A member of the Syrian security forces standing guard in front of a building, which was reportedly housing an Islamic Jihad center, destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Damascus, on March 13, 2025. (Credit: LOUAI BESHARA / AFP.)
Two leaders of the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), an ally of Hamas, have been arrested by the new Syrian authorities, announced the Iran-backed group on Tuesday, calling for their release.
In a statement received by AFP, the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of PIJ, said its leader for Syria, Khaled Khaled, and the leader of its executive committee, Yasser al-Zafri, have been detained for five days. "The reasons for the arrest have not been specified," the statement added.
"We hope that our brothers in the Syrian government will release these two leaders," the statement added, lamenting that the arrest occurred "while we are fighting the Israeli enemy" in the Gaza Strip.
Bashar al-Assad's Syria has for decades been a close ally of Tehran and a key member of its 'axis of resistance,' comprising Iranian-backed groups opposed to Israel such as PIJ. Bashar al-Assad's regime was overthrown on Dec. 8, 2024, by an Islamist coalition. The U.S. has demanded that the new Syrian authorities "totally renounce terrorism and eliminate it" as well as "exclude foreign terrorist fighters" as a condition for lifting sanctions on Damascus, which were imposed on the previous regime.
On March 17, an Israeli airstrike, which has carried out hundreds of raids in Syria since the fall of Assad's regime, targeted a PIJ building near Damascus, resulting in several deaths and injuries, according to the group. The Israeli army claimed to have conducted a strike "against a command center ... of the Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad in Damascus" which they claim was being used to "plan and carry out" attacks against Israel.
PIJ, like Hamas, is considered a 'terrorist' organization by Israel, the U.S., and the EU.
