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168-527: During the Syrian Civil War , most of the portions of the governorate that are not held by Israel were taken by various opposition and Jihadist forces. In the summer of 2018, the rebel-held areas in the governorate were retaken by the Syrian government. The area surrounding Quneitra has been inhabited for millennia. Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers are thought to have lived there, as evidenced by

336-523: A third coup , which ousted the de facto leader Salah Jadid , and appointed himself as leader of Syria. Hafez imposed various changes to the Ba'athist government when he took power. He subordinated state socialism for a mixed economic model and defended private property . Hafez also abandoned the rhetoric of exporting " socialist revolution " by strengthening Syria's foreign relations with countries that his predecessor had deemed reactionary . Hafez sided with

504-505: A "hothead". Hafez, on the contrary, called for greater pragmatism in decision-making. At a meeting someone raised the case of X. Should he not be brought back? Asad gave the questioner a hard look but said nothing. A little later the subject came up again and this time Assad said: I've heard something disagreeable about this officer. When he was on a course in England in 1954, his brother wrote asking for help for their sick mother. X took

672-470: A 100 km (60 mi) front. With a massive concentration of tanks, the Israelis lashed into the Syrian forces. The Syrians at first fell back, but then managed to counterattack and drive back into occupied territory. Quneitra changed hands several times. Finally, Israeli armored units , closely supported by Phantoms and Skyhawk fighter jets performing close air support with napalm strikes against

840-662: A Palestinian who would later work for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), met Hafez in 1963; he noted that Hafez was a strong leftist "but was clearly not a communist", committed instead to Arab nationalism. During the 1964 Hama riot , Hafez voted to suppress the uprising violently if needed. The decision to suppress the Hama riot led to a schism in the Military Committee between Umran and Jadid. Umran opposed force, instead wanting

1008-422: A car accident in 1994 and Hafez turned to his third choice—his younger son Bashar , who at that time had no political experience. The move to appoint a member of his own family as his successor was met with criticism in some quarters of the Syrian ruling class, but Hafez persisted with his plan and demoted officials who opposed this succession. Hafez died in 2000 and Bashar succeeded him as president. Under his rule

1176-534: A coup d'état in 1963 . For several years, Syria went through additional coups and changes in leadership, until in March 1971, General Hafez al-Assad , an Alawite , declared himself President . It marked the beginning of the domination of personality cults centred around the Assad dynasty that pervaded all aspects of Syrian daily life and was accompanied by a systematic suppression of civil and political freedoms, becoming

1344-495: A coup". Under Assad's authority, tanks were moved into Damascus and the staffs of al-Ba'ath and al-Thawra (two-party newspapers) and radio stations in Damascus and Aleppo were replaced with Hafez loyalists. Latakia and Tartus, two Alawite-dominated cities, saw "fierce scuffles" ending with the overthrow of Jadid's supporters from local posts. Shortly afterwards, a wave of arrests of Jundi loyalists began. On 2 March, after

1512-709: A fresh symbolic value; it was seen by the Syrians as "the badge of Syria's defeat, an emblem of hatred between Syria and Israel and a cross [Syrian President Hafez al-Assad ] had to bear." During the first few days of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Quneitra was briefly recaptured by the Syrian Army before it was repulsed in an Israeli counter-offensive. In the middle of October 1973 the Israeli counter-offensive started. The Syrians had massed nearly 1,000 tanks along

1680-486: A government pension. Hafez continued his Ba'athification of the military by appointing loyal officers to key positions and ensuring that the "political education of the troops was not neglected". He demonstrated his skill as a patient planner during this period. As Patrick Seale wrote, Hafez's mastery of detail "suggested the mind of an intelligence officer". Hafez was in charge of the Syrian Air Force. By

1848-566: A growing linkage between the state and private capital". What ensued was a spike in corruption, which led the political class to be "thoroughly embourgeoised ". The channeling of external money through the state to private enterprises "created growing opportunities for state elites' self-enrichment through corrupt manipulation of state-market interchanges. Besides outright embezzlement, webs of shared interests in commissions and kickbacks grew up between high officials, politicians, and business interests". The Alawite military-security establishment got

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2016-445: A high-ranking military commander) and Jundi. The reason for the violence was Rifaat al-Assad's suspicion that Jundi was planning an attempt on Hafez's life. The suspected assassin was interrogated and confessed under torture. Acting on this information, Rifaat al-Assad argued that unless Jundi was removed from his post he and his brother were in danger. From 25 to 28 February 1969, the Assad brothers initiated "something just short of

2184-531: A marginal part remaining at the hands of the ISIL -allied Khalid ibn al-Walid Army near the Jordanian border. The rebel groups of Ahrar al-Sham , Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham , Southern Front , Army of Islam , Criterion Brigades and Army of Free Tribes evacuated from the area to Idlib under an agreement with the Syrian government. In August 2018, Russia deployed its military police force to man several posts along

2352-477: A mass migration of farming families to urban centers. This migration strained infrastructure already burdened by the influx of some 1.5 million refugees from the Iraq War . The drought has been linked to anthropogenic global warming . Subsequent analysis, however, has challenged the narrative of the drought as a major contributor to the start of the war. Adequate water supply continues to be an issue in

2520-568: A military intervention in support of the government in September 2015, shifting the balance of the conflict. By late 2018, all rebel strongholds except parts of Idlib region had fallen to the government forces. In 2014, the Islamic State group seized control of large parts of Eastern Syria and Western Iraq , prompting the U.S. -led CJTF coalition to launch an aerial bombing campaign against it, while providing ground support to

2688-612: A peace agreements in the 1990s, Syria claimed the Israel–Syria demilitarised zone established under the 1949 Armistice Agreements as its territory, falling within the Quneitra Governorate. The Israeli government rejected the claims, as it would have led to Syria having territory west of the 1923 border between Mandatory Palestine and the French Mandate of Syria , which included Israeli kibbutzim established in

2856-456: A permanent schism in the Ba'ath movement, the advent of neo-Ba'athism and the establishment of two centers of the international Ba'athist movement: one Iraqi- and the other Syrian-dominated. After the coup, Hafez was appointed Minister of Defense. This was his first cabinet post, and through his position, he would be thrust into the forefront of the Syrian–Israeli conflict. His government

3024-1890: A point of contention for United States since falling in the hands of ISIS, which were captured by American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in 2017. Protests, civil uprising, and defections (March–July 2011) Initial armed insurgency (July 2011 – April 2012) Kofi Annan ceasefire attempt (April–May 2012) Next phase of the war starts: escalation (2012–2013) Rise of the Islamist groups (January–September 2014) U.S. intervention (September 2014 – September 2015) Russian intervention (September 2015 – March 2016), including first partial ceasefire Aleppo recaptured; Russian/Iranian/Turkish-backed ceasefire (December 2016 – April 2017) Syrian-American conflict; de-escalation zones (April–June 2017) ISIL siege of Deir ez-Zor broken; CIA program halted; Russian forces permanent (July–December 2017) Army advance in Hama province and Ghouta; Turkish intervention in Afrin (January–March 2018) Douma chemical attack; U.S.-led missile strikes; southern Syria offensive (April–August 2018) Idlib demilitarization; Trump announces U.S. withdrawal; Iraq strikes ISIL targets (September–December 2018) ISIL attacks continue; U.S. states conditions of withdrawal; fifth inter-rebel conflict (January–May 2019) Demilitarization agreement falls apart; 2019 northwestern Syria offensive; northern Syria buffer zone established (May–October 2019) U.S. forces withdraw from buffer zone; Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria (October 2019) Northwestern offensive; Baylun airstrikes; Operation Spring Shield; Daraa clashes; Afrin bombing (late 2019; 2020) New economic crisis and stalemate conflict (June 2020–present) Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000)

3192-472: A political settlement have gone nowhere, leaving the Assad regime firmly in power. The U.S. Council on Foreign Relations said: The war whose brutality once dominated headlines has settled into an uncomfortable stalemate. Hopes for regime change have largely died out, peace talks have been fruitless, and some regional governments are reconsidering their opposition to engaging with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. The government has regained control of most of

