Syria denies withdrawing from position on the outskirts of Damascus

On December 7, the Syrian Ministry of Defense confirmed that the army still maintains its positions and continues to deploy fully to confront rebel groups. In a statement, the ministry clarified that such information is false and causes confusion and panic among the people. The announcement was made after information emerged about the government army withdrawing from a number of positions in the southern provinces, including Quneitra and Daraa near the Golan Heights, as well as in Sweida.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), rebels in Daraa have advanced to within 20 kilometers of the capital Damascus, after seizing several military posts. Late on December 6, the rebel group announced that it had taken control of the city of Daraa, the capital of the province of the same name.

In the face of the tense situation, on December 7, at the Astana format foreign ministers' conference on Syria held on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in Qatar, the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Türkiye agreed to call for an end to hostilities in Syria and initiate a political dialogue between the Syrian government and legitimate opposition groups.

Since November 29, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as the Nusra Front) and several other armed groups in Syria have launched a large-scale campaign against the government. Rebel groups have advanced from the northern Idlib region towards the cities of Aleppo and Hama. Currently, Aleppo - Syria's second largest city - is under complete rebel control, for the first time since 2011.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army said it had regained control of the two cities of Homs and Hama, and redeployed troops to the two southern provinces of Daraa and Sweida to establish a new security belt.