Written by Julia Kasem
In 2013 and 2015, in the midst of Syria’s first major counterinsurgency, martyred Hezbollah leader Saeed Hassan Nasrallah asked the Arab and Muslim world, then flooded with hybrid warfare counterinsurgency propaganda, if… If Damascus falls, the entire axis of resistance will collapse.
After the Israeli regime and the United States, through Turkey, pressured then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to make final concessions, the elaborate plot to oust him would result in normalization of relations with the Zionist organization. He planned to resign.
Turkey has added its own demands, including accepting a military presence in northern Syria and annexing territory such as Iskanderoun province.
When these demands were rejected, a revolt broke out. False statements caused confusion among Syrian soldiers, while many military generals accepted bribes and other threats against Assad’s democratically elected government before Hayat Tahrir al-Sham arrived in Homs. They were even openly persuaded to take part in the coup.
The ensuing five years of total siege created a dire situation for the Syrian Arab Army. Under crippling U.S. sanctions, Syrian soldiers received only $30 a month each and needed rehabilitation.
This opened the door to collapse, corruption, defection, and infiltration. Such vulnerabilities proved to be a major liability for Assad and his Syrian allies, with Assad reportedly subscribing to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to avoid provoking an Israeli attack. He reportedly turned down Iran’s offer to enter Syria.
According to reports, Israel had warned and threatened the Syrian government against such actions.
Now that the Syrian government has officially collapsed, the Tel Aviv regime has moved to occupy Syrian territory twice the size of Gaza, brazenly violating the 1974 agreement that mandated the withdrawal of Quneitra and Mount Hermon.
Emboldened by the ouster of President Assad, the Israeli regime advanced into Syrian territory and, using the cover of indiscriminate bombing, reached Damascus and effectively occupied all of southern Syria.
The regime also maintains positions along Lebanon’s southeastern border across the Rachaya governorate. It has repeatedly violated the terms of its ceasefire with Lebanon, is bracing for further invasions, and is likely to face Hezbollah resistance closer to home.
The Israeli regime, which has occupied Mount Hermon and is besieging Lebanon from the east, is trying to isolate Lebanese resistance. It aims to cut off supply routes from Syria to Lebanon and halt the transfer of arms to Palestinian resistance forces, particularly in the occupied West Bank.
After Syria fell to insurgents backed by the United States and its allies, the Zionist group bombed more than 310 Syrian Army and Navy installations, warehouses, and airfields in two days, systematically destroying equipment and demilitarized the country.
This operation leaves Syria defenseless and prevents weapons from falling into enemy hands.
Remarkably, the so-called “Syrian opposition”, made up of militants of 91 nationalities, half of whom are Arabs, neither resisted nor condemned the Zionist invasion. Instead, their leader Mohammad al-Jolani said he was “not ready for war” with the Tel Aviv regime and instead targeted Hezbollah and Iranian forces as directed by his supporters. Selected.
The events of last week were quite dramatic in nature and happened at a fast pace. Assad’s departure is not good news for the resistance front, but the resistance front is not dependent on individuals or groups either.
As the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, emphasized in his speech on Wednesday, pressure on the resistance breeds strength. Resistance never goes away. That’s how strong you become.
Those concerned about the future of resistance should look for opportunities in the midst of chaos and social disintegration, the environments in which resistance has historically flourished.
For example, the emergence of the Daesh terrorist organization in Iraq was followed by the rise of Hashd al-Shaabi. In Yemen, the post-Arab Spring power struggle has strengthened the Ansarala movement. Similarly, Hezbollah’s resistance movement rose to prominence during the Lebanese civil war and Israeli occupation.
Lebanon, currently blockaded on all sides except land, faces similar challenges. But the Lebanese resistance movement has been preparing for such a scenario for nearly two decades. The fact that the Israeli regime was forced to seek a ceasefire agreement after nearly 70 days of unrestrained aggression indicates that Hezbollah remains a force to be reckoned with.
The 2005 color revolution, orchestrated by the United States with the aim of severing ties between Syria and Lebanon, served as a warning that the Lebanese resistance would strengthen its domestic capabilities.
Despite the sieges in Gaza since 2006 and in Yemen since 2015, both resistance movements have flourished, creatively used old reserves and developed self-reliant domestic capacity.
Under the leadership of martyred Supreme Anti-Terrorism Commander General Qassem Soleimani, the various factions of the Axis of Resistance have strengthened their productive capacity and cemented regional interdependence.
In particular, Hezbollah has shown independence in the production of drones and missiles. Its vast underground stockpile includes Syrian missiles, making it one of the world’s largest militaries.
In January, Saeed Hassan Nasrallah said in a light tone that Hezbollah had enough of its own missiles to start selling them. Later, glimpses of the massive Imad-4 precision rocket facility were revealed, hinting at the scope of its arsenal.
Hezbollah’s experience with the blockade has prepared it for any eventuality, including isolation from Syria. In 2011, Takfir terrorist groups targeted Hezbollah’s weapons and Lebanon’s economic lifelines, aiming to cut off the supply route from Iran to Lebanon through Syria.
These routes provided essential resources such as fuel and medicine during Lebanon’s economic crisis since 2019, when health care and electricity were taken away. The US-led destruction of Syria threatens to reduce the country and region to complete political and economic subjugation.
Despite these challenges, Hezbollah has consistently innovated its supply routes. Many arms transfers to the Syrian resistance are clandestine or smuggled, and this is likely to remain the case.
President Assad said in 2011 that he could not stop smuggling, pointing to Hezbollah’s access to the sea and the border between Syria and Iraq. “Hezbollah is not under an embargo. They have the sea on one side, they have Syria, and Syria has Iraq on part of its border. They cannot stop smuggling even if they want to,” he said. spoke.
Hezbollah will continue to adapt and move through both surface and underground routes amidst the chaos.
The presence of more than 50 armed groups in Syria poses various challenges, but its fragmentation and Israeli occupation also presents an opportunity to strengthen resistance. As Ayatollah Khamenei said, resistance is growing stronger amid repression and occupation.
The leader of the Islamic Revolution recently warned not only against underestimating the enemy, but also against despair. He acknowledged the setback but reminded supporters that the resistance front is not fragile.
“Resistance is a faith, an idea, a clear decision from the heart,” he said, stressing that pressure will only strengthen resistance.
Julia Qassem is a Beirut-based writer and commentator whose work has appeared in Press TV, Al Akhbar, Al Mayadeen English, and more.
(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Press TV.)
