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How Long Will the Southern Syria Ceasefire Last?

(Jerusalem Post) Elizabeth Tsurkov - Southern Syria has been a relatively quiet front of the civil war since 2015. Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters make up a majority among the rebels. In the wake of the ceasefire in southern Syria, the rebels will likely launch another offensive against Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Walid, the local Islamic State (ISIS) affiliate, which controls the western Daraa countryside. The Syrian regime will probably exploit the ceasefire to move much-needed troops to other fronts as it races to capture as much territory as possible from ISIS in eastern Syria. This ceasefire, like previous ones in Syria, is unlikely to hold and the Assad regime will not be punished for violating the deal. The regime and its allies Iran and Hizbullah see strategic and symbolic importance in controlling areas along the border fence with Israel on the Golan Heights. The writer is a research fellow at the Forum for Regional Thinking.
2017-07-12 00:00:00
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