3360-551: A professional military career, regarding it as a gateway to politics. After the creation of the UAR, Ba'ath Party leader Michel Aflaq was forced by Nasser to dissolve the party. During the UAR's existence, the Ba'ath Party experienced a crisis for which several of its members—mostly young—blamed Aflaq. To resurrect the Syrian Regional Branch of the party, Muhammad Umran , Salah Jadid , Hafez and others established

3528-509: A relief". He first tried to establish national unity, which he felt had been lost under the leadership of Aflaq and Jadid. Hafez differed from his predecessor at the outset, visiting local villages and hearing citizen complaints. The Syrian people felt that Hafez's rise to power would lead to change; one of his first acts as ruler was to visit Sultan al-Atrash , father of the Aflaqite Ba'athist Mansur al-Atrash, to honor his efforts during

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3696-404: A report for The Times , gave a detailed eyewitness description of the destruction: Today the city is unrecognisable. The houses with their roofs lying on the ground look like gravestones. Parts of the rubble are covered with fresh earth furrowed by bulldozer tracks. Everywhere there are fragments of furniture, discarded kitchen utensils, Hebrew newspapers dating from the first week of June; here

3864-557: A resolution on 29 November 1974 describing the destruction of Quneitra as "a grave breach of the [Fourth] Geneva Convention " and "condemn[ing] Israel for such acts," by a margin of 93 votes to 8, with 74 abstentions. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights also voted to condemn the "deliberate destruction and devastation" of Quneitra in a resolution of 22 February 1975, by a margin of 22 votes to one (the United States) with nine abstentions. During negotiations with Israel on

4032-636: A rightist, accusing him of "ditching" the party by ordering the dissolution of the Syrian Regional Branch in 1958. Hafez, who also disliked Aflaq's supporters, nevertheless opposed a show of force against the Aflaqites. In response to the imminent coup Hafez, Naji Jamil , Husayn Mulhim and Yusuf Sayigh left for London. In the 1966 Syrian coup d'état , the Military Committee overthrew the National Command. The coup led to

4200-450: A ripped-up mattress, there the springs of an old sofa. On the few sections of wall still standing, Hebrew inscriptions proclaim: "There'll be another round"; "You want Quneitra, you'll have it destroyed." Israel asserted that most of the damage had been caused in the two wars and during the artillery duels in between. Several reports from before the withdrawal did refer to the city as "ruined" and "shell-scarred". The Times' correspondent saw

4368-472: A small group to capture the Dumayr airbase, 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of Damascus. His group was the only one that encountered resistance. Some planes at the base were ordered to bomb the conspirators, and because of this Hafez hurried to reach the base before dawn. Because the 70th Armored Brigade's surrender took longer than anticipated, however, he arrived in broad daylight. When Hafez threatened

4536-412: A stalemate, by early 2023. The United States Institute of Peace said: Twelve years into Syria's devastating civil war, the conflict appears to have settled into a frozen state. Although roughly 30% of the country is controlled by opposition forces, heavy fighting has largely ceased and there is a growing regional trend toward normalizing relations with the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Over the last decade,

4704-530: A stipend. He wanted to fly, and entered the flying school in Aleppo in 1950. Hafez graduated in 1955, after which he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force. Upon graduation from flying school, he won a best-aviator trophy, and shortly afterwards was assigned to the Mezze air base near Damascus. He married Anisa Makhlouf in 1957, a distant relative of the powerful Makhlouf family . In 1955,

4872-415: A telephone argument with head of military intelligence Ali Duba , Jundi committed suicide. When Zu'ayyin heard the news he wept, saying "we are all orphaned now" (referring to his and Jadid's loss of their protector). Despite his rivalry with Jundi, Hafez is said to have also wept when he heard the news. Hafez was now in control, but he hesitated to push his advantage. Jadid continued to rule Syria, and

5040-483: A threat. Violence in the war peaked during 2012–2017, but the situation remains a crisis. By 2020, the Syrian government controlled about two-thirds of the country and was consolidating power. Frontline fighting between the Assad government and opposition groups had mostly subsided by 2023, but there had been regular flareups in northwestern Syria and large-scale protests emerged in southern Syria and spread nationwide in response to extensive autocratic policies and

5208-677: A united Syrian state (since they thought their status as a religious minority would endanger them). After the French left Syria in 1946, many Syrians mistrusted the Alawites because of their alignment with France. Hafez left his Alawite village, beginning his education at age nine in Sunni-dominated Latakia . He became the first in his family to attend high school, but in Latakia, Hafez faced anti-Alawite bias from Sunnis. He

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5376-404: A £5 note out of his pocket, held it up and said he wouldn't part with it to save her life. Anyone who can't be loyal to his mother is not going to be loyal to the air force. —General Fu'ad Kallas on the importance in which Assad laid on personal loyalty The conflict between Hafez and Jadid became the talk of the army and the party, with a "duality of power" noted between them. Shortly after

5544-462: Is an ongoing multi-sided conflict in Syria involving various state-sponsored and non-state actors . In March 2011, popular discontent with the rule of Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region. After months of crackdown by the government's security apparatus, various armed rebel groups such as

5712-501: Is characterized by regular skirmishes. In March 2011, popular discontent with the Ba'athist government led to large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region. Numerous protests were violently suppressed by security forces in deadly crackdowns ordered by Bashar al-Assad, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and detentions , many of whom were civilians The Syrian revolution transformed into an insurgency with

5880-404: Is in the army but at the same time seems as if he is not of the army; he neither binds nor loosens and has no role other than that of the tail in the beast." Another example was Shihabi, who occasionally represented Assad. However, he had no control in the Syrian military; Ali Aslan, First Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations during most of his tenure, was responsible for troop maneuvers. Although

6048-495: The 2023 Ankara bombing , which the Turkish government alleges was carried out by attackers originating from Northeastern Syria. On November 27th, 2024 it was reported that in a sudden offensive rebels seized 13 villages, including the strategic towns of Urm Al-Sughra and Anjara, as well as Base 46, the largest Syrian regime base in western Aleppo. The non-religious Ba'ath Syrian Regional Branch government came to power through

6216-460: The Conversion of Paul was traditionally identified with the small village of Kokab, north-east of Quneitra, on the road to Damascus. The governorate was established in 1964 by the merger of Quneitra District , which belonged to Rif Dimashq Governorate and Fiq District which belonged to Daraa Governorate . The reason for the establishment of this new governorate was the necessity to govern

6384-599: The Free Syrian Army began forming across the country, marking the beginning of the Syrian insurgency . By mid-2012, the crisis had escalated into a full-blown civil war. Rebel forces, receiving arms from NATO and Gulf Cooperation Council states, initially made significant advances against the government forces, who were receiving arms from Iran and Russia . Rebels captured the regional capitals of Raqqa in 2013 and Idlib in 2015. Consequently, Russia launched

6552-536: The Golan Heights from Syria, provoked a furious quarrel among Syria's leadership. The civilian leadership blamed military incompetence, and the military responded by criticizing the civilian leadership (led by Jadid). Several high-ranking party members demanded Hafez's resignation, and an attempt was made to vote him out of the Regional Command , the party's highest decision-making body. The motion

6720-729: The Great Arab Revolution . He made overtures to the Writers' Union , rehabilitating those who had been forced underground, jailed or sent into exile for representing what radical Ba'athists called the reactionary classes : "I am determined that you shall no longer feel strangers in your own country." Although Hafez did not democratize the country, he eased the government's repressive policies. He cut prices for basic foodstuffs 15 percent, which won him support from ordinary citizens. Jadid's security services were purged, some military criminal investigative powers were transferred to

6888-451: The Hama massacre . After consolidating his personal authority over the Syrian government Hafez began looking for a successor. His first choice was his brother Rifaat , but Rifaat attempted to seize power in 1983–1984 when Hafez's health was in doubt. Rifaat was subsequently exiled when Hafez's health recovered. Hafez's next choice of successor was his eldest son, Basil . However Basil died in

