The Syrian Army’s Raid on Suweida Hospital (July 16, 2025)

On July 16, during the fighting in Suwayda, soldiers from the Syrian Army and members of the Syrian Internal Security Forces carried out a raid on the hospital in Suwayda. From security camera footage published on August 10 (see images), it can be seen that during the raid the soldiers detained the hospital staff and executed at least one member of the hospital staff. In addition, some of the soldiers were identified with ISIS symbols on their uniforms. During the fighting in Suwayda, at least 1,000 soldiers from the New Syrian Army took part. The military force was composed of soldiers who were sent from and arrived from at least nine different divisions, some of which were composed of militias with a jihadist orientation. It is possible that the soldiers identified with ISIS symbols in the hospital came from the 82nd Division of the New Syrian Army, whose soldiers were seen in the combat area with ISIS flags and symbols. This division operates originally in the Hama area and the Syrian coast, in the area of the former 25th Division of Assad’s army. The commander of the division is Khaled Muhammad Halabi (Abu Khattab – photo attached), a former officer in Assad’s army who defected after the outbreak of the civil war. Over the years, Halabi advanced in the service of the rebels until he became the commander of the Ansar al-Tawhid organization (formerly known as Jund al-Aqsa). This organization holds an extreme jihadist-Salafist ideology and apparently even cooperated with ISIS at certain times. Halabi is considered one of the prominent figures behind the planning and execution of the rebel attack that led to the fall of Assad’s regime.