Leading Syrian rebel group said to demand disarmament of country’s Palestinian factions

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group that spearheaded the insurgency that toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, has reportedly ordered Palestinian terror factions in Syria to lay down their weapons, close their training camps and dissolve their military formations.

According to a report published in the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar on Friday, HTS has informed the Palestinian factions, chiefly among them Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, headquartered in Damascus, that they will be able to retain their charities and conduct political activities under the aegis of the Syrian state, but will not be allowed to use Syria as a base or a point of passage for military actions against Israel.

HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, a former al-Qaeda member, has sought to rebrand himself and his group as a moderate force that will stabilize Syria and respect religious minorities, and has indicated that he will not seek military confrontation with Israel.