The regime of Syrian President Bashir Al Assad is in a quagmire. At a regular meeting of ambassadors and heads of Syrian diplomatic missions abroad resumed its work on its third day in Damascus, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Dr Fayssal Mikdad warned that water has become a political issue, and that Syrian ambassadors and diplomatic missions need to know the reality of water resources in order to defend it from public opinion.
Mikdad added during the opening of the first session, which was attended by the Minister of Water Resources in the caretaker government, Engineer, Hussein Makhlouf: The Syrian diplomatic cadre’s knowledge of the water reality is an integral part of following up on international talks on water and the obligations that we must know when we negotiate this file. In addition, Minister Makhlouf spoke about the importance of this meeting in enhancing close cooperation between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates and Water Resources, and the great reliance on Syria’s ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions for their roles, whether in obtaining our water rights or in conveying the true image of Syria’s commitment to all water agreements with neighbouring countries and with Arab brothers.
The value of water in a country like Syria which has known civil war, conflict, fragmentation by major powers and climate change is priceless. Syria in its eastern regions is largely a desert country. Arid desert is not a good source to find water. This is made especially worse by the effects of climate change, the continued war since 2011 and the sanctions imposed by international powers on the regime. However much of the blame for the country’s situation lies on the Ba’athist regime led by Assad and his family. It should be clear that this meeting between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates and Water Resources is meant to raise the appeal that the country needs water aid delivered due to the dire straits it finds itself in.
Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps allied to Assad’s regime continue their support of the regime through allies and proxy groups.
For the past six years, Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have woven a network of allied militias and upgraded military sites in southern Syria, opposite Israeli troops occupying the Golan Heights. The Iranian proxies, which have formed a front in Quneitra and Deraa provinces, have launched several attacks on Israeli targets from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria since the Gaza war began last October. Hezbollah, in particular, has launched near-daily rocket and drone attacks into northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights. Yet, on Sunday, when Hezbollah mounted what it described as its most intense attack on Israel so far – to avenge the killing of its senior commander Fouad Shukr – not a single rocket was fired at the Golan Heights from Deraa or Quneitra, according to Syrian opposition sources monitoring the front from Amman.
So, there is a genuine fear that Israel could deploy its military might against Hezbollah into Syria and Lebanon. The build-up of Iran and Hezbollah proxy groups in Southern Syria shows this is a launch pad against Israel. Both Israel and Syria are still technically at war since 1967. The Iranian militias have the support of the regime in Damascus largely to create havoc on the Israeli border. The Israelis for their part occupy the Golan Heights for its strategic value. The Israelis in terms of combat with the Syrians and proxy militias appear mostly to bide their time. Waiting for a key opportunity to strike. Assad for his part may have reigned in the Iran-backed militias not to move against the Israelis. This may be because he is aware that he would not be strong enough to resist an advance by Tel Aviv.
However, Iran-aligned auxiliaries soon established a presence there that Israel has been unable to dislodge, despite numerous strikes that have killed dozens of IRGC officers, Hezbollah commanders and Syrian officers suspected of acting as liaisons between Mr Al Assad’s military and these groups. These auxiliaries have played a key role in carving out a contiguous Iranian zone that stretches from Albu Kamal, near the border with Iraq in eastern Syria, to the Lebanese border and, since 2018, to the nearby Golan Heights – a strategic plateau that borders Israel, Lebanon and Jordan. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 war, gaining a rugged buffer between Arab countries and the Galilee, and a commanding position over Damascus. A UN-supervised disengagement line was established in 1974, a year after Hafez Al Assad, Syrian president at the time, launched a failed war to recapture the area.
Syria has had its ups and downs since the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011. It should be the country’s people, not proxy groups and foreign powers allied with the country’s dictator that should determine its future. As for Israel’s actions, the decisions of its current leadership under Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu leaves much to be desired. Netanyahu’s main goal like that of Assad is ironically to retain power. Both are waging terrible wars, Netanyahu against Gaza while repressing the West Bank and Assad against the Syrian people. Both could easily manipulate the crises they face by turning their weapons arsenals against each other. Assad still has the support of the Russians in addition to the Iranians. Syria’s Assad is the only real ally among the Arabs for Tehran and Moscow. This is the truth more or less.
A ruined, fragmented Syria is not in either of these powers’ best interests. But they have to recognize it is the Syrian people who must ultimately decide their future. The Zionists for their part need to be more restrained in their designated attacks. It will be a matter of time for Syria to determine its faith.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
