Two rebel groups are leading the push. One is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ( HTS ), which emerged from al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate. It cut ties with the jihadist group in 2017 and has since set up a provisional government in rebel-held Idlib province in north-west Syria. The other faction, the Syrian National Army ( SNA ), is a Turkish proxy.

The recent rapid advance by opposition fighters in Syria shows that Syrian President Bashar Assad must reconcile with his own people and hold dialogue with the opposition, the Turkish foreign minister said Monday.

Senators on both sides of the aisle are holding back from cheering rebel gains against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, following a lightning offensive over the weekend led by Hayʼat Tahrir

Rebels captured Syria's second-largest city, Aleppo, over the weekend and advanced toward Hama in a surprise incursion that reignited Syria's 13-year-old civil war and embarrassed President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Syria carried out airstrikes targeting the rebel forces that seized the country's second largest city of Aleppo in a surprise advance last week that caught the government off guard.