US, Israel want White Helmets out of Syria to prevent exposure

As the Syrian Arab Army is intensifying its southern advance, the situation is heating up. Speaking to Sputnik, analysts explained what could be behind the controversial evacuation of the White Helmets from Syria to Jordan by the Israeli military at the request of Washington.

Under the guise of the White Helmets evacuation, Western powers were apparently seeking to cover their tracks and pull their valuable assets out of Syria, says Ghassan Kadi, a political analyst of Syrian origin.

The political analyst presumed that "given the 'good name' the Western media gave the White Helmets as the alleged defenders of the 'victims of the regime,' the name White Helmets is probably now been used as a cover for every important asset that the enemies of Syria want to help leave Syria under the guise of helping the 'heroes.'"

"And let us not forget that the white helmets themselves are not stitched on the heads of their bearer," he added. "Anyone can wear a white helmet and become a White Helmet, just like former terrorists which left Syria into Turkey and then entered the EU as refugees."

On July 22, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he had authorized the evacuation of White Helmets volunteers at the request of US President Donald Trump and other Western leaders. The organization, largely hailed in the West, has been repeatedly spotted engaging in false flag operations in terrorist-held regions in Syria.

"As a Syrian, I deplore the propaganda role assigned to these terrorists by their Israeli, Arab and Western handlers," Assad stressed.

The political observer pointed out that Syria has had its own national branch of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent society since 1954.

He stressed that Damascus had also established the institution of Civil Defense in 1953, which is "64 years before the so-called White Helmets suddenly appeared in order to fake chemical weapons attacks for the benefit of Western audiences and to garner pity for al-Nusra Front* terrorists with Western public opinion."

According to Assad, the West's concerns over the evacuation of the NGO are quite understandable given previous reports about French, Belgian, German, Canadian, Israeli, British, Dutch and American operatives among rebels in Syria.

"The White Helmets evacuation by Israel was predictable as the group has been working together with Israel, the US and also various terrorist groups," Philip Giraldi, a former CIA case officer and US Army intelligence officer, emphasized. "They have never worked in areas where the Syrian [Arab] Army has had control and are little more than terrorist apologists."

"They are afraid that the Syrian Army will arrest them on sight, with good reason as they are an affiliate of the terrorists," Giraldi underscored.

For his part, Israeli political analyst and publicist Avigdor Eskin opined that Israel's actions at the request of the US, Canada and the EU had prevented a potential bloodshed by allowing the White Helmets to flee the theater of war.

He cited previous cases, including the liberation of Aleppo, when Syrian rebels of various affiliations were allowed to leave embattled areas to pave the way for reconciliation.

The Israeli analyst opined that all efforts aimed at preventing violence should be hailed, especially given the fact that the seven-year war has claimed the lives of more than 500,000 Syrians.

According to Jordan's Foreign Ministry, 422 out of 800 White Helmets volunteers and their family members have been evacuated by the Israeli military.