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Michael Kuenne

How Sanction Relief in Syria Aids Terrorists

Erbil, Syrian citizens celebrate the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria. Photo: Shvan Harki (Unsplash)
Erbil, Syrian citizens celebrate the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria. Photo: Shvan Harki (Unsplash)

On a December day in 2024, the Assad regime, which had ruled Syria with an iron fist since 1971, finally fell. It wasn’t the people of Syria who ousted Bashar al-Assad; it was Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and others.

Alongside the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, HTS managed to force Assad into exile in Russia, ending a brutal era of dictatorship. For many, this marked a long-overdue moment of justice. For others, it raised a troubling question: what comes next when one form of tyranny is replaced by another?

HTS, a group that emerged from the ashes of al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, now sits at the center of Syria’s transitional government. The European Union has responded by easing sanctions on the country, hoping to spark a new era of reconstruction, democracy, and stability. It’s an admirable vision, but the reality is far more dangerous. By lifting sanctions, the EU isn’t aiding the Syrian people; it’s empowering a violent, extremist organization with a history of repression, human rights abuses, and global terror connections. This isn’t just a policy misstep; it’s a gamble with consequences that could reverberate across the Middle East and beyond.

HTS is no stranger to reinvention. Once known as Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, the group has tried to rebrand itself as a legitimate political actor. It changed its name, distanced itself from al-Qaeda (at least publicly), and even established what it calls a “Salvation Government” to administer areas under its control. But no rebranding can erase HTS’s bloody history or extremist roots.

This is a group responsible for unspeakable atrocities: extrajudicial executions, torture, forced conversions, and the recruitment of child soldiers. Women and minorities under HTS rule face systemic oppression, with reports of violence, discrimination, and persecution continuing to emerge. HTS’s supposed governance is nothing more than authoritarianism dressed up as administration. In areas under its control, dissent is silenced, aid is taxed, and courts dispense judgments based on ideology, not justice.

This entity is now poised to benefit from the EU’s sanctions relief. And make no mistake: HTS will benefit. The group can gain the resources it needs to solidify its power through eased trade restrictions, foreign investments, or the reopening of financial channels. The dangers of empowering HTS aren’t confined to Syria. A strengthened HTS poses a direct threat to regional stability, particularly for Israel. A stronger HTS is a more dangerous HTS, one with the capacity to launch attacks, destabilize neighboring states, and fuel the spread of extremism across the region.

One of the EU’s primary arguments for lifting sanctions is humanitarian: Syria’s people need relief. After more than a decade of war, the country is in ruins. Millions are displaced, and over 16 million Syrians rely on international aid to survive. But lifting sanctions without safeguards won’t alleviate this crisis; it will exacerbate it. The EU’s approach assumes that easing sanctions will trickle down to the Syrian people. In reality, it’s far more likely to flow into HTS’s coffers, funding the very structures that perpetuate repression and violence.

If the international community genuinely wants to help Syria’s people, it must find ways to bypass HTS entirely.

The EU’s decision to engage with HTS sets a dangerous precedent. It signals to the world that terrorism and human rights abuses can be overlooked if the political calculus makes it convenient. This undermines global counterterrorism efforts and sends a chilling message to other extremist groups: if you seize power, the international community will eventually come to the table.

About the Author
Michael Kuenne works as a journalist on antisemitism, extremism, and rising threats to Jewish life. His reporting continually sheds light on the dangers that come from within radical ideologies and institutional complicity, and where Western democracies have failed in confronting the new rise of Jew-hatred with the due urgency it does call for. With hard-hitting commentary and muckraking reporting, Kuenne exposed how the antisemitic narratives shape policymaking, dictate public discourse, and fuel hate toward Israel. His writings have appeared in a number of international media outlets, including The Times of Israel Blogs. Kuenne has become a voice heard for blunt advocacy in regard to Israel's right to self-defense, critiquing ill-conceived humanitarian policies serving only to empower terror, while demanding a moral clarity which seems beyond most Western leaders. With a deep commitment to historical truth, he has covered the resurgence of Holocaust distortion in political rhetoric, the dangerous normalization of antisemitic conspiracies in mainstream culture, and false equivalencies drawn between Israel's actions and the crimes of its enemies. His reporting dismantles sanitized language that whitens the record of extremism and insists on calling out antisemitism-whether from the far right, the far left, or Islamist movements, without fear or hesitation.
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