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7056-474: The Iran–Iraq–Syria pipeline . Syrian president Bashar al-Assad declined Qatar's year 2000 proposal to build a $ 10 billion Qatar–Turkey pipeline through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey, allegedly prompting covert CIA operations to spark a Syrian civil war to pressure Bashar al-Assad to resign and allow a pro-American president to step in and sign off on the deal. Leaked documents have shown that in 2009,

7224-503: The Israeli Defence Forces listed only eight, including Quneitra. One of the remaining populated villages, Shayta, was partially destroyed in 1967 and a military post built in its place. Between 1971–72 it was destroyed completely, with the remaining population forcibly transferred to Mas'ade , another of the populated villages under Israeli control. Prior to the 1967 Six-Day War , the population of Quneitra governorate

7392-599: The Kurdish -majority Syrian Democratic Forces . Culminating in the Battle of Raqqa , the Islamic State was territorially defeated by late 2017. In August 2016, Turkey launched a multi-pronged invasion of northern Syria , in response to the creation of Rojava , while also fighting Islamic State and government forces in the process. Since the March 2020 Idlib ceasefire , frontline fighting has mostly subsided, but

7560-827: The Military Committee , and former commander of the Golan Front) and Izzat Jadid (a close supporter of Jadid and commander of the 70th Armoured Brigade ). By the Fourth Regional Congress and Tenth National Congress in September and October 1968, Hafez had extended his grip on the army, and Jadid still controlled the party. At both congresses, Hafez was outvoted on most issues, and his arguments were firmly rejected. While he failed in most of his attempts, he had enough support to remove two socialist theoreticians ( Prime Minister Yusuf Zu'ayyin and Minister of Foreign Affairs Brahim Makhous ) from

7728-610: The Muslim Brotherhood and the ulama . Assad regime violently crushed the Islamic revolts that occurred during 1976–1982, waged by revolutionaries from the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood . The Ba'ath party carefully constructed Assad as the guiding father figure of the party and modern Syrian nation, advocating the continuation of Assad dynastic rule of Syria. As part of the publicity efforts to brand

7896-509: The Muslim Brotherhood grew tenfold from 1975 to 1978 (from 500 to 700 in Aleppo); nationwide, by 1978 it had 30,000 followers. The Islamist uprising began in the mid-to-late 1970s, with attacks on prominent members of the Ba'ath Alawite elite. As the conflict worsened, a debate in the party between hard-liners (represented by Rifaat al-Assad) and Ba'ath liberals (represented by Mahmoud al-Ayyubi ) began. The Seventh Regional Congress, in 1980,

8064-477: The Muslim Brotherhood of Syria became the vanguard of anti-Ba'athist forces. The Brotherhood had historically been a vehicle for moderate Islam during its introduction to the Syrian political scene during the 1960s under the leadership of Mustafa al-Siba'i . After Siba'i's imprisonment, under Isam al-Attar 's leadership the Brotherhood developed into the ideological antithesis of Ba'athist rule. However,

8232-724: The Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War in return for support against Israel and, whilst he had forsaken the pan-Arab concept of unifying the Arab world into one Arab nation , he sought to paint Syria as the defender of the Palestinians against Israel. When he came to power Hafez organised the state along sectarian lines. ( Sunnis and non- Alawites became figure-heads of political institutions whilst

8400-712: The Syrian National Army and allied Free Syrian militias ). Another opposition faction is the Syrian Salvation Government , whose armed forces are represented by a coalition of Sunni militias led by Tahrir al-Sham . Independent of them is the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria , whose military force is the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a multi-ethnic, Arab-majority force led by

8568-609: The 1980s, stated that such a policy would make Party members believe they were a privileged class. Another problem, Hafez believed, was the lack of local government institutions. Under Jadid, there was no governmental level below the Council of Ministers (the Syrian government). When the Iraqi Regional Branch (which continued to support the Aflaqite leadership) took control of Iraq in the 17 July Revolution , Hafez

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8736-490: The 1985 Eighth Regional Congress, the last under Hafez. In 1985, responsibility for leadership accountability was transferred from the Regional Congress to the weaker National Progressive Front . When Hafez came to power, he increased Alawite dominance of the security and intelligence sectors to a near-monopoly. The coercive framework was under his control, weakening the state and party. According to Hinnebusch,

8904-403: The 2000 Damascus Spring , Bashar al-Assad was widely reported as having failed to implement any improvements. In 2010, he imposed a controversial national ban on female Islamic dress codes (such as face veils ) across universities, where reportedly over a thousand primary school teachers that wore the niqab were reassigned to administrative jobs. A Human Rights Watch report issued just before

9072-579: The 3rd Division), Ibrahim Safi (commander of the 1st Division) and Adnan Badr Hassan (commander of the 9th Division). During the 1990s, Hafez further strengthened Alawite dominance by replacing Sunni General Hikmat al-Shihabi with General Ali Aslan as chief of staff. The Alawites, with their high status, appointed and promoted based on kinship and favor rather than professional respect. Therefore, an Alawite elite emerged from these policies. Anti-Sunni orientation of his Alawite regime also pushed Hafez to pursue closer relations with Shia Iran. During

9240-601: The Alawite officers around Hafez "were pivotal because as personal kinsmen or clients of the president, they combined privileged access to him with positions in the party and control of the levers of coercion. They were, therefore, in an unrivalled position to act as political brokers and, especially in times of crisis, were uniquely placed to shape outcomes". The leading figures in the Alawite-dominated security system had family connections; Rifaat al-Assad controlled

9408-453: The Alawites took control of the military, intelligence, bureaucracy and security apparatuses.) Ba'athist decision-making authority that had previously been collegial was reduced and given to the Syrian president. The Syrian government ceased to be a one-party system in the normal sense of the word and was turned into a one-party dictatorship with a strong presidency. To maintain this system, a cult of personality centred on Hafez and his family

9576-770: The Autonomous Administration's Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Turkish forces currently occupy parts of northern Syria and, since 2016, have fought the SDF, IS and the Assad government while actively supporting the Syrian National Army (SNA). Between 2011 and 2017, fighting from the Syrian civil war spilled over into Lebanon as opponents and supporters of the Syrian government traveled to Lebanon to fight and attack each other on Lebanese soil. While officially neutral, Israel has exchanged border fire and conducted repeated strikes against Hezbollah and Iranian forces , whose presence in western Syria it views as

9744-525: The Ba'ath Party in 1947. Hafez ensured that they would not defect to the pro-Aflaqite Ba'ath Party in Iraq with the Treason Trials in 1971, in which he prosecuted Aflaq, Amin al-Hafiz and nearly 100 followers (most in absentia ). The few who were convicted were not imprisoned long, and the trials were primarily symbolic. At the 11th National Congress, Hafez assured party members that his leadership

9912-400: The Ba'ath Party to create a coalition with other pan-Arab forces. Jadid desired a strong one-party state , similar to those in the communist countries of Europe. Hafez, as a junior partner, kept quiet at first but eventually allied himself with Jadid. Why Hafez chose to side with him has been widely discussed; he probably shared Jadid's radical ideological outlook. Having lost his footing on

10080-468: The Ba'ath Party's organizational superiority worked in its favor; with Attar's enforced exile, the Muslim Brotherhood was in disarray. It was not until the 1970s that the Muslim Brotherhood established a clear, central collective authority for its organization under Adnan Saad ad-Din , Sa'id Hawwa , Ali Sadr al-Din al-Bayanuni and Husni Abu . Because of their organizational capabilities,

10248-465: The Ba'ath Party) were dissolved, and senior officers—especially those who supported the Communists—were dismissed from the Syrian armed forces. Assad, however, remained in the military and rose quickly through the ranks. After reaching the rank of captain, he was transferred to Egypt, continuing his military education with the future president of Egypt , Hosni Mubarak . Hafez was not content with

