'WhatsApp' correspondence between Israel and Assad revealed
Israeli media reported that Tel Aviv had been communicating with the Bashar al-Assad administration in Syria for years via 'WhatsApp'.
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It has been revealed that Israel had been maintaining secret communication with the ousted Assad regime in Syria via WhatsApp for years.
According to a report by the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, the Israeli intelligence service conducted covert operations in recent years to establish contact with Bashar al-Assad, the leader of the ousted regime in Syria, and his inner circle.
According to the report, the Israeli intelligence service communicated with high-ranking figures of the ousted regime via WhatsApp using the codename "Musa".
It was alleged that the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate (AMAN) established this contact via WhatsApp messages with Ali Mahmoud Abbas, the former Minister of Defense of the Assad regime, following Israeli airstrikes on targets in Syria that the Israeli military claimed belonged to Iran and Hezbollah.
In addition to establishing contact with Assad and his inner circle, it was reported that in another operation conducted by Israel, an attempt was made to negotiate a secret agreement that would include halting arms shipments to Lebanon in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against the Assad regime.
The report also stated that Yossi Cohen, the former head of the Israeli Foreign Intelligence Service, Mossad, planned to meet with Assad at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, the capital of Russia, at the end of 2019, but that Assad backed out of the meeting.
THE OVERTHROW OF THE BASHAR AL-ASSAD ADMINISTRATION IN SYRIA
In Syria, clashes between jihadist groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Bashar al-Assad's forces intensified on November 27.
Anti-Assad armed groups gained the upper hand in major provinces such as Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, and Homs between November 30 and December 7.
As the groups began entering the capital, Damascus, on December 7, with the support of the masses, the regime lost control entirely in Damascus and many other regions, collapsing on December 8.
While the 61-year rule of the Ba'ath Party came to an end, regime leader Assad fled the capital on December 8 to Russia, which decided to provide asylum for him and his family.
Following the overthrow of the regime, a transitional administration was established in Syria, and Mohammed al-Bashir was appointed as the prime minister of the transitional administration until March 2025.