A commander in Haya’t Tahrir al-Sham revealed the terms of the five-town agreement after they were undeclared for some time. The commander indicated that the agreement includes five areas, not the previously known four, including Madaya, al-Zabadani, Yarmouk camp, Kafarya, al-Fu’ah.
Ebba news agency, subordinate to Tahrir al-Sham, directed a question to one of the Tahrir al-Sham commanders regarding the faction’s actions as the sole negotiator with the Iranians and the faction taking a decision of this magnitude without involving the other components of Jaish al-Fatih. The commander replied, “The negotiating on the special file for Kafarya-al-Fu’ah and Madaya- al-Zabadani did not stop for over a year.
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The negotiations stalled at times but due to the recent developments in the situations of our people besieged in Madaya, al-Zabadani and Yarmouk camp and their appeals, we started a new round of negotiations. I confirm that the negotiations were and still are in the name of Jaish al-Fatih with the fundamental participation of the Ahrar al-Sham Movement. We did not begin the negotiation sessions without agreeing with our brothers in Jaish al-Fatih on the broad outline for the negotiations.”
The commander denied that the agreement involves completely emptying Madaya and al-Zabadani from its residents. The commander said, “The agreement does not stipulate that, and we are against the displacement of our people and emptying the areas of the Sunni people. The number is 3500 people. They are fighters, their families and those wanted by the criminal regime. They did not take the decision to leave except after they found they had no other options, means of sustaining themselves, or ways of resisting.”
He stressed that the agreement is that of the five towns saying, “After the conditions had deteriorated in the Yarmouk camp and the siege on our brothers stationed there increased, we had to try to rescue them, so we put the name of the camp as a prerequisite in the negotiation sessions. The first articles of the agreement stipulate that in the first phase, medical and food relief will be allowed to enter the camp and emergency medical cases will be allowed to leave. In the second phase, the fighters and those residents who want will leave for Idlib. There are 60 days between the two phases, which begin with the exit of the first round of fighters from Kafarya- al-Fu’ah.”
The Tahrir al-Sham commander summarized the terms of the five-year agreement, which is in its entirety “serve the interest of the revolution and the revolutionaries.” He explained that the terms “dictated a ceasefire in the towns included in the agreement. The ceasefire includes a halt of aerial bombardment and artillery shelling, allowing critical medical cases to leave, allowing the entry of urgent relief to the besieged areas, in addition to the release of 1500 prisoners and prisoners during the implementation of the terms of the agreement. Some of those expected to be released are from the towns surrounding Kafarya and al-Fu'ah which has not happened since the start of the revolution until now. In addition to the evacuation of the residents- as per their will – from the five towns and Mount Bloudan in the capital’s countryside. This will happen in two stages where the first round includes 8,000 leaving from Kafarya and al-Fu’ah including 2000 fighters as well as 3200 people leaving from al-Zabadani, Madaya, and Mount Bloudan to Idlib.”
The commander continued, “60 days after the first phase, the second phase will be executed by evacuating the remaining residents from Kafarya and Al-Fu'ah in tandem with the evacuation of around 1,000 residents from al-Yarmouk camp for northern Syria. During the execution of the agreement, the criminal regime will release detainees in rounds on the basis two thirds are from the liberated areas.
The agreement stipulates that the criminal regime pledges not to arrest again anyone released based on this agreement. The agreement also stipulated that the Iranian Hezbollah pledge to solve the problem of 50 families from al-Zabadani stranded in Beirut by delivering them to the liberated areas upon their entry to Syria.”
The Tahrir al-Sham commander ended declaring, “Were it not for our besieged people in al-Zabadani, Madaya and the camp making us responsible for negotiating on their behalf, we would not have sat with our enemy to negotiate. The blood of any of the heroes of al-Zabadani, Madaya and Yarmouk camp more precious to us than the regime and its sins combined. It is enough to see these heroes among our ranks taking back from those who besieged them and starved their people.”
In a related context, the commander confirmed that the towns of Yalda, Babila, Beit Samah (south of Damascus), are not included in the agreement. He noted that the regime has released 19 prisoners who were in the hands of the sectarian militias in Kafarya and al-Fu'ah
