It's Friday, December 6th, 2024. Welcome to the Daily Article podcast. I'm Josh Miller,

narrating today's daily article written by Denison Forum's senior editor for theology, Dr. Ryan

Denison. The Civil War in Syria began in 2011.

However, the conflict has remained largely frozen since Turkey and Russia agreed to a ceasefire in 2020.

That all changed when rebel forces, now led by the group Hayat Tayyar al-Sham, or HTS,

attacked and took control of the pivotal city of Aleppo last week.

At the time, the speed and success with which they regained their former stronghold surprised most,

and it was generally unknown whether they would seek to consolidate their power there or continue

to press further south.

That question was answered Thursday when HTS took the nation's fourth largest city, Hama,

with similar ease.

The Syrian government's official line was that their forces withdrew in order to preserve the lives of civilians.

But it was relatively clear that the armies that had controlled the region since the start of the conflict

were simply overwhelmed by the rebel forces. And their victory at Hamas could prove even more important than taking Aleppo.

While Aleppo was a significant loss for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime and met a

great deal symbolically to the rebel forces who lost the city in 2016, controlling Hamas will make

it much more difficult for the Syrian forces to retake

any of the lands they've ceded over the last week. Moreover, Hamas is also where Assad's father

killed tens of thousands who sought to enact a similar regime change in 1982, and where the

current war began in 2011, after Assad was

similarly forceful in putting an end to the protests against his reign. For all his recent losses,

Assad remains in a fairly secure position for the time being. Much would have to change for

...