
The road to the city of Hama near the city of Maarrat al-Numan in southern Idlib - November 30, 2024 (Enab Baladi/Iyad Abdul Jawad)
The road to the city of Hama near the city of Maarrat al-Numan in southern Idlib - November 30, 2024 (Enab Baladi/Iyad Abdul Jawad)
The opposition factions are advancing and controlling villages, towns, and cities in the northern and eastern countryside of Hama, one after the other, despite the military reinforcements of the regime forces and allied militias, and their readiness to repel the attack from the opposition factions.
On November 30, fighters from the opposition factions reached the outskirts of the city of Hama but later withdrew from it, with no comment from the Military Operations Administration overseeing the battle, following a rapid collapse of regime forces over the past five days.
In their attacks within the last 24 hours, the factions managed to capture the cities of Suran, Halfaya, Taybat al-Imam, and Mardas in northern Hama, followed by the seizure of 14 new villages and towns in Hama and its countryside, with the most notable being the Rahjan, Maar Shohur, and Tal Kafraa.
Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution, the city has witnessed protests against the Syrian regime; however, the opposition’s presence has been absent from Hama since 2013.
Additionally, the city has not been under the military control of the opposition, and the regime has exerted significant pressure on the city to prevent any military actions within it.
Syrian researcher Abdul Rahman al-Haj stated to Enab Baladi that Hama holds a strategic military position as it represents a junction connecting northern and southern Syria, and both its west and east. It links vital supply and transit lines between Damascus and Aleppo, and controlling Hama would grant the opposition several advantages.
Given the military, political, and symbolic significance of Hama, the opposition’s control over it would represent “a factor of demoralization and psychological defeat” that would significantly affect the morale of the regime and its troops, thus marking “the first step towards a total collapse, which may be seen in Damascus,” according to al-Haj’s expression.
Al-Haj explained that Hama has symbolic importance as it witnessed the “largest” massacre in Syrian history in 1982, which claimed the lives of around 40,000 civilians and represented a turning point in consolidating the Assad family’s rule.
He also added that politically, the city is very close to areas inhabited by Alawites, the social base supporting the Syrian regime, and its control by the opposition raises fears among Alawites of revenge, considering the bloody memory of the massacre in the city and the sectarian massacres committed during the revolution, especially the bladed weapon massacres with a sectarian character in the Hama countryside.
Moreover, nearly all key regime leaders in the military and security sectors come from these areas, and military control over Hama would mean cutting off the regime’s supply lines, and if the opposition expands westward, it would sever the coast from Damascus, leaving the regime with only two strongholds: Tartus and the Alawite mountains, in addition to Damascus, which would be besieged once opposition forces take control of Homs.
On November 27, opposition factions announced the start of a military operation called “Deterrence of Aggression,” in response to the repeated shelling of regime forces on northwestern Syria, aiming to expand “secure areas” in preparation for the return of displaced people.
Contrary to expectations, the factions managed to seize the entire western Aleppo countryside administratively within the first three days and opened another front in the eastern Idlib countryside.
The opposition factions also entered the city of Aleppo and expanded their control, taking administrative control over the entire Idlib province.
On the fourth day, fighters reached the outskirts of the city of Hama but withdrew from it after the Syrian regime mobilized its forces in the city.
Citizens from Hama told Enab Baladi at that time that reinforcements from the various formations of the Syrian regime were gathering in the city.
The citizens mentioned the absence of the opposition factions’ presence in the main neighborhoods of the city, unlike the rapid progress seen in the city of Aleppo.
On the other hand, the Military Operations Administration, which manages the opposition factions’ battles, did not comment on the issue of its fighters entering and withdrawing from the city of Hama.
The Syrian regime did not noticeably resist the opposition factions before they reached Hama, only relying on airstrikes on residential areas.
Videos released by regime-supporting activists confirmed the mobilization of its forces inside the city of Hama, amidst threats of combat.
Colonel Abdul Jabbar al-Akidi, a defector from the regime’s forces and a military expert, attributed the rapid advancement of the opposition factions to several reasons:
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