Illustrative image
On July 19, the remaining militants of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the southern governorate of al-Quneitra surrendered and accepted an evacuation agreement, according to the Hezbollah media wing in Syria.
Under the agreement, the militants will hand over all of their weapons to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and then withdraw to the opposition-held areas in northern Syria, likely the governorate of Idlib.
The militants will also hand over two observation posts near the villages of Umm Batinah and Ruwayhibah, inside the demilitarized zone, to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). Back in 2013, the UNDOF withdrew from these posts following an attack of HTS.
The agreement, which will be executed over the upcoming days, will allow tens of thousands of displaced civilians to return to their towns and villages in the western Daraa countryside and al-Quneitra. Currently, most of these civilians are taking shelter near the separation line in the Golan Heights.
Once al-Quneitra is secured, the SAA and its allies will likely launch a large scale military operation against the ISIS-affiliated Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Walid in the western Daraa countryside.
