Hayat Tahrir al-Sham

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), militant Islamist group in Syria that emerged during the Syrian Civil War (2011– ) and in 2024 led rebel forces to oust Assad, ending his family’s five-decade rule. HTS was formally created in 2017 through the merger of several rebel organizations, the core of which was the Nusrah Front (Jabhat al-Nusra), a Syrian rebel group founded in 2012 that until 2016 had been affiliated with al-Qaeda. The group is led by the pragmatic and media-savvy Abu Mohammad al-Jolani (Golani; byname of Ahmad al-Sharaa), who founded the Nusrah Front after fighting under the banner of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Although HTS has focused on paramilitary operations against the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, rejects a transnational jihad against the West, and does not participate in international terrorism, many countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Turkey (Türkiye), as well as the European Union and the United Nations, have designated it a terrorist organization out of concern over its former links to al-Qaeda and its continued operation as a militant organization.

Origin and background in al-Qaeda

By 2013 the Nusrah Front, gaining an advantage in resources needed for battle through its ties to al-Qaeda, had become one of the most effective forces among the civil war’s rebels. With the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2014, the Nusrah Front was also the best positioned among the Syrian rebels to stave off the advance of ISIS. As the group fought alongside other rebel groups against both the Syrian government and ISIS, it softened its views by emphasizing the Syrian rebels’ cause over puritanism and eventually broke ties with al-Qaeda. The break was solidified in 2016 when the group rebranded as Jabhat Fataḥ al-Shām (Front for the Conquest of the Levant). In 2017 the group merged with smaller, like-minded groups of Salafi persuasion, which seek to revive a glorified Islamic past, and took on its current name. In the following years it overpowered other rebel groups in Syria’s Idlib governorate, which remained under rebel control even after hostilities in the civil war died down in 2020.

During its control over Idlib, HTS prioritized providing public services over imposing Islamic law (sharia). Although it enforced gender segregation in schools, a practice that is somewhat common in the Middle East regardless of Islamic governance, it did not require women to wear hijab. It often arrested people associated with jihadist organizations, although it was unclear whether this indicated a rejection of their ideology or simply a sensitivity over rivalries. It was clear, however, that Jolani sought to present HTS as deradicalized. He himself began appearing in Western-style attire, often in a buttoned shirt and trousers. Yet he continued to wear a long beard, which in the Middle East is typically sported only by Islamic fundamentalists. His appeal to Western ears, moreover, was never far removed from his dedication to religious principles. Responding to a question about imposing sharia law during an interview with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in 2021, Jolani said: “No one should object to this, especially since Islamic sharia is filled with justice and with humane solutions for society. It’s based on a just and righteous message.”

Advance in the Syrian Civil War in 2024

In 2024 HTS capitalized on regional developments to advance on the Syrian regime and reignite the civil war. The government’s most important military allies had been bogged down by wars of their own: Russia by the Russia-Ukraine War, which saw a full-scale invasion of Ukraine beginning in 2022, and Iran by the Israel-Hamas War, in which Israel had significantly weakened Iran’s military capacity and the position of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria. Crucially, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which had been fighting in Syria on behalf of the Syrian government, was forced to withdraw its fighters from Syria amid Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in October 2024. The day after a ceasefire was announced between Hezbollah and Israel in November, HTS launched an offensive east- and southward from Idlib. Within days it took control of Aleppo, once the largest city in Syria and the country’s commercial capital. The following week it took control of Hama to the south. The capture of Daraa and Homs on December 7 isolated Damascus and was followed by the entrance of rebel forces into the capital only hours later.

The advance of a militant group that espouses Sunni Muslim fundamentalism alarmed Syria’s diverse population, especially amid memories of the persecution of religious and ethnic minorities during the expansion of ISIS a decade earlier. HTS attempted to present itself as tolerant and accommodating, meeting with church leaders in Aleppo shortly after its capture and encouraging them to continue to live their lives as normal. It was unclear how long such tolerance would last and whether the city would soon be devastated once again by the renewed conflict between the rebels and the Syrian government. With the toppling of Bashar al-Assad days later, it was not immediately clear what role HTS would play in a new government: the ouster was ultimately achieved with the support of other rebel forces, including secular groups, and reports suggested that HTS lacked enough personnel to govern the country alone.