Statement of the ILPS

The International League of Peoples’ Struggle salutes the brave sacrifice and resistance of the Palestinian and Lebanese people and condemns the expansion of regional conflict into Syria by imperialist and fascist proxy forces. As the genocidal US-Zionist-Turkish alliance unleashes wave upon wave of attacks against the people, we remain steadfast in our solidarity with all progressive forces in the region as US imperialism lets loose its attack dogs to slow its inevitable decline.

After many months of sacrifice by the Lebanese people, in which Hezbollah’s declared “support front” for the Palestinian resistance in Gaza was turned into its own front for the defense of Lebanese sovereignty, the resistance agreed to a ceasefire with the Zionist entity. This deal was brought to the table after the Zionists were unable to achieve any of their objectives in Lebanon despite indiscriminately killing well over 3,000 people in the country since October 7, 2023, including some of Hezbollah’s key leaders like the late Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. The settlers to the north of occupied Palestine have not been able to return home despite the hollow promises of the Zionist government. Hezbollah also proved that its attacks could hit deep into Tel Aviv, destroying military sites and forcing settlers to flee to shelters on a daily basis. The Lebanese resistance remains strong, and they now have the hard won space to recuperate to carry on their fight. In fact, it has already been reported that the Zionists committed at least 50 violations of the ceasefire through continued missile attacks, shooting at civilians including journalists, and preventing Lebanese people from returning to their homes.

Regardless of how long the ceasefire lasts due to Zionist provocations, it is clear that the Zionists knew they would expend too many resources in a war in Lebanon while the genocide in Gaza is still taking place, and they saw that the resistance would not back down, nor were they losing support among the people. Instead, the US special envoy to Lebanon pressured the Zionists into making a deal due to the unwavering strength of the resistance. This sacrifice of the people in their fight for liberation is as much an inspiration as the fight of the Palestinian people, and the entire region shines bright in the beacon of their resistance.

As the Lebanon ceasefire was reaching its start, a new reactionary wave was unleashed on Syria from Turkey. Terrorist mercenaries trained by Turkey and armed with US-made weapons stormed through Syria’s Idlib Province and reached Aleppo within just a few days. These mercenaries belong to the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a reorganized fragment of the previous US-trained and al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front whose majority membership would go on to form the Islamic State terrorist organization, as well as the so-called Syrian National Army, made up of former fighters of the Free Syrian Army, a group armed and trained by the US and Turkey and financed by US-provided funds. Their sole purpose was to take advantage of the Arab Spring in which people across West Asia and North Africa took to the streets to demand an end to political repression and economic crisis, and to inflame a civil war to topple the Bashar al-Assad regime that stood in opposition to US imperialism in the region and is a close ally of US rival Russia.

The destructive path cut through Idlib and into Aleppo by these US-Turkish and pro-Zionist mercenaries exposes their anti-people interests and false claims of wanting to free the Syrian people from repression. They have ambushed civilians and beheaded soldiers and civilians alike. They have blockaded key roads such as the highway to Damascus, which has led to hamletting of communities and cut them off from food and aid. They have enacted indiscriminate violence against national minorities such as the Kurds. It is clear from these actions that these forces are mere proxies for Turkey as the fascist Erdogan regime seeks to take advantage of the chaotic genocidal war of the Zionists and stave off internal crisis at home while enacting its own genocidal war of extermination against the Kurdish people fighting for their national liberation. It also took advantage of a key moment when Russia, Syria’s key military ally, is mired in its proxy war with US-NATO forces that the US provoked to weaken Russia in Ukraine.

In summary, the outstanding heroic performance of the resistance both in Gaza and Lebanon, which prevented Israel from realizing its declared objectives of its war has forced Imperialism to unleash its plan B in order to cut all routes which might be used to reinforce all needed resources in this decisive war. Turkish military forces and its puppets in Northern Syria as well as US agent forces were used to execute their plot to force the Syrian regime to cut relations with the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance or be in danger of being internally defeated and the Syrian nation and state to be partitioned and disintegrate into warring groups. This plot is being now defeated by the awareness of the Syrian people and the steadfastness of the Syrian army and its allies in the battlefield. 

The war is escalating in Syria, yet the balance of forces is moving in the right direction against the Imperialists, the Zionists and the Turkish regime. As US imperialism wages its violent strategy to counter its ultimate regional rival Iran by letting loose its puppet and satellite states against the people and independent states of the region, let us remain patient and steadfast in struggle as the people, the true makers of history, fight on to free themselves from imperialism and all reaction. Their resistance is a beacon to our own resistance, and our solidarity in the midst of our own struggles for liberation is the greatest gift we can offer.

For reference: Len Cooper, ILPS Chairperson

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