Pax americana: war crimes and a spiral of violence in Syria

The Europe-Third World Centre (CETIM) is extremely concerned by the recent developments in Syria. It reaffirms its support for the people, social movements, and other groups committed to building a democratic and sovereign Syria that respects the country’s ethnic and cultural diversity.

For over 15 years, Syria has been caught up in a constant cycle of violence. The civil war, in addition to destroying the lives of tens of thousands of people, has also severely weakened the Syrian institutions that guaranteed its sovereignty. From the outset of the conflict, foreign interference has served agendas aligned with various imperialist and colonialist interests.

In this chaos, a glimmer of hope for Syria’s future emerged in 2012 in the northeastern regions of the country (commonly known as Rojava). A political project based on popular participation, multi-ethnic and multi-religious representation, and gender equality, which has been facing constant threats. The first of these threats was the establishment of the Islamic State caliphate. The Kurdish forces and their allies, now grouped under the acronym SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), paid a heavy price in defeating the reactionary threat of the Islamic State (more than 20,000 people killed). Since the weakening of the Islamic State, it is still the forces of the Autonomous Administration of North-East Syria (AANES) that have taken charge of managing the more than 30,000 prisoners of the Islamic State, as well as the thousands of war displaced persons who have come to take refuge in this region.

Since the beginning of the war in Syria, international and regional interference has multiplied, stemming from various geopolitical interests (notably the United States, Russia, Iran, Israel, and Turkey). Indeed, military powers (regional and international) still occupy portions of Syrian territory today: as early as 2018, Turkey, with its proxies in the SNA (Syrian National Army), seized more than 9,000 km² (note 1) in the north; Israel, in addition to occupying the Golan Heights since 1967, has occupied approximately 600 km² in the south of Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2024 (note 2). As for the forces of the international coalition (including the United States, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Qatar), they finance, train, and arm jihadist militias that commit numerous war crimes in Syria. It is important to note that it was following trade agreements signed with the de facto government of Al-Sharaa (former commander of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadist group), a few days before the start of the current offensive, that the US government made a strategic about-face, ending its military support to the SDF (note 3). The arrangement between the Syrian interim government and Israel concerning the Golan Heights would also be part of this about-face (note 4).

In 2024, the final fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime marked a new turning point in the conflict. However, his fall did not bring peace to Syria. The centralized power in the hands of al-Shara’a has since been working to eliminate all political opposition in a relentless pursuit of hegemony. This is illustrated by massacres and military operations carried out against religious minorities, such as the Alawites and the Druze (note 5).

Today, it is the minorities of northeastern Syria who are being targeted by Damascus’s military forces. The Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, and other minorities in this region are currently facing a real threat of genocide. Fighters from the de facto government (composed of militias from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Syrian National Army (SNA), and gangs affiliated with the Islamic State) are using social media to promote speeches calling for the murder of civilians, even going so far as to brandish Islamic State flags and announce the revenge they intend to exact on those who defeated them just under 10 years ago.

The rapid advance of both jihadist and government militias east of the Euphrates, and the atrocities they are committing, lead us to fear the worst. Images of prisons where former members of the Islamic State were held, and of cells emptied by HTS members celebrating their release, are proliferating online.

Only a multilateral and grassroots process can end the cycle of violence that the Syrian people have endured for nearly two decades. Interference from third-party states is an obstacle to the establishment of such a process. Peace and a democratic transition in Syria can only be achieved through good-faith international cooperation and the multilateral system that protects the fundamental rights of peoples.

CETIM calls for:
• An immediate halt to the military offensive against the territories of Northeast Syria;
• The implementation of a permanent ceasefire under the auspices of international bodies in order to prevent the prolongation of the civil war in Syria;
• Respect for the sovereignty of Syria and the establishment of a Syrian state in accordance with the right of people to self-determination;
• The withdrawal of Turkish, Israeli and US occupation troops in favor of an international force tasked with ensuring respect for the ceasefire;
• A guarantee of the return to their lands of displaced civilian populations;
• Internationalist solidarity with the Syrian people and social movements;
• International technical and financial assistance for the reconstruction of Syria.

Geneva, 28 January 2026

1) https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-violence-against-alawites-and-druze-in-syria-after-assad-255292
2) https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy/artc-israel-syria-to-finalize-u-s-brokered-security-deal-soon-as-developments-accelerating-noticeably-syrian-source-tells-i24news
3) https://www.forbesmiddleeast.com/industry/energy/shells-exit-and-chevrons-entry-heres-how-syrias-oil-industry-is-evolving
4) https://www.dohainstitute.org/en/PoliticalStudies/Pages/israeli-policy-on-syria-after-fall-of-assad-regime.aspx
5) https://www.tdg.ch/chute-des-assad-la-turquie-va-envahir-le-nord-de-la-syrie-225123959141