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10416-622: The Bravo line of the buffer zone on the Golan Heights . The governorate is divided into two districts ( manatiq ). The districts are further divided into six sub-districts ( nawahi ): Before the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War , the Golan Heights comprised 312 inhabited areas, including 2 towns, 163 villages, and 108 farms. In 1966, the Syrian population of the Golan Heights was estimated at 147,613. Israel seized about 70% of

10584-907: The CIA began funding and supporting opposition groups in Syria to foment a civil war. Harvard Professor Mitchell A Orenstein and George Romer stated that this pipeline feud is the true motivation behind Russia entering the war in support of Bashar al-Assad, supporting his rejection of the Qatar-Turkey pipeline and hoping to pave the way for the Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline which would bolster Russia's allies and stimulate Iran's economy. The U.S. military has set up bases near gas pipelines in Syria, purportedly to fight ISIS but perhaps also to defend their own natural gas assets, which have been allegedly targeted by Iranian militias. The Conoco gas fields have been

10752-646: The Communist Party not because of shared ideology, but a shared opposition to the West. At the academy, Hafez met Mustafa Tlass , his future minister of Defence. In 1955, Hafez was sent to Egypt for a further six months of training. When Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal in 1956, Syria feared retaliation from the United Kingdom, and Assad flew in an air-defense mission. He was among

10920-429: The Golan Heights as a single administrative unit due to its strategic and military importance along the borders with the newly established State of Israel . Most of the governorate was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War . The deserted city remained in Israeli hands for the next six years. However, Israel and Syria remained in a state of war throughout this period (and, indeed, to the present day). The town gained

11088-528: The Golan Heights in the closing stages of the Six-Day War. Many of these residents fled during the fighting, or were driven out by the Israeli army, and some were evacuated by the Syrian army. A cease-fire line was established and large parts of the region came under Israeli military control, including the town of Quneitra , about 139 villages and 61 farms. Of these, the Census of Population 1967 conducted by

11256-536: The Kurdish YPG. Other competing factions include Jihadist organizations such as the al-Qaeda-branch Hurras al-Din (successor of Al-Nusra Front ) and the Islamic State (IS). A number of foreign countries, such as Iran , Russia , Turkey and the United States , have been directly involved in the civil war , providing support to opposing factions in the conflict. Iran, Russia and Hezbollah support

11424-432: The Military Committee, Umran aligned himself with Aflaq and the National Command; he told them that the Military Committee was planning to seize power in the party by ousting them. Because of Umran's defection, Rifaat al-Assad (Hafez's brother) succeeded Umran as commander of a secret military force tasked with protecting Military Committee loyalists. In its bid to seize power the Military Committee allied themselves with

11592-432: The Military Committee. In 1957–58 Hafez rose to a dominant position in the Military Committee, which mitigated his transfer to Egypt. After Syria left the UAR in September 1961, Assad and other Ba'athist officers were removed from the military by the new government in Damascus, and he was given a minor clerical position at the Ministry of Transport. Assad played a minor role in the failed 1962 military coup , for which he

11760-424: The National Command and the Regional Command as Secretary General and Regional Secretary, respectively. The Regional Command was the highest decision-making body in Syria, appointing the president and (through him) the cabinet. As presidential authority strengthened, the power of the Regional Command and its members evaporated. The Regional and National Commands were nominally responsible to the Regional Congress and

11928-434: The National Congress—with the National Congress the de jure superior body—but the Regional Congress had de facto authority. The National Congress, which included delegates from Ba'athist Regional Branches in other countries, has been compared to the Comintern . It functioned as a session of the Regional Congress focusing on Syria's foreign policy and party ideology. The Regional Congress had limited accountability until

12096-816: The Regional Command was unchanged. However, Hafez influenced Jadid to moderate his policies. Class struggle was muted, criticism of reactionary tendencies of other Arab states ceased, some political prisoners were freed, a coalition government was formed (with the Ba'ath Party in control) and the Eastern Front espoused by Hafez was formed with Iraq and Jordan. Jadid's isolationist policies were curtailed, and Syria re-established diplomatic relations with many of its foes. Around this time, Gamal Abdel Nasser 's Egypt, Houari Boumediene 's Algeria and Ba'athist Iraq began sending emissaries to reconcile Hafez and Jadid. Hafez began planning to seize power shortly after

12264-420: The Regional Command. However, the military's involvement in party politics was unpopular with the rank and file ; as the gulf between Hafez and Jadid widened, the civilian and military party bodies were forbidden to contact each other. Despite this, Hafez was winning the race to accumulate power. As Munif ar-Razzaz (ousted in the 1966 Syrian coup d'état ) noted, "Jadid's fatal mistake was to attempt to govern

12432-496: The SSNP. The Ba'ath (Renaissance) Party espoused a pan-Arabist , socialist ideology. Hafez proved an asset to the party, organizing Ba'ath student cells and carrying the party's message to the poor sections of Latakia and to Alawite villages. He was opposed by the Muslim Brotherhood , which allied itself with wealthy and conservative Muslim families. Hafez's high school accommodated students from rich and poor families, and Hafez

12600-475: The Six-Day War in 1967, Hafez did not play a leading role in politics and was usually overshadowed by his contemporaries. As Patrick Seale wrote, he was "apparently content to be a solid member of the team without the aspiration to become number one". Although Jadid was slow to see Hafez's threat, shortly after the war Hafez began developing a network in the military and promoted friends and close relatives to high positions. Hafez believed that Syria's defeat in

12768-417: The Six-Day War was Jadid's fault, and the accusations against himself were unjust. By this time Jadid had total control of the Regional Command, whose members supported his policies. Assad and Jadid began to differ on policy; Assad believed that Jadid's policy of a people's war (an armed-guerrilla strategy) and class struggle had failed Syria, undermining its position. Although Jadid continued to champion

12936-627: The Soviet Union, during which he fathered a daughter (who died as an infant while he was abroad) with his wife. In 1958, Syria and Egypt formed the United Arab Republic (UAR), separating themselves from Iraq , Iran , Pakistan , and Turkey (who were aligned with the United Kingdom). This pact led to the rejection of Communist influence in favour of Egyptian control over Syria. All Syrian political parties (including

13104-605: The Struggle Companies, and Assad's brother-in-law Adnan Makhlouf was his second-in-command as Commander of the Presidential Guard. Other prominent figures were Ali Haydar (special-forces head), Ibrahim al-Ali ( Popular Army head), Muhammad al-Khuli (head of Hafez's Air Force Intelligence Directorate from 1970–1987) and Military Intelligence head Ali Duba . Hafez controlled the military through Alawites such as Generals Shafiq Fayadh (commander of

13272-561: The Sunni middle class and the radical left (believing that Ba'athist rule could be overthrown with an uprising) began collaborating with the Islamists. Believing they had the upper hand in the conflict, beginning in 1980 the Islamists began a series of campaigns against government installations in Aleppo; the attacks became urban guerrilla warfare . The government began to lose control in

13440-517: The Sunnis were in the forefront, the Alawites had the power. Hafez's pragmatic policies indirectly led to the establishment of a "new class", and he accepted this while it furthered his aims against Israel . When Hafez began pursuing a policy of economic liberalization , the state bureaucracy began using their positions for personal gain. The state gave implementation rights to "much of its development program to foreign firms and contractors, fueling

13608-570: The Syrian Arab Republic militarily, with Russia conducting airstrikes and ground operations in the country since September 2015. Since 2014, the U.S.-led international coalition has been conducting air and ground operations primarily against the Islamic State and occasionally against pro-Assad forces , and has been militarily and logistically supporting factions such as the Revolutionary Commando Army and

13776-566: The Syrian Army from 1974 to 1998 (Shihabi) and defense minister from 1972 until after Hafez's death (Tlass), none had power separate from Hafez or the Alawite-dominated security system. When Jamil headed the Air Force, he could not issue orders without the knowledge of Khuli (the Alawite head of Air Force Intelligence). After the failed Islamst uprising, Hafez's reliance on his relatives intensified; before that, his Sunni colleagues had some autonomy. A defector from Assad's government said, "Tlass

