Alwaght- Amid extreme thirst of the new Syrian government for regional and international approval and legitimacy and while the interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, better known for his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, has stepped up his foreign visits for this aim and to garner foreign economic support for the struggling national economy, some reports have talked about the readiness of new rulers of Damascus to give in to the American conditions and demands in return for sanctions relief.
On Saturday, Reuters reported that Damascus has presented a written response to the US demands in a push to persuade Washington to lift sanctions in place on Syria since a decade.
According to the Western news agency, Syria in its letter promised commitment to not posing any threat to Israeli occupational actions on the Syrian soil and Tel Aviv’s interests in the future. Even more, it vowed to put an end to activities of Palestinian factions on its soil.
Al-Monitor reported that Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) has even implicitly approved to meet new American demands, such as recognizing the US right to target specific individuals on Syrian soil, which means freedom of action for the US to conduct air operations in Syria.
Other US conditions, media outlets reported, include the complete elimination of chemical weapons, the removal of foreign fighters from senior government positions, facilitating an investigation into the fate of American journalist Austin Bennett Tice who went missing since 2012 in Syria, and accepting responsibility for Syrian prisoners in the Al-Hawl refugee camp, an open-air prison for ISIS terrorists and their families.
The US State Department had previously outlined its list of conditions for the resumption of some sanctions waivers for Syria. These include those imposed under the Caesar Act in 2019, as well as an extension of the General Authorization 24, which allows for certain transactions with the new Syrian government.
US aims
Gaining control over strategic Syrian regions: Over the past years, the US had control over oilfields in eastern Syria and had obvious role in smuggling and illegal sale of oil on this region. During this time, although Washington has at times announced its intention to completely withdraw its troops from Syrian territory, it has never taken any real steps to this end, and even with the fall of President Bashar al-Assad government and the evacuation of some Russian military bases in the northern regions, American forces occupied these bases. Throughout this time, despite the former Syrian government’s complaints to the Security Council, Washington has declined to respect Syria’s national sovereignty under the pretext of fighting ISIS and terrorism. Now, it seems that the US is seeking to guarantee its long-term presence in strategic areas of Syria. This condition allows Washington to remain in the oil-rich areas of eastern Syria, citing the “right to counter terrorism,” and prevent the central government from retaking full control of these areas.
By obtaining the right to conduct operations in Syrian territory, the US can target any group it considers a threat to its interests, including groups not affiliated with ISIS. This is especially applicable to resistance forces and backers of anti-American positions.
Changing regional balance: It seems that Washington is using the sanctions as a lever to force the new Syrian government to accept a new Western-led security order. This condition is part of a broader US plan to redefine the Syrian relations with regional actors to distance Damascus from the Iran-led Axis of Resistance and push it to normalization with Israel.
On the other hand, Washington is pushing al-Jolani’s government to officially recognize the Israeli occupation of Syrian lands on its own terms. The Israelis took advantage of the power vacuum that emerged after the fall of al-Assad and occupied vast parts of the country's southern lands following destruction of all of the Syrian army's military infrastructure. In announcing their plans for the future of Syria, the Israelis explicitly talk about annexing Syrian lands to the occupied territories and paving the way for partition of Syria. Meanwhile, although the takfiri movements have repeatedly proven their commitment to guaranteeing the interests of Israel in Syrian territory, the possibility of popular resistance to this occupation plan has prompted Washington and Tel Aviv to seek to neutralize and suppress the potential uprisings of the Syrian youth resistance through the new government.
Burying alive the Palestinian cause in Syria: As mentioned before, one of the key conditions of the US for lifting the sanctions on Syria is the new government's green light to confront and eliminate Palestinian groups based in Syria.
The developments that followed fall of the al-Assad in December last year show that the political, military, security, and legal approach of the new Syrian government towards the Palestinians and their affiliated groups is in line with the American vision of burying the Palestinian cause. This alignment with the Americans can be seen at three levels:
First level: The type of interaction with the Palestinian Authority, its embassy, and resistance groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as PLO affiliates and offshoots.
Level 2: Liaison with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Level 3: Dealing with refugee camps and residents or those displaced from these camps.
At the first level, from the very first hours of the seizure of the rule in Damascus by rebel groups, the HTS closed the offices of the General Command, Fatah al-Intifada, and the headquarters of the Palestinian Baath Party (As-Sa'iqa Organization) in Damascus, as well as the refugee camps, and confiscated their weapons and vehicles.
After al-Jolani rejected a proposal for a meeting with the Palestinian factions, they agreed to send him a letter through the embassy in which they explained their situation and the Liberation Army's. The letter emphasized that the properties of these groups belonged to them and had not been granted by the previous government, and that the previous government’s assistance was limited to license plates. However, the confiscated assets were not returned, and even the interim government issued new decisions that imposed extensive restrictions on the presence of Palestinian factions on Syrian soil, which changed their situation and affected almost all groups except the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Syrian security forces raided the home of Abu Hazem Ziad al-Saghir, the secretary general of Fatah Al-Intifada, an offshoot of Fatah, and after a three-hour search and interrogation, released him in exchange for a hefty fine of half a million dollars.
The secretary general of As-Sa'iqa was also interrogated, but was not identified as a “regime remnant.” However, the organization’s offices, vehicles, and assets were confiscated. The organization also dropped the name “Baath” from its official identity and re-branded to “Al-Sa’a Organization.”
But the second and third levels of the militant regime’s anti-Palestinian measures have been related to the worsening of the living conditions of Palestinian refugees in the camps.
The Palestinian camps are practically without a clear leadership and facing difficult living conditions. Until fall of al-Assad, Islamic Jihad and Hamas (through the Palestinian Development Authority) played the main role in distributing aid to Palestinian camps in Syria. The closure of the factions’ offices, especially those providing health and education services, dealt a heavy blow to the residents. Also, with the ban on Islamic Jihad’s activities, the relocation of refugees from the Yarmouk camp and its charity kitchens were closed. Even the headquarters of the Palestine-Iran Friendship Association in Yarmouk was changed to an HTS base.
Also, although the new government has not imposed direct restrictions on UNRWA, it has not provided the agency with special facilities. The militant regime’s approach shows that it does not recognize UNRWA as the official gateway to solving the problems of Palestinian refugees.
On the other hand, the suspension of the activities of the Palestinian Arab Refugee Agency after its office was robbed on the night of the fall of the government caused a crisis for the retired refugees affiliated with this organization, who take their pensions from the organization.
Finally, the good service of the so-called Islamist new rulers of Damascus for the Israelis has gone so far to the re-displacement of the Palestinian refugees, to an extent that in a proposal under the title of "settlement of the status of the Palestinian refugees" with Turkish mediation, al-Jolani’s government has brought up three options to the Palestinians:
1. Granting citizenship to Palestinians or the possibility of obtaining Syrian citizenship.
2. Becoming a community affiliated with the Palestinian Authority by transferring their records to the Palestinian embassy.
3. Re-displacement, similar to what happened to the Palestinian refugees in Iraq
In conclusion, the Palestinians are set to be eliminated from the legal and demographic centers and benefits they enjoyed under al-Assad.
These actions by the new government will certainly not go without consequences since a majority of the Syrians regard support to Palestine as part of their Islamic and national identity. Pressuring the Palestinian refugees beside turning a blind eye to Israeli occupation of Syrian territory and running a bloody crackdown on the minorities will burn down the limited opportunity of the new rulers to win public trust.
