The former summer resort town is the last significant rebel stronghold in the Qalamoun region between Damascus and Homs.
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Hezbollah has always been fighting alongside President Assad’s forces to secure the Syrian border with Lebanon.
The northwest villages Fuaa and Kafraya had been besieged by the rebels, among them Al-Qaeda’s major branch Sunni Muslim, after Syrian pro-government militia embarked on an offensive in July in an effort to recapture rebel-held Zabadani.
Anti-regime forces had to accept the deal because of the “reality on the ground”, the cleric said, adding that the rebels were low on ammunition after months of conflict.
Nasrallah stressed that the Russian and Iranian position on President Bashar al-Assad is “very firm”, noting that Iran wants Syria to remain in the Axis of the Resistance and not fall to the Takfiri organizations.
Putin for his part said Russia’s actions in the Middle East “always were and will be very responsible” and downplayed the threat by Syrian forces to Israel.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists inside Syria, said dozens of seriously wounded people in clinics in Foua and Kfarya are ready to be transferred.
The agreement, reached under the supervision of the United Nations, enforces the withdrawal of militants from the border town of Zabadani, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the talks as saying on Thursday. Turkey and Iran also sponsored the deal, it added.
Going into some details of the negotiations, Nasrallah said the first stage of the agreement includes a ceasefire and the departure of the “gunmen” and their injured from al-Zabadani to Idleb in return for the departure of 10, 000 civilians, including women, young men under 18 and men above 50, from al-Fouaa and Kefraya to safe areas.
“This cease-fire shows how the Syrian regime is coming under more pressure from its allies to focus on reinforcing the areas that are vital to its survival”, said Imad Salamey, a political science professor at Lebanese American University.
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In exchange, about 500 rebel fighters will withdraw from Zabadani and head for Idlib province.