13944-461: The Syrian army evacuated it in 1967. It could be seen that many of the buildings were damaged, but most of them were still standing." After it was handed over, "very few buildings were left standing. Most of those destroyed did not present the jagged outline and random heaps of rubble usually produced by artillery or aerial bombardment. The roofs lay flat on the ground, 'pancaked' in a manner which I am told can only be achieved by systematic dynamiting of

14112-419: The Syrian military and make it a Ba'ath monopoly; as he said, he had to create an "ideological army". To help with this task, Hafez recruited Zaki al-Arsuzi , who indirectly (through Wahib al-Ghanim ) inspired him to join the Ba'ath Party when he was young. Arsuzi accompanied Hafez on tours of military camps, where Arsuzi lectured the soldiers on Ba'athist thought. In gratitude for his work, Hafez gave Arsuzi

14280-511: The Syrian pilots who flew to Cairo to show Syria's commitment to Egypt. After finishing a course in Egypt the following year, Assad returned to a small airbase near Damascus. During the Suez Crisis , he also flew a reconnaissance mission over northern and eastern Syria. In 1957, as squadron commander, Assad was sent to the Soviet Union for training in flying MiG-17s . He spent ten months in

14448-452: The Syrian president Hafez al-Assad travelled to Quneitra where he pledged to return the rest of the occupied territories to Syrian control. Western reporters accompanied Syrian refugees returning to the city in early July 1974 and described what they saw on the ground. Time magazine 's correspondent reported that "Most of its buildings are knocked flat, as though by dynamite, or pockmarked by shellfire." Le Monde ' s Syria correspondent, in

14616-458: The Tadmur prison were massacred, membership in the Muslim Brotherhood became a capital offence and the government sent a death squad to kill Bitar and Attar's former wife. The military court began condemning captured prisoners, which "sometimes degenerated into indiscriminate killings". Little care was taken to distinguish Muslim Brotherhood hard-liners from their passive supporters, and violence

14784-469: The U.S.-led coalition —of severe human rights violations and massacres . The conflict has caused a major refugee crisis , with millions of people fleeing to neighboring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan ; however, a sizable minority has also sought refuge in countries outside of the Middle East, with Germany alone accepting over half a million Syrians since 2011. Over the course of

14952-788: The Union of Syrian Students. During his political activism in school, he met many men who would later serve him when he became president. After graduating from high school, Hafez aspired to be a medical doctor, but his father could not pay for his study at the Jesuit Saint Joseph University in Beirut . Instead, in 1950, he decided to join the Syrian Armed Forces . Hafez entered the Homs Military Academy , which offered free food, lodging and

15120-490: The area before the Six-Day War. During the Syrian Civil War , by the autumn of 2014, most of the portions of the governorate that are not held by Israel, were captured by various opposition and jihadist forces, with only a small enclave remaining under pro- Ba'athist militias in the north. In June 2015, the rebels launched an offensive to capture the governorate, but were repelled by the Syrian Army . In October 2015,

15288-600: The army through the party". While Hafez had taken control of the armed forces through his position as Minister of Defense, Jadid still controlled the security and intelligence sectors through Abd al-Karim al-Jundi (head of the National Security Bureau ). Jundi—a paranoid, cruel man—was feared throughout Syria. In February 1969, the Hafez-Jadid conflict erupted in violent clashes through their respective proteges: Rifaat al-Assad (Hafez's brother and

15456-420: The attempted coup Hafez and Jadid purged the party's military organization, removing 89 officers; Hafez removed an estimated 400 officers, Syria's largest military purge to date. The purges, which began when the Ba'ath Party took power in 1963, had left the military weak. As a result, when the Six-Day War broke out, Syria had no chance of victory. The Arab defeat in the Six-Day War , in which Israel captured

15624-410: The base commander with shelling, the commander negotiated a surrender; Hafez later claimed that the base could have withstood his forces. Not long after Hafez's election to the Regional Command, the Military Committee ordered him to strengthen the committee's position in the military establishment. Hafez may have received the most important job of all, since his primary goal was to end factionalism in

15792-415: The beginning "that there would be no second chances". However, later in 1970, he recruited support from the Ba'athist old guard who had supported Aflaq's leadership during the 1963–1966 power struggle. An estimated 2,000 former Ba'athists rejoined the party after hearing Hafez's appeal, among them party ideologist Georges Saddiqni and Shakir al-Fahham , a secretary of the founding, 1st National Congress of

15960-531: The beginning of the 2011 uprising stated that Assad had failed to substantially improve the state of human rights since taking power. The United States and its allies intended to build the Qatar–Turkey pipeline which would relieve Europe of its dependence on Russian natural gas, especially during winter months where many European homes rely on Russia to survive the winter. On the contrary, Russia and its allies intended to stop this planned pipeline and instead build

16128-458: The bombardment of Suwayda (a Druze-dominated city) if Hatum did not accede to his demands. Hatum and his supporters fled to Jordan, where they were given asylum. How Hafez learned about the conspiracy is unknown, but Mustafa al-Hajj Ali (head of military intelligence ) may have telephoned the Ministry of Defense. Due to his prompt action, Hafez earned Jadid's gratitude. In the aftermath of

16296-578: The central feature of state propaganda. Authority in Ba'athist Syria is monopolised by three power-centres: Alawite loyalist clans, Ba'ath party and the armed forces ; glued together by unwavering allegiance towards the Assad dynasty . The Syrian Regional Branch remained the dominant political authority in what had been a one-party state until the first multi-party election to the People's Council of Syria

16464-422: The city and captured them. In a twist of fate, the city's Druze elders forbade the murder of their guests and demanded that Hatum wait. Jadid and the others were placed under house arrest, with Hatum planning to kill them at his first opportunity. When word of the mutiny spread to the Ministry of Defense, Hafez ordered the 70th Armored Brigade to the city. By this time Hatum, a Druze, knew that Hafez would order

16632-542: The city and, inspired by events, similar disturbances spread to Hama, Homs, Idlib, Latakia, Deir ez-Zor, Maaret-en-Namen and Jisr esh-Shagour. Those affected by Ba'athist repression began to rally behind the insurgents; Ba'ath Party co-founder Bitar supported the uprising, rallying the old, anti-military Ba'athists. The increasing threat to the government's survival strengthened the hard-liners, who favored repression over concessions. Security forces began to purge all state, party and social institutions in Syria, and were sent to

16800-404: The city for himself on 6 May, a month before the Israeli withdrawal, and described it as being "in ruins and deserted after seven years of war and dereliction. It looks like a wild west city struck by an earthquake and if the Syrians get it back they will face a major feat of reconstruction. Nearly every building is heavily damaged and scores have collapsed." Direct evidence of the city's condition

16968-661: The city of Quneitra included Isma'ili and Shi'a Muslim Arabs. Others had previously moved to the Caucasus after the fall of the Soviet Union . The Golan Heights was the principal concentration of Syrian Circassians in the entire country. The population of Syrian-ruled portions of Quneitra Governorate in 2021 was estimated to be 105,124. Prior to the Syrian Civil war , about 8.5% of Palestinian refugees living in Syria, lived in Quneitra Governorate. The total number of refugees and descendants from Israeli -occupied Golan Heights

17136-549: The civil society groups, political reformists and democratic activists that emerged during the Damascus spring in the 2000s. Bashar Al-Assad claims that no 'moderate opposition' to his government exists, and that all opposition forces are Islamists focused on destroying his secular leadership ; his view was that terrorist groups operating in Syria are 'linked to the agendas of foreign countries'. The total population in July 2018

17304-652: The civilian population. Upon Hafez al-Assad's death in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad succeeded him as the President of Syria . Bashar's wife Asma , a Sunni Muslim born and educated in Britain, was initially hailed in the Western press a "rose in the desert". The couple once raised hopes amongst Syrian intellectuals and outside Western observers as wanting to implement economic and political reforms. However, Bashar failed to deliver on promised reforms, instead crushing

