Andrew Sage

That's, that's an extremely critical point, I think.

So as the Syrian forces pushed further east, some non-Kurdish villages in the region defected from Rojava to the new Syrian government.

Right, right.

And so these defections and with this onslaught of violence,

al-Sharah delivered an ultimatum to the Kurds and to the other groups involved in the Ottoman administration in North East Syria.

It was to dissolve the SDF and submit to incorporation under his command or face annihilation.

So in response, the SDF commander Masloom Abdi appealed outward, calling on the support of anyone who might be willing to assist.

And this is something that particularly made headlines.

the anyone included Israel, which had previously intervened in Syria for the claimed justification of aiding the Druze community.

I think the way that question was posed to the SDF commander was definitely leading, like they were fishing for a headline, for sure, from what I saw of that exchange.

But in the context of the Palestinian genocide and

the world's awareness of their genocide.

I think that even with that desperation for survival in mind, that statement was, I think, a misstep.

Absolutely.

I don't think that should be called into question just because of the state punt of one commando.

Yeah.

So after much fighting, the SDF signed agreements relinquishing control of Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and remaining territory west of the Euphrates, retaining only Hasaka and Kobane after withdrawing from the Tishrin Dam.

But even after conceding so much, government forces violated ceasefire terms, so the SDF declared general mobilization across the Kurdish regions of Syria and neighboring states as a last, desperate attempt to rally resistance.

By the end of January, the Autonomous Administration had lost roughly 80% of the territory it once governed.

The SDF was forced to retreat almost entirely into Hasakah government.