andrei, the new Russian official in charge of the southern Syrian file, reaffirmed the need to implement a ceasefire between warring parties.

The Russian roadmap, as previous settlements, includes the handing over of individual weapons and the displacement of people unwilling to settle their status, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Moreover, the plan stipulates establishing three security centers in Daraa and settling the status of Syrian Army fugitives to guarantee that the regime will not pursue them in the future.

Russia will supervise the implementation of all demands and conditions.

According to sources, some items of the roadmap remain confidential and undisclosed.

Despite the Daraa Central Committee mulling over the Russian proposal, some rebels have issued a collective statement on Friday evening asserting their rejection of any deal that includes handing over arms and displacement.

For more than a month and a half, government forces and pro-Iranian factions have been besieging the neighborhoods of Daraa and closing most of the roads leading to them.



Coalition Bases in Northeast Syria on High Alert Amid Fears of Militia Attacks

US Bradley armored vehicles on patrol along the main road connecting Qamishli in the east to Tel Tamr in the west, in Syria’s Hasakah province.
US Bradley armored vehicles on patrol along the main road connecting Qamishli in the east to Tel Tamr in the west, in Syria’s Hasakah province.
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Coalition Bases in Northeast Syria on High Alert Amid Fears of Militia Attacks

US Bradley armored vehicles on patrol along the main road connecting Qamishli in the east to Tel Tamr in the west, in Syria’s Hasakah province.
US Bradley armored vehicles on patrol along the main road connecting Qamishli in the east to Tel Tamr in the west, in Syria’s Hasakah province.

US-led coalition forces in northeastern Syria were placed on high alert Friday following Israel’s military strikes against Iran, amid concerns that Iranian-backed militias in Iraq may retaliate with cross-border attacks.

Military sources reported that coalition bases in al-Hasakah province raised their alert level. Coalition aircraft conducted aerial patrols over the bases and along the Syrian-Iraqi border, anticipating potential attacks from factions aligned with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The precautionary measures come on the heels of Israel’s “Operation Rising Lion,” which targeted senior IRGC figures in Tehran in what Israeli officials described as a preemptive strike. In response, the Iraqi militia Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada warned it could dispatch dozens of suicide bombers to strike US interests if the conflict escalates.

Witnesses in northeastern Syria reported heavy aerial activity over al-Malikiyah and toward the Simelka-Faysh Khabur border crossing with Iraq’s Kurdistan Region early Friday. Troop movements were also observed within coalition bases.

According to local sources, over 100 trucks crossed from Iraq into Syria Thursday night via the al-Waleed border crossing. The convoy reportedly delivered military equipment, vehicles, weapons, fuel, and supplies to coalition bases in Kharab al-Jir, the Rmelan oil field, Kasrak (on the Qamishli-Tel Tamr road), and al-Shaddadi in southern Hasakah.

The heightened readiness follows a recent US decision to reduce its military presence in Syria, including the closure of three coalition facilities in Deir Ezzor province, among them the al-Omar oil field and the Conoco gas plant.

Despite the drawdown, sources say the coalition continues to receive weekly resupply shipments from its bases in Iraqi Kurdistan, maintaining its operations against ISIS cells and sustaining patrols in the region.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carried out a joint operation with coalition forces targeting a suspected ISIS sleeper cell in the town of al-Mansoura, west of Raqqa. Three suspects were arrested, including two senior figures allegedly involved in bomb-making operations. A full curfew was imposed on the area during the raid.

The SDF confirmed it seized weapons, explosive devices, and documents, and vowed to continue its counterterrorism efforts in partnership with the international coalition.