17472-508: The concept of a people's war even after the Six-Day War, Hafez opposed it. He felt that the Palestinian guerrilla fighters had been given too much autonomy and had raided Israel constantly, which in turn sparked the war. Jadid had broken diplomatic relations with countries he deemed reactionary , such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan . Because of this, Syria did not receive aid from other Arab countries. Egypt and Jordan, which participated in

17640-412: The conflict erupted into one of the most complicated in the world, with a dizzying array of international and regional powers, opposition groups, proxies, local militias and extremist groups all playing a role. The Syrian population has been brutalized, with nearly a half a million killed, 12 million fleeing their homes to find safety elsewhere, and widespread poverty and hunger. Meanwhile, efforts to broker

17808-500: The congress; these acts had little practical significance. When the National Congress ended on 12 November 1970, Hafez ordered loyalists to arrest leading members of Jadid's government. Although many mid-level officials were offered posts in Syrian embassies abroad, Jadid refused: "If I ever take power, you will be dragged through the streets until you die." Hafez imprisoned him in Mezze prison until his death. The coup

17976-456: The conspiracy. After the success of the Iraqi coup d'état led by the Ba'ath Party's Iraqi Regional Branch , the Military Committee hastily convened to launch a Ba'athist military coup in March 1963 against President Nazim al-Kudsi (which Hafez helped plan). The coup was scheduled for 7 March, but he announced a postponement (until the next day) to the other units. During the coup Hafez led

18144-514: The country would later collapse into civil war . Hafez was born on 6 October 1930 in Qardaha to an Alawite family of the Kalbiyya tribe. His paternal grandfather, Sulayman al-Wahhish, gained the nickname al-Wahhish (wild beast) for his strength. Hafez al-Assad's parents were Na'sa Shalish and Ali al-Assad . His father married twice and had eleven children. Hafez was his ninth son and

18312-414: The country), Druze 3% and Jewish (few remaining in Damascus and Aleppo). Socioeconomic inequality increased significantly after free market policies were initiated by Hafez al-Assad in his later years, and it accelerated after Bashar al-Assad came to power. With an emphasis on the service sector , these policies benefited a minority of the nation's population, mostly people who had connections with

18480-633: The country, and Assad's hold on power seems secure. In 2023, the main military conflict was not between the Syrian government and rebels, but between Turkish forces and factions within Syria. In late 2023, Turkish forces continued to attack Kurdish forces in the region of Rojava. Starting on 5 October 2023, the Turkish Armed Forces launched a series of air and ground strikes targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces in Northeastern Syria . The airstrikes were launched in response to

18648-419: The course of the Ba'thist state". Hafez turned the presidency, which had been known simply as "head of state" under Jadid, into a position of power during his rule. In many ways, the presidential authority replaced the Ba'ath Party's failed experiment with organised, military Leninism ; Syria became a hybrid of Leninism and Gaullist constitutionalism. According to Raymond Hinnebusch, "as the president became

18816-588: The damage. Gruner and a team of surveyors spent four months in Quneitra, documenting every building and its condition. His report concluded that Israeli forces had deliberately destroyed the city prior to their withdrawal, including almost 4,000 buildings and a large amount of infrastructure, of value estimated at 463 million Syrian pounds. The report's conclusions were subsequently adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . It passed

18984-656: The destruction of Quneitra, which was carried out by the Land Development Administration of the Jewish National Fund . Harel later described what happened: Shimshon and I walked around Quneitra all day and tried decide what to do. And then these two strange ideas came up. One was to establish a settlement in Quneitra and the second was to destroy Quneitra. Wollner and Harel asked the Jewish National Fund to carry out

19152-493: The discovery of Levallois and Mousterian flint tools in the vicinity. A settlement was established at least as early as the late Hellenistic period, and continued through the Roman and Byzantine times; it was known by the name "Sarisai". The settlement served as a stop on the road from Damascus to western Palestine . Saint Paul is said to have passed through the settlement on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus. The site of

19320-576: The early years of his rule, some of Hafez's elite had appeared non-sectarian; prominent Sunni figures at the beginning of his rule were Abdul Halim Khaddam , Shihabi, Naji Jamil , Abdullah al-Ahmar and Mustafa Tlass . However, none of these people had a power base distinct from that of Hafez. Although Sunnis held the positions of Air Force Commander from 1971 to 1994 (Jamil, Subhi Haddad and Ali Malahafji ), General Intelligence head from 1970 to 2000 ( Adnan Dabbagh , Ali al-Madani , Nazih Zuhayr , Fuad al-Absi and Bashir an-Najjar ), Chief of Staff of

19488-487: The economic situation. The protests were noted as resembling the 2011 revolution that preceded the civil war. The war has resulted in an estimated 470,000–610,000 violent deaths, making it the second-deadliest conflict of the 21st century, after the Second Congo War . International organizations have accused virtually all sides involved—the Assad government, IS, opposition groups, Iran, Russia, Turkey, and

19656-476: The end of 1964 he was named commander of the Air Force, with the rank of major general. Hafez gave privileges to Air Force officers, appointed his confidants to senior and sensitive positions and established an efficient intelligence network. Air Force Intelligence, under the command of Muhammad al-Khuli , became independent of Syria's other intelligence organizations and received assignments beyond Air Force jurisdiction. Assad prepared himself for an active role in

19824-653: The failed Syrian military intervention in the Black September , a power struggle between the PLO and the Hashemite monarchy . While Hafez had been in de facto command of Syrian politics since 1969, Jadid and his supporters still held the trappings of power. After attending Nasser's funeral, Hafez returned to Syria for the Emergency National Congress (held on 30 October). At the congress Hafez

19992-541: The failed attempt to expel Hafez from the Regional Command, he began to consolidate his position in the military establishment —for example, by replacing Chief of Staff Ahmad al-Suwaydani with his friend Mustafa Tlass . Although Suwaydani's relationship with Jadid had deteriorated, he was removed because of his complaints about "Alawi influence in the army". Tlass was later appointed Hafez's Deputy Minister of Defense (his second-in-command). Others removed from their positions were Ahmad al-Mir (a founder and former member of

20160-545: The failed coup d'état of late 1966, Salim Hatum tried to overthrow Jadid's government. Hatum (who felt snubbed when he was not appointed to the Regional Command after the February 1966 coup d'état) sought revenge and the return to power of Hammud al-Shufi , the first Regional Secretary of the Regional Command after the Syrian Regional Branch's re-establishment in 1963. When Jadid, Atassi and Regional Command member Jamil Shayya visited Suwayda, forces loyal to Hatum surrounded

20328-595: The formation of resistance militias across the country, deteriorating into a full-blown civil war by 2012. The war is fought by several factions. The Syrian Arab Armed Forces , alongside its domestic and foreign allies, represent the Syrian Arab Republic and Assad government. Opposed to it is the Syrian Interim Government , a big-tent alliance of pro-democratic , nationalist opposition groups (whose military forces consist of

20496-502: The forward Syrian units, halted the Syrian drive and turned the Syrian Army back. A group of settlers from Merom Golan – a settlement established in 1967 – took over an abandoned bunker in Quneitra and declared it to be a new settlement called Keshet (Quneitra in Hebrew ). The settlers also set about razing the existing town to the ground. The leader of Merom Golan, Yehuda Harel, and another Merom Golan member, Shimshon Wollner, initiated

20664-418: The fourth from his second marriage. By the 1920s Ali was respected locally and initially opposed to the French Mandate for Syria established in 1923. Nevertheless Ali Sulayman later cooperated with the French administration and was appointed to an official post. Local residents called him "al-Assad" (the lion) for his accomplishments and in 1927 he made the nickname his surname. Alawites initially opposed

