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Jaysh al-Izza

Jaysh al-Izza, or the Army of Glory, is a Sunni Islamist Syrian rebel group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Jaysh al-Izza was the first faction to be targeted by Russian forces following their intervention in 2015. Jaysh al-Izza received American funding, Established in 2013, the group has been active primarily in northwestern Syria, particularly in the al-Ghab Plain in northern Hama Governorate and surrounding areas. Jaysh al-Izza was formed with the objective of overthrowing the Syrian government and establishing governance based on Sunni Islamist principles. The group has maintained a staunch opposition to both the Assad regime and foreign interventions, notably expressing disapproval of Russia's involvement in the Syrian conflict.

Army of Glory started under the name of the Martyrs of Latamneh Brigade at the beginning of 2012, then turned into the Gathering of Glory [Union of Glory - Tajamu' al-'Izza] in 2013 and then the Army of Glory at the end of 2015 under the leadership of Major Jamil Al-Saleh, where many revolutionary brigades and battalions from various specializations joined the gathering, so the leadership of the gathering decided to form an organized military army and attract the largest number of officers who defected from the regime with high competencies in leading battles, and relied on establishing a membership institution for military personnel and subjecting them to military training courses.

The army fighters were spread across Hama, Latakia and Aleppo, but the most important areas of the gathering's presence were in the northern Hama countryside, where it is stationed on all battlefronts there. The "Army of Glory" was able to stay away from all the disputes and series of fighting between the factions, so it was at the same distance from everyone, and maintained its goal of overthrowing the regime and protecting civilians, which gained it a large popular base.

Throughout the Syrian Civil War, Jaysh al-Izza had been involved in numerous military operations against Syrian government forces and allied militias. The group has participated in various offensives, including the 2014 Hama offensive, the 2015 Al-Ghab offensive, and the 2016 Hama offensive. Their operations have primarily focused on the Hama, Idlib, and Latakia governorates.

Jaysh al-Izza entered the "MOC" room in 2015 with the aim of obtaining support to liberate the land, and left it in 2017 due to its firm positions and its refusal to accept conditional support for participating in the Astana conference, which Major Jamil al-Saleh considered the biggest deception of the Syrian revolution and warned against it early.

Due to its great reputation and steadfastness on the fronts, Jaysh al-Izza was able to attract hundreds of fighters leaving the settlement areas, so several groups and battalions from the displaced people of Homs, Daraa, the Damascus countryside, Deir ez-Zor and other areas joined it. The most prominent of those who joined Jaysh al-Izza in the first month of 2018 was the martyr Abdul Basit al-Sarout, an icon of the Syrian revolution, accompanied by 200 fighters from the displaced people of Homs (Liwa Homs al-Adiya).

The Free Syrian Army faction, "Jaysh al-Izza", operating in the northern Hama countryside, announced its rejection of the terms of the demilitarized zone agreement in Idlib, referring to the details of the terms agreed upon between Turkey and Russia. The Army of Glory issued a statement on 29 September 2018, explaining that it had thanked Turkey for the recent agreement reached by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart to establish a 12-20 km wide demilitarized zone in Idlib, equally divided "between the liberated and occupied areas."

The statement indicated that it was later revealed that the area demilitarized from heavy weapons "is all liberated areas only, and joint Russian-Turkish patrols are allowed in it and they have the right to search any place they want in this area." According to the statement of the "Army of Glory", the mentioned area will include the countryside of Latakia, Jisr al-Shughur - Al-Ghab Plain with Jabal Shashabo - Kafr Nabudah and Al-Habit, extending to the north of Khan Sheikhoun and Al-Tamanah, reaching the borders of Maarat al-Numan to the outskirts of the city of Saraqib and the southern and western countryside of Aleppo. The "Army" considered that thus "the area has been transferred to the regime due to the presence of its Russian ally in it." The statement added that the Army of Glory will not accept "that the buffer zone be only on our side and must be equally divided."

A number of members of the "Assad regime" forces were killed 14 November 2018 by gunfire from the "Army of Glory" fighters affiliated with the Free Syrian Army in the Hama countryside, in response to the "regime's" shelling of areas in the northern countryside. Activists on social media said that the "sniper brigade" of the "Army of Glory" managed to kill a number of members of the "Assad regime" forces on the axis of the town of "Al-Masasneh" north of Hama, without knowing their death toll.

The "buffer" zone between the regime forces and the military factions, agreed upon between Turkey and Russia, has witnessed - according to activists - since dawn yesterday, intermittent clashes with light and medium machine guns, during which the faction fighters confronted the "regime's" attempt to advance in the area. This came after regime forces shelled the city of Latamneh and the nearby villages of Tal al-Sakhr and Ma'arkabah, wounding a civilian in Latamneh, in a continuous violation by the "regime" of the "demilitarized" zone agreed upon between Turkey and Russia.

Jaysh al-Izza had collaborated with several rebel factions, including Tahrir al-Sham, the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria, and Ajnad al-Sham. The group has also been part of coalitions such as the National Front for Liberation and has received support from countries like Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, including the provision of anti-tank missiles such as the 9K111 Fagot and BGM-71 TOW.

In September 2022, Jaysh al-Izza evacuated a military post in the al-Bardeghli IDP camp north of Idlib following a Russian airstrike and subsequent civilian pressure, highlighting the group's responsiveness to both military and civilian dynamics in the conflict.

As of November 2024, Jaysh al-Izza remained active in northwestern Syria. The group has continued to engage in military operations and has been involved in recent offensives, including the Northwestern Syria offensive (April–August 2019). They have also been part of the "Great Conquest" operations room, collaborating with other factions in the region.

Jaysh al-Izza's persistence in the conflict underscores the complex and multifaceted nature of the Syrian Civil War, with various factions continuing to operate amid shifting alliances and external influences.