An alleged video about “statements by Al-Sharaa after Jordanian strikes on Daraa”.. What is its truth?

Social media accounts circulated a video clip claiming to contain statements by the Syrian interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, after Jordanian air strikes on Daraa in southern Syria. The 7-second video received more than 200,000 views on the X platform.

During it, Al-Sharaa appeared saying: “What is our relationship to the matter? We have no relationship. We are not the ones who killed people. I mean, we don’t know.” By dividing the video into still shots and using a reverse search, we found that it was an excerpt from a longer video of Al-Sharaa’s meeting with the former head of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, in the capital, Damascus, on December 22, 2024.

At the top right of the video, you can notice the word "Al-Anbaa", which is the logo of the Progressive Socialist Party website. At the time, Al-Sharaa was criticizing Iran, saying that “the people of the Levant are peaceful and too simple to enter into a state of cultural, historical and sectarian strife in which they are not guilty.”

He continued: “Events that occurred 1,400 years ago. What do we have to do with them? People come to take revenge on the Levant for a historical event that occurred 1,400 years ago. What reason and logic is this!

We have nothing to do with it. We are not the ones who killed people. I mean, we don’t know... It is an irony of fate to see someone taking advantage of a jurisprudential or legal situation in order to touch people’s emotions with titles to occupy lands and countries...

A Palestinian story on the one hand and a historical issue on the other, and the result is always the fall of Arab capitals into the hands of a state like Iran,” he said. The return of the video to circulation coincided with the Jordanian army’s announcement that it carried out raids on Monday evening on areas in southern Syria, and that it targeted the sites of “terrorist organizations” linked to the attack that targeted a church in the village of Hamoud in Karak Governorate, on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Ministry of Health reported civilian casualties in Daraa Governorate as a result of this operation. Later, the Minister of Government Communications and official spokesman for the Jordanian government, Muhammad Al-Momani, said: “Jordan has refrained from targeting sites where information indicates the presence of civilians, and we regret the occurrence of civilian casualties.”

Al-Momani indicated, in a post on his account on the X website, that Jordan carried out strikes in southern Syria after it “ran out of patience,” and announced the formation of a joint committee to follow up on the repercussions of the operation against ISIS. He said that there were “major losses among ISIS’s ranks, estimated at more than 20 members, and the destruction of a huge weapons depot for the organization.”

For its part, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Tuesday, in which it said: “We informed our brothers in Jordan of our full reservations about carrying out operations inside Syrian territory without prior coordination,” according to the official Syrian News Agency (SANA). The ministry said: "We affirm our support for the affected Syrian families and our full solidarity with them in this affliction. We express our sincere condolences to the families of the martyrs and our wishes for a speedy recovery for the wounded."

The Syrian General Authority of Ports and Customs announced the closure of the Nassib border crossing with Jordan on Tuesday, “in view of the current conditions and field developments in Daraa Governorate,” with “the complete suspension of passenger and commercial traffic in both directions in order to ensure the safety of travelers and workers at the crossing.”