New Syria: Joy squeezed by sadness

The Syrian asks "Should I be sad about the destruction of my country's air, sea and land military bases by Israel?" A bitter question, especially since these bases were used only to kill the Syrian people. Airports from which Syrian and Russian warplanes took off, flew and bombed, chemical weapons factories were used only to kill the children of Eastern Ghouta and Idlib.

The statement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the day after Assad fled to Russia on December 8, was reassuring when he said that he was extending a hand of neighborliness and looking forward to a better future for the Syrians, but what is happening on the ground indicates more tension.

At least 310 airstrikes were carried on Monday which were the largest air attack in Israel's history since its founding, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The strikes have destroyed 70-80% of Assad's regime's military capabilities destroyed,” said the Israeli Army Radio on Tuesday. This was accompanied by a ground incursion and Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz's talk about establishing a defensive zone within Syrian territory south of the capital.

Tuesday's incursion reached about 25 kilometers southwest of the capital Damascus, as Israeli forces reached Qatana, the headquarters of the 10th Division, which is located 10 kilometers inside Syrian territory east of the demilitarized zone separating the occupied Golan Heights from Syria, according to Reuters.

The joy was now marred by the Salvation Government taking over the reins of the administrative wheel from the ministry of the deposed regime, as Prime Minister-designate Mohammed al-Bashir called it, whose term was set at only three months.

Al-Bashir's appearance on Al-Jazeera, with the flag of the Syrian revolution behind him, was a natural thing, but the Banner of Monotheism, which accompanied the new Syrian flag, may occupy the minds of many Syrians and has angered many activists on social media. Alia Mansour posted on X platform, “Hundreds of thousands of Syrians were not martyred for us to replace the Baath flag with the flag of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham...Only the Free Syrian flag represents us.”

All international statements that emphasized respect for the people's choice and blessed the departure of Assad stressed the protection of minorities and the promotion of democratic values.

This is a challenge for Ahmed al-Sharaa, the de facto leader of the post-Assad Syria phase, who faces major challenges, as the statements of the Israeli Defense Minister, known for his acerbic style, were decisive on Tuesday after allowing an extremist Islamic entity to threaten Israel from across the border and his statement that any threat (from al-Sharaa) will make his fate the same as that of Bashar al-Assad.

Rapid developments and signals that may raise concerns in the hearts of 13.8 million people who fled the fighting inside Syria, which may threaten their desire to voluntarily return to the country, with European countries rushing to suspend asylum applications because the reasons for it have disappeared, but if the vision does not become clear, the crisis will remain in place.

Nearly 90 percent of Syrians inside Syria live in poverty, according to United Nations figures, and therefore international efforts must focus on addressing the greatest weakness in the war-torn country, which is its ailing economy, which has not been able to rise from the ashes of war, according to the Middle East Institute.

All countries that want stability in Syria must pay the bill for the post-Assad era because the country has been exhausted by war and the destruction of industry, the impact of Western sanctions, and the fact that the oil-rich areas in the northeast are outside the control of the transitional government. 

If that happens, the answer to the Syrians’ question, whether they should be sad or happy about the destruction of the old system, perhaps will be yes to Nietzsche’s hammer, because aesthetics arises from demolition and reconstruction. But it is a destruction whose hammer they have never carried.