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.



Israel Says It Targeted Hamas Official in a Strike that Killed 9 Others

Smoke rises from an Israeli strike as the Israeli military conducts operations inside the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 1, 2025. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Smoke rises from an Israeli strike as the Israeli military conducts operations inside the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 1, 2025. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
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Israel Says It Targeted Hamas Official in a Strike that Killed 9 Others

Smoke rises from an Israeli strike as the Israeli military conducts operations inside the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 1, 2025. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Smoke rises from an Israeli strike as the Israeli military conducts operations inside the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from southern Israel, January 1, 2025. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

The Israeli military says it targeted a senior member of Hamas’ internal security apparatus in a strike in the Gaza Strip that Palestinian officials say killed nine other people, including three children.
The strike early Thursday hit a tent in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter.
The military said Hossam Shahwan, a senior officer in the Hamas-run police force in Gaza, was involved in gathering intelligence used by Hamas’ armed wing in attacks on Israeli forces.
Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Salah, another senior police official, was also killed in the strike.
The military says Hamas militants hide among civilians and blames the group for their deaths in the nearly 15-month war, which was ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel.
The Hamas-run government had a police force numbering in the tens of thousands that maintained a high degree of public security before the war while also violently suppressing dissent.
The police have largely vanished from the streets in many areas after being targeted by Israel, contributing to the breakdown of law and order that has hindered the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.