Angry Syrians Demand ‘Holding Regime Accountable’ for Tadamon Massacre

Snapshot from the video of the Tadamon massacre published by The Guardian
Snapshot from the video of the Tadamon massacre published by The Guardian
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Angry Syrians Demand ‘Holding Regime Accountable’ for Tadamon Massacre

Snapshot from the video of the Tadamon massacre published by The Guardian
Snapshot from the video of the Tadamon massacre published by The Guardian

The footage of the Tadamon massacre sparked massive anger among Syrians and opposition activists who called on the international community to hold the Syrian regime accountable for its horrific crimes.

The Guardian released on Wednesday a video clip showing members of branch 227 of the country's military intelligence service carrying out mass executions of civilians in the Tadamon neighborhood, south of Damascus.

The video, dating back to 2013, depicts a group of blindfolded and handcuffed detainees shot dead by a Syrian intelligence officer as they are forced to run toward an execution pit.

It also showed members of the Syrian regime's forces piling bodies on top of each other and burning them.

Opposition activist Ahmed al-Omar said that The Guardian's video and investigative report revealed the mass execution of dozens of civil detainees by the Syrian regime forces in the Tadamon neighborhood.

Omar indicated that the video brought back to people's memory the atrocities and crimes of the regime forces during their raids on Syrian cities and neighborhoods.

He noted that the international community's silence on the regime's crimes against Syrians over the past decade was shocking.

Umm Mazen, 56, the wife of a detainee since 2013, said she felt intense fear and terror when she saw the video.

She indicated that after watching the massacre, she sensed the feeling of every wife and mother whose husband or son is detained by the regime forces and fear that he will be killed in the same way.

The Syrian Islamic Council offered its condolences to the families of the victims of the "horrific crime," adding that the crimes of the Syrian regime continue behind bars.

The statement warned of dire consequences for the returned refugees, adding that a joint constitutional committee or reconciliation is not possible with the presence of these criminals in power.

The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces said that the world watched one of the massacres of the criminal Assad regime, adding that it is only one crime out of the thousands of bloody massacres carried out by the government and its allies against the Syrian people.

The Coalition stated that the truth known to Syrians is now clear to the whole world, leaving no room for doubt.

In its statement, the Coalition said the massacre in the video is a well-documented "war crime" with perpetrators' information, adding that it requires fair accountability in the International Criminal Court of the criminal regime.

It stressed that there would be no peace in Syria and the region with the presence of this criminal regime that has committed all kinds of atrocities against the Syrians.

It urged an "international accountability" for the crimes, calling for a fair trial of perpetrators.



Israeli Army Says Approved Plan for New Gaza Offensive

Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp on a beach amid summer heat in Gaza City, August 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp on a beach amid summer heat in Gaza City, August 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
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Israeli Army Says Approved Plan for New Gaza Offensive

Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp on a beach amid summer heat in Gaza City, August 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp on a beach amid summer heat in Gaza City, August 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

The Israeli military said Wednesday it had approved the "framework" for a new offensive in the Gaza Strip, days after the security cabinet called for the seizure of Gaza City.

Armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir "approved the main framework for the IDF's operational plan in the Gaza Strip," a statement released by the army said.

Prime Benjamin Minister Netanyahu's government has not provided a precise timetable for when Israeli troops will enter the territory's largest city, where thousands have taken refuge after fleeing previous offensives.

Netanyahu reiterated an idea - also enthusiastically floated by US President Donald Trump - that Palestinians should simply leave the enclave housing more than 2 million people after nearly two years of conflict.

"They’re not being pushed out, they’ll be allowed to exit," he told Israeli television channel i24NEWS. "All those who are concerned for the Palestinians and say they want to help the Palestinians should open their gates and stop lecturing us."

Arabs and many world leaders are aghast at the idea of displacing the Gaza population, which Palestinians say would be like another "Nakba" (catastrophe) when hundreds of thousands fled or were forced out during a 1948 war.

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli air strikes on Gaza City have intensified in recent days, with the residential neighborhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra hit "with very heavy air strikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings.”

News of the military's approval of the plan comes hours after Hamas said a senior delegation had arrived in Cairo for "preliminary talks" with Egyptian officials on a temporary truce.

Hamas chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya's meetings with Egyptian officials in Cairo were to focus on stopping the war, delivering aid and "ending the suffering of our people in Gaza," Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement.

Egyptian security sources said the talks would also discuss the possibility of a comprehensive ceasefire that would see Hamas relinquish governance in Gaza and concede its weapons.