Syrian security forces arrested two top resistance leaders affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Syria’s capital, Damascus, on Sunday, April 20.
According to media reports, the detained senior officials are:
- Khaled Khaled – Head of PIJ operations in Syria
- Yasser al-Zafari – Head of the PIJ’s organizational committee
The Saraya Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of PIJ, explained in a statement that Syria’s interim government “did not clarify the reasons for the arrest.” It also reproached the Syrian authorities because the arrest was carried out in a way that the PIJ would not have hoped to see from their brothers, “whose land has always been a haven for loyal and free people.”
The PIJ further urged the Al-Sharaa administration to release its detained leaders saying: “We hope that our brothers in the Syrian government will release our brothers who are in their custody, and we are hopeful that you are worthy of the Arab chivalry with which guests are honored and the people of truth are supported.”
“We affirm that our rifles, since their launch, have been aimed only at the enemy’s chests, and have never deviated from their primary goal, which is the entirety of Palestinian territory. When the Al-Quds Brigades offered martyrs from the Syrian arena, they offered them on the borders of occupied Palestine,” the PIJ asserted.
Cracking down on Palestinian resistance is a US condition for lifting the sanctions
The detention of PIJ leaders came two weeks after the US Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Levant and Syria, Natasha Franceschi, provided Syria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Asaad al-Shibani, a list consisting of eight demands for lifting the sanctions on his country. One of the demands stipulates banning all Palestinian armed and political activities, and deporting members of Palestinian groups to “ease Israeli concerns.”
The incident also occurred two days after the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, visited Damascus, where he met Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
Al-Sharaa is seemingly trying to distance himself from the Axis of Resistance by not only cracking down on resistance leaders within the Syrian territories, but also by strengthening the ties with Abbas, who is well-known for countering resistance against the Israeli occupation and promoting security coordination with Israel instead.
To prove himself as a statesman, who has supposedly disposed of his previous image as a jihadist, in the eyes of the US and other Western countries, Al-Sharaa is making every effort to confirm his ability to maintain Syria’s stability and therefore the stability of the entire region.
The recent developments in Syria have, for many, made clear that for the US, security and stability means guaranteeing free reign for Israel to wreak havoc in countries across the region with no response or resistance. Al-Sharaa appears to have understood this equation, and has consequently chosen to wave the white flag before Israel despite its recurrent assaults against Syria.
