As Assad’s forces lost Aleppo and Hama to the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham-led insurgents in north, they also faced an uprising in southern Syria that contributed to the regime’s collapse. This included local factions in the predominantly Druze province of al-Suwayda’, which formed a ‘joint operations room’ that brought about the final dismantlement of the regime’s security and military apparatuses in the province and assumed primary responsibility for security. The ‘joint operations room’ also comes under the name of the ‘military operations administration in al-Suwayda’,’ suggesting a nominal tie to the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham-led ‘military operations administration’ that has assumed official military responsibility for security in most areas taken by the opposition from the regime.
To talk more about the ‘joint operations room’, its role in recent events in al-Suwayda’ and also the question of whether there should be a confrontation with Israel amid its incursion into Syrian territory, I conducted an interview with Ashraf Jamul of the local faction Faz‘at Shabab al-Jabal, whom I previously interviewed in 2023 when the protests against the regime broke out in the province. The interview is slightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: Of course the factions in the north launched the military campaign against the regime first and then the activity began in the south. Was there contact and coordination between you and the factions in the north in order to launch a great battle against the regime, or was the matter basically exploiting the opportunity?
A: Dear brother, with regards to the military campaign against the regime in the north, we too were preparing a military campaign in the southern region against the regime. In terms of contact and coordination, there was none in the direct sense, but our campaign against the regime arose as soon as the regime escalated: they wanted to put checkpoints in place, reinforce points, and so we began preparing for our military campaign. So the military campaign began in the north and our military campaign began at around the same time, but there was no coordination before this. But praise be to God, by the grace of the Creator, the victory was from God. We united as most of the groups under the name of the joint operations room. We abandoned most of the names. We used to operate under the name of Faz‘at Shabab al-Jabal. Currently we are all working together, we have united in al-Suwayda’ under the name of the joint operations room.
We did not seize upon an opportunity, no. Our ancestors are of the old revolutions, like Sultan Pasha al-Atrash: every battle would start in al-Suwayda’ and end in al-Suwayda’. The ember and spark of the revolution were in al-Suwayda’. al-Suwayda’ was a support and southern region for Damascus, and all were betting on it. Once al-Suwayda’, Deraa and the southern region stood hand-in-hand, Damascus fell. We were the first factions to come upon Damascus before any other faction or commission arrived.
Q: What explains the rapid collapse of the regime in the south and particularly in al-Suwayda’?
A: We broke the regime from the inside. Most of the men came and returned, and we applied a cold war policy in dealing with them. We as monotheists [Druze], as the sons of this land, reject everything called bloodshed: bloodshed is forbidden, killing is forbidden for us. But sometimes, you must defend yourself against the person who shoots at you. We dealt with the regime’s security branches, military barracks, and most of its groups by applying a cold war policy to them: we cut off their reinforcements, we let them surrender, and we sent them messages saying: preserve your lives and wealth and go in peace, and you will have security to leave al-Suwayda’. But an intense battle took place between us and the air intelligence. The air intelligence refused to surrender, but once they were struck from more than one side by the factions of the joint operations room, they immediately submitted. They felt the heat: that is, when one feels the heat, one surrenders.
Q: Which factions are part of this joint operations room?
A: The joint operations room initially consisted only of factions participating in the battle: local factions. After we got the barbaric regime out of here, we incorporated some of the other factions that operate on the ground before the ‘battle of resolution.’
Most of the factions participated in the fighting, but the most prominent factions were:
Faz‘at Shabab al-Jabal
Saraya al-Jabal
Tajammu‘ Abna’ al-Jabal
Quwat Shaykh al-Karama
Q: What is the role of your faction in al-Suwayda’ province after bringing down the regime?
A: Here we are not speaking about the role of the faction Faz‘at Shabab al-Jabal, but rather all the factions: protecting private and public property, protecting government offices, protecting the borders of the Jabal [i.e. Jabal al-Arab/Jabal al-Druze: al-Suwayda’]. We have set up committees with each one receiving a sector. This is so that the politicians and experts can work to rebuild the country, and we can make life return better than it was before.
Q: How is the humanitarian, services and security situation in al-Suwayda’?
A: We can say it is better than before, because there are many things we have discovered after we brought down this regime. There are services directors whom we have made to stop working because of corruption in many matters that have become clear to us. We have begun to hold people to account. For example, in the hospital, we noticed many expired cancer medicines that they would put out and sell. There were corrupt people in the national hospital selling these medicines. With regards to services: we do not need to get involved in the affair of the director who can serve his people and those who can serve the people with all honour and fairness. But anyone who commits wrongdoing will be held to account.
Q: We have seen that Israeli forces have entered into Syrian territory in Deraa and al-Qunaytra. Are the al-Suwayda’ factions prepared to go to the fronts in order to confront the occupation, or can it be said that the peaceful solution and negotiation are preferable?
A: There is no confrontation between us here and Israel, and there is no dispute between us and it. We as Druze monotheists have many relatives in the Golan, Carmel, in the predominantly Druze areas of 1948 [Palestine]. They live a dignified life, and Israel is not a regime that transgresses against them. Israel does not do what the regime used to do here. Why should we want to confront Israel? Why? And this decision is not one in our hands, this decision is out of our hands. But our people in the Golan were the greatest support for us in this revolution. They were able to mobilise Israeli aircraft as air support for us, and they are helping most of our people in al-Suwayda’. I don’t want to clarify more than this to you, but we want peace, we don’t want war.
