Syria’s HTS-Led Regime Nabs Two Islamic Jihad Officials Following US Ban on Palestinian Groups

By Staff, Agencies

Syria's Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham-led [HTS] regime has detained two officials of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement in the Arab country following a recent ban by the United States on Palestinian groups.

Reports said Khaled Khaled, head the Syrian arena in the Gaza-based Islamic Jihad, and Abu Ali Yasser, responsible for the resistance movement’s executive committee in the Arab country, were arrested by the HTS militants.

There is no official confirmation from Syrian regime authorities on the matter.

The arrests came after Washington—still refusing to recognize the HTS-led administration in Damascus—demanded that HTS-led Syria ban all "Palestinian Groups" from operating and fundraising within the country, a request made in the wake of Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in December.

However, the term “Palestinian groups” remains undefined, raising concerns about the potential breadth of the ban, especially given that Syria hosts over 600,000 Palestinians and numerous Palestinian groups and organizations, both resistance and civil service.

However, Washington’s motives are not fully clear, but analysts believe a key goal of backing regime change in Syria is to end its historic support for Palestinians and their cause, at a time that the US sanctions and "Israel"-linked restrictions are blocking Syrian reconstruction efforts.

This is while HTS has called for the disarmament of all factions, including Palestinian groups, but it has not enacted a comprehensive ban on their activities.