By Aram Mirzaei for the Saker blog

Last Monday, after much speculation Trump signed a declaration recognizing the occupied Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

Trump recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli land is a sign that Washington is falling ever deeper into the abyss.The ever so Israel friendly Trump administration is trying to give legitimacy to Israel’s occupation of Syrian territory. Who do they think they are kidding?

Make no mistake, defying the world who stand opposed to the illegal Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights, will never give Israel legitimacy over these lands.

This is a sign of weakness and desperation for both Washington and Tel Aviv. Both Trump and Netanyahu are under fire on their respective home fronts, both are desperate to get re-elected, this is true especially with regards to the Zionist chieftain who is facing corruption and bribery charges.

This move was a gift from Trump to the Zionist chieftain in an effort to support his re-election. They both share a staunch hatred for the Islamic Republic of Iran and its allies and Washington cannot afford to have someone in Tel Aviv who’s less hawkish and hungry for war than Netanyahu. With this move, Trump also hopes to gain favour with the Zionist PACs in the US, who basically decide the outcome of every US election.

So far, the Arab leaders, who have no spine whatsoever have only vocally condemned this move. Don’t expect them to do more as most of them are in Washington’s pocket regardless. Not even Syria can do anything at the moment as the country remains in tatters after 8 years of devastating war while parts of Syria are still occupied. President Assad cannot make such a move anytime soon.

But I do hope that this move emboldens Tel Aviv’s arrogance to make the same move on the occupied Sheeba farms in Lebanon. Because that will be a different story. Hezbollah will respond and they will respond with force. We all know the Zionist state fears Hezbollah and Iran the most, we all know that Hezbollah can respond with deadly force, this was evident in the aftermath of the arrogant Israeli attack on southern Syria a few years ago in which Jihad Mughniyeh was killed, and Hezbollah responded by destroying an entire Israeli military convoy. Tel Aviv most certainly remembers that one. This is why Israel has avoided targeting Hezbollah in Syria ever since.

In any case, this move by Washington and Tel Aviv was a pathetic one, one that will only feed more legitimacy to the Resistance Front. Washington is making more and more enemies on a daily basis as it now walks ever deeper in the abyss.

What’s taking so long for the Syrian Army to attack Idlib?

Elsewhere, the Russian Air Force has been striking Idlib for weeks now as the Syrian Army has been amassing troops near the Hama-Idlib border. However, despite proclamations by the government that every inch of Syria will be liberated, the Syrian Armed Forces have been unable to launch any significant ground offensives against groups like Jaysh Al-Izza, Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham, and the Turkestan Islamic Party (jihadist faction).

The major obstacle for a new Syrian Army offensive is Ankara. The Turkish Armed Forces have placed so called “observation posts” across the entire demilitarized zone to prevent any Syrian Army offensive in the area.

The Syrian Army has relied on shelling and launching missile strikes on HTS and other terrorist groups in the Idlib region as the Russian Armed Forces have decided to halt any SAA offensives on this plagued province, instead relying on dialogue and negotiations with Ankara.

Without Moscow’s approval, the Syrian military would not launch an operation of this magnitude, especially with a potential conflict with the Turkish Armed Forces hanging in the balance.

Russia has a strong desire to keep Turkey happy because they have proven to be a thorn in the side of the U.S. Coalition, who currently backs the Kurdish groups that Ankara has labeled ‘terrorists’.

Turkey wants to expel the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and People’s Protection Units (YPG) from the Aleppo, Al-Raqqa, and Al-Hasakah governorates, despite the fact these groups are NATO-backed.

Moscow sees this conflict as a way to force Washington to either withdraw from Syria or worse, clash with their NATO ally. Direct conflict on the ground between Washington and Ankara is highly unlikely given they are both NATO members however Ankara’s refusal to accept a US- controlled buffer zone puts a strain on their already fragile relationship.

This is where the potential Idlib offensive is connected to Ankara’s decision to begin their push to expel Washington’s SDF proxies from the eastern Eastern Euphrates. Ankara likely has Moscow’s approval to launch such an offensive, but I expect Moscow to want something in return. Should Ankara launch this offensive and be able to move its proxies over to eastern Syria, it could oave the way for the SAA to retake the Idlib province in what can only be seen as an exchange of territory deal.