Syria arrests two senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza Syria has arrested two senior members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, in a move that could help the new government in Damascus in its quest to have US sanctions lifted. Khaled Khaled, the head of the PIJ's Syrian branch, and Yasser Al Zufri were arrested in Damascus, an official from the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham group leading the Syrian government confirmed. Al Quds Brigades, the military wing of the PIJ, on Tuesday described the pair as "two of the best of our cadres". It added they were arrested last week and demanded their release. The Brigades said the two men were arrested "in a way that we did not hope for by a brother whose land has always been a haven for the faithful and for the free". The PIJ is a junior partner of Hamas in Gaza and one of the non-state groups in the Middle East closest to Iran . Tehran was a powerful regional backer of the former regime in Syria and a main loser in the overthrow of Bashar Al Assad. HTS , formerly linked with Al Qaeda , has allowed PIJ to remain in Syria since ending the 53-year Assad family rule in December. Hazem Ayyad, a researcher in Amman who specialises in Palestinian affairs, said the arrests could help Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara in two ways − by winning favour with the US and curbing the Israeli rationale for strikes on Syria. The US has repeatedly demanded that the new order in Syria disengages from militant groups and foreign extremists, in addition to not taking any military action against Israel, according to diplomats briefed on the meetings. The arrests came after two Republican US congressmen , who are part of President Donald Trump's core support in the legislature, met Mr Al Shara in Damascus during the last three days. Mr Al Shara's government is pressing to have sanctions lifted. "It is a small move compared with the potential gains," said Mr Ayyad of the arrests. He cautioned that it would be difficult for Mr Al Shara to embark on more direct moves in favour of Israel, such as normalisation, because of wide pro- Palestinian sentiment in Syria, and the ideology of HTS. Mr Ayyad pointed out that the arrests came shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Mr Al Shara met in Damascus. "HTS appears to have taken a decision only to deal with the recognised Palestinian representatives," he said, referring to Mr Abbas's Palestinian Authority. Hamas relocated its external leadership from Damascus to Qatar in 2012 after falling out with Mr Al Assad , but started mending ties with him in the last three years of his rule. Former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had supported restoring ties with Mr Al Assad before he was killed in Gaza last year. Hamas had briefly supported the 2011 revolt against Mr Al Assad. The PIJ group's founder Fathi Al Shiqaqi was an admirer of Iran's late supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini. Israel has has expanded a buffer zone in the Golan Heights, south-west of Damascus, by taking territory. But there have been no more Israeli strikes on Syria since officials from Turkey , which supports Mr Al Shara, met Syrian officials for de-escalation talks too weeks ago in Azerbaijan. This month, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Washington was sympathetic to "the struggles of the Syrian people who have [for] suffered decades under the Assad regime". But Washington has said co-operation is contingent on the government suppressing terrorism, sidelining "foreign terrorist fighters" and "verifiably" destroying Mr Al Assad’s chemical weapons, as well as ensuring freedom for the country's minorities.

Syria arrests two senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants

Post-Assad government moves against groups as it seeks lifting of US sanctions and end to Israeli strikes