The Western Syria Project: A hidden partition plan

[Deeq A.]

DAMASCUS, Syria – A secret plan allegedly backed by the United States and Israel is taking shape in western Syria, with critics warning it aims to partition the war-torn country under the pretext of protecting religious minorities.

The strategy, dubbed the “Western Syria” project, leverages the anxieties of minority Alawite, Christian, and Druze communities under the country’s new transitional government.

According to regional security sources and emerging reports, the plan involves a mix of political lobbying in Washington, covert military coordination, and staged sectarian provocations on the ground.

The ultimate goal, a source speaking to regional news outlet The Cradle claimed, is to dismantle Syria’s territorial integrity for Israel’s strategic benefit.

A plan voiced in Washington

The public origins of the concept trace back to comments made by senior US lawmakers. In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on February 13, Senator James Risch, a leading Republican on the committee, suggested a focused approach on the country’s west.

“When you look at the map of Syria, I mean, it looks like a flat Rubik’s cube because of the way that the country is divided up,” Risch stated. “My idea is we need to focus on this western part… if you do not get a handle on this, you are not going to get a handle on the rest of the country.”

This sentiment was echoed by Michael Singh of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a prominent think tank, who testified that the US could “focus on what is happening in western Syria.”

These discussions have now materialized into a concrete lobbying effort. On August 5, the Washington-based advisory firm Tiger Hill Partners announced it would represent the newly formed “Foundation for the Development of Western Syria.”

According to public disclosure filings, the one-year, $1 million contract aims to advocate for Syria’s minorities and influence US policy toward a political transition.

Israel is reportedly directing the plan’s covert aspects, which acts as its “chief architect,” according to the initial report from The Cradle. This coordination allegedly became tangible in July, with two closed-door meetings held in Tel Aviv.

The meetings reportedly brought together Israeli officials and exiled Syrian Alawite and Druze figures. Following these gatherings, Eddy Cohen, an Israeli journalist active in Arab-language media, announced on August 6 that an “Alawite–Druze alliance” was being prepared in the US.

These high-level talks coincided with a series of disturbing events in Syria’s coastal region, the heartland of the Alawite minority.

Syrian internal security forces in Tartous announced they had foiled a plot to attack the Mar Elias Maronite Church in Safita. The announcement, which was delayed by three weeks, fueled suspicions of a deliberate attempt to stoke sectarian fear and create a pretext for foreign intervention under the guise of protecting minorities.

Simultaneously, unverified statements circulated by partisan media channels claimed the formation of a “Christian Military Council.” The group’s declared aim was to unite Christian fighters who had previously fought extremist factions like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group now dominant in Syria’s transitional government, and to ensure Christian representation in any future political settlement. The existence and authenticity of this council remain unconfirmed.

A post-Assad Syria rife with fear

The “Western Syria” project seeks to exploit the power vacuum and deep-seated fears following the sudden collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in late 2024. The new de facto authority is led by Ahmad al-Sharaa (formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani), the head of HTS.

While al-Sharaa has publicly promised to protect minorities, many Alawite, Christian, and Druze communities remain deeply fearful of the Islamist group, which the US still designates as a terrorist organization. This climate of uncertainty provides fertile ground for external actors aiming to carve out spheres of influence.

The plan’s alleged scope extends into neighboring Lebanon, to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement—a key ally of the former Assad regime—and redeploy armed Syrian factions from Lebanon into the proposed coastal entity.

A “regional security source” quoted by The Cradle framed the strategy as an Israeli effort to create two strategic corridors. “Israel seeks to exploit Syria’s sectarian and ethnic divisions to use minorities as political and military tools, serving its plan to partition the country,” the source said.

While the project appears to be gaining momentum, it also faces opposition. The same sources claim that domestic and external actors, including elements within the new Damascus administration, are actively working to thwart the plan, having already succeeded in preventing the Safita church bombing.

Whether it remains a covert campaign or becomes overt policy, the “Western Syria” project represents a new and dangerous phase in the conflict, threatening to permanently fracture the country along sectarian lines for the strategic advantage of outside powers.