The speed of HTS taking Damascus has caught me way off guard, and reminded me I know bugger all about Syria. After the way Assad and the Syrian Army stood down the FSA and ISIS through to 2015/16, albeit with brutal Russian strikes in Aleppo, I'm surprised how quickly this has all happened.
I'm encouraged that Jolani has directed no damage to public institutions. It'd be a bloody shame if Syria got carved up. Back in 2015 or so I read Patrick Cockburn's book on the rise of ISIS and at the time, what was evident was that the "reconstruction" of Iraq and the civil war in Syria had led to a lot of very, very poor Sunni farmers. Keeping economic activity going is vital.
Speaking of which, I read yesterday that 85% of livestock in the Gaza strip is dead.