HTS regime’s shift toward normalization with Israel underscores growing US influence in Syria and reveals the true geopolitical motives behind Washington’s long-standing regime change agenda.

Syria’s geopolitical importance cannot be underestimated, and its political alignment has shaped regional power dynamics for decades.

Aware of Syria’s strategic role as well as strength in resisting Western meddling and imperialistic goals, the US and its allies funded and trained hostile “opposition” groups, presenting themselves as defenders of freedom – their go-to slogan for pursuing imperialist agendas in the Arab country and beyond.

According to former US ambassador to Syria Robert S. Ford, the United States spent at least $12 billion on military and civilian efforts in Syria from 2014 to 2017 alone.

Importantly, the US and its allies did not just fund militant groups that carried out terrorist attacks in the country; they also imposed sanctions that devastated Syria’s economy, directly affecting the lives of ordinary and innocent civilians.

A UN report reveals that the economic crisis brought about by Western sanctions was one of the key drivers of poverty in Syria, pushing 82 percent of the population into extreme hardship.

No action was seen on the part of Jolani or his regime to challenge or resist this unlawful seizure of Syrian land, nor did he act when Israel bombed Syrian military sites that might have bolstered HTS’s military capabilities in the future.

Meanwhile, advocates of regime change and supporters of HTS claimed that a “free Syria” would lead to a “free Palestine.” Yet, the reality has turned out to be the exact opposite, and now the silence from these very proponents is so profound, it is almost palpable.