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December 10, 2024 | 07:47 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Syrian President Bashar al Assad has been ousted by Syrian rebels who have been undermining him for 14 years. During his reign, Assad heavily relied on Russia, Iran, and Hizbullah.
Following Israel's retaliation on October 7th against a Hamas-launched attack, the attention of Iran and Hezbollah was diverted. Hezbollah and Iran then got involved in a war against Israel, weakening Assad's defense and allowing the rebels to easily seize power.
However, the overthrow of Bashar al Assad was perceived differently by Hamas and Hezbollah. Here are the responses from these two resistance groups:
Hamas congratulates
The Palestinian group Hamas congratulated the Syrian people on Monday for achieving their "aspirations for freedom and justice" after toppling Assad, Reuters reported.
This marks Hamas' first public comment since rebel forces stormed the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Sunday, following a blitz that forced Assad to flee to Russia after 13 years of civil war and six decades of his family's autocratic rule.
"We stand firmly with the Syrian people... and respect the will, independence, and political choices of the Syrian people," the Islamist faction ruling Gaza said in a statement.
Hamas expressed hope that post-Assad Syria will continue its "historic and important role in supporting the Palestinian people".
In a separate statement, Ziad al-Nakhala, the head of Islamic Jihad, a group backed by Iran and an ally of Hamas, echoed these sentiments.
"Islamic Jihad hopes that Syria will remain a tangible support for the Palestinian people, their struggles, as has always been the case," Nakhala said.
Hamas openly supported the 2011 Sunni Muslim street uprising against Assad's government and vacated its Damascus headquarters in 2012, a move that angered Iran, Assad's ally, and the Palestinian groups.
The Palestinian group decided in 2022 to restore ties with the Assad government and sent a delegation to Damascus, where Hamas leaders met Assad in hopes of improving relations.
Assad-led Syria and Iran form a "resistance axis" with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and Palestinian militant groups to counter Israel.
Hamas also strongly condemned "repeated acts of aggression by Israel's occupation against Syrian territories" and rejected "the Zionist ambitions or plans targeting Syria".
Hezbollah calls events in Syria as "Dangerous Transformation"
Hamas' positive response to Assad's downfall differs from Hezbollah, a Shia group, which played a key role in supporting Assad during years of war. Assad-led Syria has long served as a crucial conduit for Iran to supply weapons to the group.
Lebanon's Hezbollah views the events in Syria as a "major, dangerous, and new transformation," a senior Hezbollah politician said on Monday, the first response from the Iran-backed group to the ousting of its ally Bashar al Assad.
Hezbollah played a leading role in propping up Assad during years of war in Syria before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon last year to engage in fierce fighting with Israel - a redeployment that weakened the Syrian government's front line.
His downfall has caused Hezbollah to lose a key ally along its eastern border. Assad-led Syria has long served as a crucial conduit for Iran to supply weapons to Shia Hezbollah.
"What is happening in Syria is a major, dangerous, and new transformation, and how and why it happened requires evaluation, and evaluation is not done on the podium," said Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah in a statement.
Armed Syrian groups led by the Sunni Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stormed Damascus on Sunday, capturing the capital and forcing Assad to flee to Russia.
Israel dealt heavy blows to Hezbollah for over a year of hostility, starting when the Lebanese group fired shots on October 8, 2023, in solidarity with its ally in Palestine, Hamas, in Gaza. A ceasefire in Lebanon took effect on November 27.
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