20832-410: The government, and members of the Sunni merchant class of Damascus and Aleppo. In 2010, Syria's nominal GDP per capita was only $ 2,834, comparable to Sub-Saharan African countries such as Nigeria and far lower than its neighbors such as Lebanon, with an annual growth rate of 3.39%, below most other developing countries. The country also faced particularly high youth unemployment rates. At the start of

21000-400: The government; he refused, believing that a coup at that time would have helped Israel, but not Syria. The war was a turning point for Hafez (and Ba'athist Syria in general), and his attempted ouster began a power struggle with Jadid for control of the country. Until then Hafez had not shown ambition for high office, arousing little suspicion in others. From the 1963 Syrian coup d'état to

21168-486: The greatest share of the money; the Ba'ath Party and its leaders ruled a new class, defending their interests instead of those of peasants and workers (whom they were supposed to represent). This, coupled with growing Sunni disillusionment with what Hinnebusch calls "the regime's mixture of statism, rural and sectarian favouritism, corruption and new inequalities", fueled the growth of the Islamic movement. Because of this,

21336-401: The main source of initiative in the government, his personality, values, strengths, and weaknesses became decisive for its direction and stability. Arguably Hafez's leadership gave the government an enhanced combination of consistency and flexibility which it hitherto lacked." Hafez institutionalised a system where he had the final say, which weakened the powers of the collegial institutions of

21504-530: The military split in a revolt against President Adib Shishakli . Hashim al-Atassi , head of the National Bloc and briefly president after Sami al-Hinnawi 's coup, returned as president and Syria was again under civilian rule. After 1955, Atassi's hold on the country was increasingly shaky. As a result of the 1955 election, Atassi was replaced by Shukri al-Quwatli , who was president before Syria's independence from France. The Ba'ath Party grew closer to

21672-461: The nation and Assad dynasty as inseparable; slogans such as "Assad or we burn the country", "Assad or to hell with the country" and "Hafez Assad, forever" became an integral part of the state and party discourse during the 1980s. Eventually the party organisation itself became a rubber stamp and the power structures became deeply dependent on sectarian affiliation to the Assad family and the central role of armed forces needed to crack down on dissent in

21840-523: The northern provinces to quell the uprising. When this failed, the hard-liners began accusing the United States of fomenting the uprising and called for the reinstatement of "revolutionary vigilance". The hard-liners won the debate after a failed attempt on Hafez's life in June 1980, and began responding to the uprising with state terrorism later that year. Under Rifaat al-Assad Islamic prisoners at

22008-531: The ongoing civil war and it is frequently the target of military action. The human rights situation in Syria has long been the subject of harsh critique from global organizations. The rights of free expression , association and assembly were strictly controlled in Syria even before the uprising. The country was under emergency rule from 1963 until 2011 and public gatherings of more than five people were banned. Security forces had sweeping powers of arrest and detention. Despite hopes for democratic change with

22176-486: The party's highest decision-making body. From his position as part of the National Command, Hafez informed Jadid on its activities. After the congress, the National Command dissolved the Syrian Regional Command; Aflaq proposed Salah al-Din al-Bitar as prime minister, but Hafez and Brahim Makhous opposed Bitar's nomination. According to Seale, Hafez abhorred Aflaq; he considered him an autocrat and

22344-476: The people, the organization of the party and whether the class struggle should end. These subjects were discussed heatedly in Ba'ath Party conclaves, and when they reached the Fourth Regional Congress the two sides were irreconcilable. Hafez wanted to "democratize" the party by making it easier for people to join. Jadid was wary of too large a membership, believing that the majority of those who joined were opportunists. Hafez, in an interview with Patrick Seale in

22512-428: The police, and the confiscation of goods under Jadid was reversed. Restrictions on travel to and trade with Lebanon were eased, and Hafez encouraged growth in the private sector . While Hafez supported most of Jadid's policies, he proved more pragmatic after he came to power. Most of Jadid's supporters faced a choice: continue working for the Ba'ath government under Hafez, or face repression. Hafez made it clear from

22680-504: The political elite would question a decision of his, and those who did were dismissed. General Naji Jamil is an example, being dismissed after he disagreed with Hafez's handling of the Islamist uprising . The two highest decision-making bodies were the Regional Command and the National Command, both part of the Ba'ath Party. Joint sessions of these bodies resembled politburos in socialist states which espoused communism . Hafez headed

22848-661: The power struggles that lay ahead. In the aftermath of the 1963 coup, at the First Regional Congress (held 5 September 1963) Hafez was elected to the Syrian Regional Command (the highest decision-making body in the Syrian Regional Branch). While not a leadership role, it was Hafez's first appearance in national politics; in retrospect, he said he positioned himself "on the left" in the Regional Command. Khalid al-Falhum ,

23016-458: The rebels launched another offensive , which once again ended in a stalemate. Despite a semi-ceasefire set up by Russia and the US in September 2016, insurgents in the governorate declared a new offensive against the government forces there. In June and July 2018, the rebel-held areas in the governorate was almost entirely retaken by the Syrian Army and its allies with Russian air support , with only

23184-554: The regionalists, a group of cells in the Syrian Regional Branch that refused to disband in 1958 when ordered to do so. Although Aflaq considered these cells traitors, Hafez called them the "true cells of the party"; this again highlighted differences between the Military Committee and the National Command headed by Aflaq. At the Eighth National Congress in 1965 Hafez was elected to the National Command ,

23352-434: The society. Critics of the regime have pointed out that deployment of violence is at the crux of Ba'athist Syria and describe it as "a dictatorship with genocidal tendencies". Hafez ruled Syria for 3 decades with an iron first, using methods ranging from censorship to violent measures of state terror such as mass murders , forced deportations and brutal practices such as torture , which were unleashed collectively upon

23520-464: The state and party. As fidelity to the leader replaced ideological conviction later in his presidency, corruption became widespread. The state-sponsored cult of personality became pervasive; as Assad's authority strengthened at his colleagues' expense, he became the sole symbol of the government. While Assad did not rule alone, he increasingly had the last word; those with whom he worked eventually became lieutenants, rather than colleagues. None of

23688-632: The support walls inside." Mortimer concluded that the footage "establishes beyond reasonable doubt that much of the destruction took place after 12 May—at a time when there was no fighting anywhere near Kuneitra." The United Nations established a Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories , which engaged a Swiss engineer Edward Gruner to investigate

23856-483: The uprising, the Sunni middle class continued to support the Ba'ath Party because of its dislike of political Islam. After the uprising the government resumed its version of militaristic Leninism, reverting the liberalization introduced when Hafez came to power. The Ba'ath Party was weakened by the uprising; democratic elections for delegates to the Regional and National Congresses were halted, and open discussion within

24024-709: The war, a number of peace initiatives have been launched, including the March 2017 Geneva peace talks on Syria led by the United Nations , but fighting has continued. In October 2019, Kurdish leaders of Rojava , a region within Syria, announced they had reached a major deal with the government of Syria under Assad. This deal was enacted in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Syria. The Kurdish leaders made this deal in order to obtain Syria's help in stopping hostile Turkish forces who were invading Syria and attacking Kurds. The civil war had largely subsided, settling into

24192-414: The war, discontent against the government was strongest in Syria's poor areas, predominantly among conservative Sunnis. These included cities with high poverty rates, such as Daraa and Homs , and the poorer districts of large cities. This coincided with the most intense drought ever recorded in Syria, which lasted from 2006 to 2011 and resulted in widespread crop failure, an increase in food prices and

24360-411: The war, received £ 135 million per year for an undisclosed period. While Jadid and his supporters prioritised socialism and the "internal revolution", Hafez wanted the leadership to focus on foreign policy and the containment of Israel. The Ba'ath Party was divided over several issues, such as how the government could best use Syria's limited resources, the ideal relationship between the party and

24528-580: The work, ostensibly to prepare an area for agricultural cultivation, but were refused as they did not have permission from the Israeli army. They then approached the Assistant to the Head of Northern Command and asked him to mark on a map which buildings the army needed. According to Harel, So he took a felt pen and marked the hospital and a few other places – he wrote "not for destruction" and on other places he wrote "for destruction" and he signed. He thought he

