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Syrian Regime’s 4th Armored Division Attempts Entering Daraa

Daraa, scattered between the bombing of its neighborhoods and the displacement of its people (Nabaa website)
Daraa, scattered between the bombing of its neighborhoods and the displacement of its people (Nabaa website)
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Syrian Regime’s 4th Armored Division Attempts Entering Daraa

Daraa, scattered between the bombing of its neighborhoods and the displacement of its people (Nabaa website)
Daraa, scattered between the bombing of its neighborhoods and the displacement of its people (Nabaa website)

The Syrian regime’s 4th Armored Division attempted entering the besieged provincial city of the southern governorate of Daraa on Sunday. Troops tried penetrating the city, also named Daraa, from three different points.

Clashes had also erupted between Daraa local opposition fighters defending their neighborhoods and regime forces attacking the city.

The escalation in violence followed opposition fighters, in a Saturday meeting, refusing a request put forth by the regime’s security committee and Russian representatives to uproot 50 individuals from the city.

Syria’s military bombarded the last opposition enclave in Daraa on Sunday, killing at least six people in one of the deadliest attacks in its siege of the birthplace of the country’s uprising, residents told Reuters.

Such brutal developments have prompted the Daraa Central Committee, based in the western countryside, to issue a statement announcing local mobilization and threatening to take the conflict province-wide if the regime’s elite division and Iranian militias don’t cease their attack on blockaded neighborhoods.

In its statement, the Central Committee explained that the announcement came after consulting with leaders in the eastern countryside of Daraa and the Jaidour area (north of Daraa).

An elite division of the army, backed by Iranian militias, has been blocking food and fuel deliveries to Daraa al Balad to press opposition fighters to surrender three years after government forces retook the rest of the area near the border with Jordan.

“They are using so-called elephant rockets indiscriminately,” Abu Jehad al Horani, a local official told Reuters, referring to improvised missiles. Explosions could be heard in the background.

According to al Horani, the Central Committee had held a meeting with the regime’s security committee and the Russians on Saturday.

During the meeting, regime officers demanded relocating more Daraa locals to northern Syria and presented a list of 50 names for the individuals they wish to uproot. The Committee turned down the request and insisted that the second batch of locals moved three days ago is supposed to be the last.

The meeting concluded without any breakthrough, the Central Committee member told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Russian generals holding talks with local figures and army commanders announced a plan on Aug. 14 that would allow the army to enter but giving guarantees to residents against reprisals and offering safe passage to former rebels to leave for other opposition areas in northwest Syria.

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Israeli Army is Setting Up Rapid Response Unit on Border with Syria

Anti-government fighters ride military vehicles in the eastern part of Aleppo province, in Syria, on Sunday. (Aref Tammawi/AFP)
Anti-government fighters ride military vehicles in the eastern part of Aleppo province, in Syria, on Sunday. (Aref Tammawi/AFP)
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Israeli Army is Setting Up Rapid Response Unit on Border with Syria

Anti-government fighters ride military vehicles in the eastern part of Aleppo province, in Syria, on Sunday. (Aref Tammawi/AFP)
Anti-government fighters ride military vehicles in the eastern part of Aleppo province, in Syria, on Sunday. (Aref Tammawi/AFP)

The Israeli military has announced the formation of a special rapid response unit in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights to fend off threats from Syria, when necessary.

Commander of the 210th Bashan Division Lieutenant Colonel Yair Palai said the unit would operate as an effective attack force capable to launch in seconds and prevent threats on Israel similar to the one Hamas launched on October 7, 2023.

“The Unit will be prepared 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of events,” he said.

“In the case of any security incident, the Unit will strike the enemy mercilessly. There is no possibility of failure, because this unit depends on constant vigilance,” Palai said.

The unit, which is comprised of elite soldiers from reconnaissance units and special reserve units, will operate under the 210th Division.

Sources said the unit has fully mobilized and operated continuously over the past three months.

Its goal was initially to counter Iranian, Syrian, Yemeni, Iraqi or other militias that might operate from the Golan against Jewish settlements there.

But recent developments in Syria compelled the army to prepare for any additional threats.

Last week, Syrian army soldiers were killed in a major attack by opposition fighters led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, who swept into the city of Aleppo in the northwest, forcing the military to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar Assad in years.

On Tuesday, Haaretz said the Israeli military fears that amid the Syrian opposition assault and their taking over of military sites belonging to the Assad regime in the country, chemical weapons could fall into the wrong hands.

If such weapons fall into the hands of the opposition fighters or Iranian militias, Israel would have to act in a way that “may affect Syria and the entire Middle East,” according to Haaretz.

The report said that after the country's civil war, Assad tried to rebuild his chemical weapons production facilities, with most having been removed from Syria under an international agreement. But a substantial part of the chemical weapons project, particularly the knowledge accumulated over the years, still remains in Assad's hands.

Haaretz wrote that Israel has relayed messages to the Syrian regime via the Russians insisting that Assad assert his sovereignty and bar Iran from operating from within Syria.

“The army is monitoring with concern the surprise Syrian rebel offensive on Assad strongholds in Syria that began last week,” it said.

Also, intelligence officials believe that while the Syrian president's standing has been weakened, Iran, with Russia's support, is exploiting the chaos in order to send in tens of thousands of fighters from the armed militias that support it.

According to Haaretz, the army's current estimate is that there are 40,000 Iranian militia fighters in Syria.

In tandem with the ceasefire with Hezbollah, the Israeli army has been carrying out strikes almost daily on the border between Syria and Lebanon in order to thwart attempts to smuggle weaponry destined for Hezbollah.

Although to date there is no firm evidence that the Iranian forces plan to station themselves in Damascus, the newspaper said one Israeli diplomatic official involved in the discussions referred to this on Sunday as a known fact. “Iran has begun to send an influx of forces into Syria in an attempt to aid Assad and suppress the revolt,” he said.