Syria’s false liberation: Al-Sharaa’s forces carry out sectarian massacres

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has urged European nations to “stop granting legitimacy” to Syria’s transitional government, following a series of massacres that have claimed hundreds of civilian lives. 

In an interview published Sunday by the German newspaper Bild, Saar condemned the brutality of the current Syrian leadership and called on the international community to face the truth.

"Europe must not turn a blind eye to reality," Saar stated. "It must wake up. It must stop legitimizing a regime whose first actions—unsurprising given its well-documented terrorist past—are these atrocities."

His comments come in response to reports from the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which revealed that at least 745 Alawite civilians have been slaughtered in coastal and mountainous areas of Latakia since Thursday. 

According to SOHR, these killings—executed by Syrian security forces and their allied militias—were "sectarian executions" targeting religious minorities. Additionally, 273 pro-Assad fighters and security forces were also killed, as violence spirals in the war-torn country.

Saar did not hold back in his criticism of the Syrian regime under Ahmad al-Shaara, the Islamist figure who rose to power after toppling Bashar al-Assad. 

"The international community, and Europe in particular, has rushed to Damascus in recent months to shake hands with al-Sharaa," Saar remarked. "But he and his men were jihadists before, and they remain jihadists now—even if they wear suits."

Saar accused Sharaa’s government of revealing its true nature over the weekend, stating: "The masks have fallen. Sharaa’s men mercilessly butchered their own people."

Al-Sharaa, the leader of the extremist Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led the coalition of rebel factions that overthrew Assad. HTS, which traces its origins to Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, remains designated as a terrorist organization by multiple countries, including the United States. 

Despite his radical past, Chareh cynically called for “national unity and civil peace” in a statement on Sunday, even as his forces continued their bloody campaign.

Israeli Response to Syria’s Chaos

Following Assad’s fall, Israel has stationed troops in the UN-controlled buffer zone on the strategic Golan Heights, which has separated Israeli and Syrian forces since 1974. 

In response to the increasing violence, Israel has also conducted a series of airstrikes targeting Syrian military installations, aiming to prevent the new regime from consolidating power through terror and oppression.

Syria’s so-called transitional government has already proven itself to be nothing more than a terrorist regime masquerading as a legitimate authority. As long as Ahmad al-Chareh and his jihadist cronies remain in control, Syria will be plagued by sectarian bloodshed, repression, and extremism.

Europe’s continued engagement with this regime is a moral and strategic failure. It is time for the world to recognize the truth: Syria has not been liberated—it has been handed over to radical extremists who are just as ruthless as Assad.