In early December 2024, rebel groups broke out from Idlib province in Syria and stormed into Aleppo, taking control of Syria’s second city from Bashar al-Assad’s (the dictator of the rump Syrian state) forces. The rebels had taken advantage of the reduced presence of two of Assad’s strongest supporters: Russian forces, now heavily focused on the fighting in Ukraine, and Hezbollah forces, being dismantled by Israel.
