Iran Creating Another ‘Southern Suburb’ Near Damascus

The shrine of Sayyidah Zeinab south of Damascus. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
The shrine of Sayyidah Zeinab south of Damascus. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
TT

Iran Creating Another ‘Southern Suburb’ Near Damascus

The shrine of Sayyidah Zeinab south of Damascus. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)
The shrine of Sayyidah Zeinab south of Damascus. (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights)

Iran is seeking to revive its expansion near the Syrian capital, Damascus, which it has always sought to do and was previously thwarted by Russia. Iran's objective is to create another “southern suburb”, commonly known as Dahieh, like the Hezbollah-dominated one in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The plan is to expand Iranian influence in the towns of the southern Damascus countryside adjacent to the Sayyidah Zeinab area.

Iran intends to do so by scaling up its purchase of homes and establishing new camps in areas adjacent to the zones of influence of Russia, which is currently preoccupied with its war in Ukraine.

The southeastern countryside of Damascus includes many towns and villages. The most important and largest of them are Babila, Yalda and Beit Sahem. These towns administratively belong to the Damascus countryside governorate and cover an area of about four square kilometers.

The Sayyidah Zeinab area, located about eight kilometers from Damascus, on the highway leading to Damascus International Airport, is the main stronghold of Iranian militias and their proxies in the southern countryside of Damascus.

Iran claims it is defending the Sayyidah Zeinab shrine, which is visited by thousands of Shiite pilgrims from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Before the war erupted in Syria about 12 years ago, most of the population of Babila, Yalda and Beit Sahem were Sunni Muslims.

After Damascus regained control of the area in the summer of 2018, through a reconciliation agreement sponsored by Russia, many local families started returning to the towns.

These families were approached by strangers looking to buy their homes and real estate. Only a few agreed to sell their properties.

Later, it became clear that those buying the houses were the families of fighters from militias affiliated with Iran.

Sources pointed out that many of the Iranian-backed militia fighters who moved into the area are originally from the Shiite towns of al-Foua and Kefraya in Syria’s Idlib countryside.



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.