24696-496: Was a Syrian politician and armed forces officer who served as the 18th president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. He had previously served as prime minister of Syria from 1970 to 1971 as well as regional secretary of the regional command of the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and secretary general of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party from 1970 to 2000. Hafez al-Assad

24864-582: Was a key participant in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état , which brought the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to power in the country. The new leadership appointed Hafez as the commander of the Syrian Air Force . In February 1966 Hafez participated in a second coup , which toppled the traditional leaders of the Ba'ath Party. Hafez was appointed defence minister by the new government. Four years later Hafez initiated

25032-435: Was a radical change from that of Jadid, and he would implement a "corrective movement" to return Syria to the true "nationalist socialist line". Unlike Jadid, Hafez emphasised "the advancement of which all resources and manpower [would be] mobilised [was to be] the liberation of the occupied territories". This would mark a major break with his predecessors and would, according to Raymond Hinnebusch, dictate "major alterations in

25200-641: Was an excellent student, winning several prizes at about age 14. Hafez lived in a poor, predominantly Alawite part of Latakia; to fit in, he approached political parties that welcomed Alawites. These parties (which also espoused secularism) were the Syrian Communist Party , the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) and the Arab Ba'ath Party ; Hafez joined the Ba'ath in 1946, whereas some of his friends belonged to

25368-508: Was between 130,000 and 145,000, of which about 17,000 were Palestinian refugees . The rural and urban population of Quneitra governorate consisted of Druze Arabs living in the north of the governorate, Circassians (descendants of refugees who fled their homeland in the Caucasus during the Tsarist- Circassian genocide in the 19th century), Turkmens , Arab Alawites , Arab Sunni Fellahin and Bedouin . The urban population of

25536-428: Was calm and bloodless; the only evidence of change to the outside world was the disappearance of newspapers, radio and television stations. A Temporary Regional Command was soon established, and on 16 November the new government published its first decree. According to Patrick Seale, Hafez's rule "began with an immediate and considerable advantage: the government he displaced was so detested that any alternative came as

25704-402: Was condemned by Jadid and his supporters, the majority of the party's delegates. However, before attending the congress Hafez ordered his loyal troops to surround the building housing the meeting. Criticism of Hafez's political position continued in a defeatist tone, with the majority of delegates believing that they had lost the battle. Hafez and Tlass were stripped of their government posts at

25872-529: Was created by the president and the Ba'ath party. The Assad family ’s personality cult was integrated with the Ba’athist doctrine to shape the state's official ideology. Hafez ordered an intervention in Lebanon in 1976, which resulted in the Syrian occupation of Lebanon . During his rule Hafez crushed an Islamist uprising led by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood rebels through a series of crackdowns culminating in

26040-421: Was defeated by one vote, with Abd al-Karim al-Jundi (who the anti-Hafez members hoped would succeed Hafez as defense minister) voting, as Patrick Seale put it, "in a comradely gesture" to retain him. During the end of the war, the party leadership freed Aflaqites Umran, Amin al-Hafiz and Mansur al-Atrash from prison. Shortly after his release, Hafez was approached by dissident Syrian military officers to oust

26208-401: Was estimated at 19,454,263 people; ethnic groups—approximately Arab 50%, Alawite 15%, Kurd 10%, Levantine 10%, other 15% (includes Druze , Ismaili , Imami , Assyrian , Turkmen , Armenian ); religions— Muslim 87% (official; includes Sunni 74% and Alawi, Ismaili and Shia 13%), Christian 10% (mainly of Eastern Christian churches —may be smaller as a result of Christians fleeing

26376-528: Was estimated to be more than 350,000, mostly living in and around Damascus . Israeli occupied Golan Subdistrict has a population of about 50,000, half of whom are Syrian Arab, and the other half are Israeli settlers living in settlements deemed illegal under international law. Syrian Civil War Total deaths 580,000 –617,910+ Civilian deaths 219,223–306,887+ Displaced people Foreign intervention in behalf of Syrian rebels U.S.-led intervention against ISIL The Syrian civil war

26544-400: Was given three of the four top executive positions in the country: President, Secretary-General of the National Command and Regional Secretary of the Syrian Regional Command. The post of prime minister was given to Yusuf Zu'ayyin . Jadid (who was establishing his authority) focused on civilian issues and gave Hafez de facto control of the Syrian military, considering him no threat. During

26712-408: Was held in 2012. On 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented a new constitution, leading to a national crisis. The 1973 Constitution entrusted Arab Socialist Baath party with the distinctive role as the "leader of the state and society", empowering it to mobilise the civilians for party programmes, issue decrees to ascertain their loyalty and supervise all legal trade unions. Ba'athist ideology

26880-494: Was held in an atmosphere of crisis. The party leadership—with the exception of Hafez and his proteges—were criticised severely by party delegates, who called for an anti-corruption campaign, a new, clean government, curtailing the powers of the military-security apparatus and political liberalization. With Hafez's consent, a new government (headed by the presumably clean Abdul Rauf al-Kasm ) was established with new, young technocrats. The new government failed to assuage critics, and

27048-492: Was imposed upon children as compulsory part of school curriculum and Syrian Armed Forces were tightly controlled to the Party. The constitution removed Islam from being recognised as the state religion and stripped existing provisions such as the president of Syria being required to be a Muslim . These measures caused widespread furore amongst the public, leading to fierce demonstrations in Hama , Homs and Aleppo organized by

27216-654: Was jailed in Lebanon and later repatriated. That year, Aflaq convened the 5th National Congress of the Ba'ath Party (where he was re-elected as the Secretary-General of the National Command) and ordered the re-establishment of the party's Syrian Regional Branch. At the Congress, the Military Committee (through Umran) established contacts with Aflaq and the civilian leadership. The committee requested permission to seize power by force, and Aflaq agreed to

27384-411: Was joined by poor, anti-establishment Sunni Muslim youth from the Ba'ath Party in confrontations with students from wealthy Brotherhood families. He made many Sunni friends, some of whom later became his political allies. While still a teenager, Hafez became increasingly prominent in the party as an organizer and recruiter, head of his school's student-affairs committee from 1949 to 1951 and president of

27552-406: Was met with violence. The final showdown, the Hama massacre . took place in February 1982 when the government crushed the uprising. Helicopter gunships, bulldozers, and artillery bombardment razed the city, killing thousands of people. The Ba'ath government withstood the uprising, not because of popular support, but because the opposition was disorganised and had little urban support. Throughout

27720-495: Was one of the few high-level politicians wishing to reconcile with them; he called for the establishment of an "Eastern Front" with Iraq against Israel in 1968. Jadid's foreign policy towards the Soviet Union was also criticised by Hafez, who believed it had failed. In many ways the relationship between the countries was poor, with the Soviets refusing to acknowledge Jadid's scientific socialism and Soviet newspapers calling him

27888-441: Was provided when it was filmed on 12 May 1974 by a British television news team which included the veteran journalist Peter Snow , who was reporting for Independent Television News on the disengagement negotiations. His report was broadcast on ITN's News at Ten programme. According to The Times' correspondent Edward Mortimer , "viewers were thus afforded a panoramic view of the city, which had stood almost completely empty since

28056-482: Was radically socialist, and sought to remake society from top to bottom. Although Hafez was a radical, he opposed the headlong rush for change. Despite his title, he had little power in the government and took more orders than he issued. Jadid was the undisputed leader at the time, opting to remain in the office of Assistant Regional Secretary of the Syrian Regional Command instead of taking executive office (which had historically been held by Sunnis). Nureddin al-Atassi

28224-465: Was signing about what not to destroy but he was actually writing to destroy . . . The tractors of the Jewish National Fund did the destroying. They weren't our tractors . . . I can tell you that even the tractor drivers were Arabs. The buildings were systematically stripped, with anything movable being removed and sold to Israeli contractors, before they were pulled apart with tractors and bulldozers. The disengagement went into force on 6 June. On 26 June,

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