The IS evacuation deal has been one of the most controversial agreements taken by IS and Syria in the ongoing civil conflict. It entailed a ceasefire between IS and Hezbollah/Syrian forces on both sides of the Syria/Lebanon border.

The agreement between the two was quite straighforward: in return for their surrender and the retrieval of kidnapped Lebanese soldiers -- who were later to be found dead -- Hezbollah and Syria would give the green-light for an evacuation convoy to return IS fighters back to the IS stronghold of Deir ezzor, Eastern Syria. The IS fighters were to be accompanied by their families and children and return in air-conditioned busses funded by Lebanon, Hezbollah and the Syrian Arab Army.



But the story begins much earlier. For it wasn't the only evacuation deal of its kind. On Wednesday July 26, 2017 the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah declared victory over Nusra Front militants. The war in Syria had by this time spilled over into Lebanon, with Al-Nusra and an FSA rebel faction, Saraya Ahl al-Sham taking charge of small enclaves around the outskirts of border town, Arsal in Lebanon. IS too had controlled small territory spanning across both sides of the border in Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah and the Syrian army had been fighting "shoulder to shoulder" on both sides to isolate the groups.



The strategy taken to neutralize groups in the border region was going to be a sucession. First Al-Nusra would be forced out of the area, then Saraya Ahl-Alsham, and finally IS would be defeated.



After the defeat of Al-Nusra, fighters and their families were escorted to what is now known as the Hizb ut Tahrir Assham (Al-Qaeda affiliate) held territory of Idlib, Syria. Two weeks later, on August 11th, Saraya Ahl-AlSham (FSA group) succefully negotiated with the lebanese government to have 300 fighters, along with their families, escorted to the rebel held town of Al-Ruhaiba in the Eastern Qalamoun District of Syria.



In this regard, the evacuation of the now isolated IS groups, who would surrender less than a week later was part of a pattern. The military strategy was as follows: Syria and Hezbollah would operate on both sides of the border, and the Lebanese military (which throughout the whole operation insisted no cooperation with Hezbollah and Syria) would largely set up defensive areas on their side. The rebels/jihadists would be defeated on both sides, and then get sent back to their own strongholds. After Al-Nusra and Saraya Ahl-Alsham were expelled, the same strategy targeted IS.



In a war that saw Hezbollah use advanced warfare , including the use of drones to infilitrate bunkers and fortifications, and a war which brought about the deaths of eleven Hezbollah fighters and seven Syrian soldiers, Hezbollah and Lebanon quickly seized the enclaves controlled by IS in the western Qalamoun region of Syria. By August 24th, Nasrallah (head of Hezbollah) was already celebrating victory.



On the same day of Nasrallah's televised speech, Islamic State formally asked the Syrian Army and Hezbollah for the permission to withdraw from Syria's border with Lebanon and to be evacuated to the eastern province of Deir al-Zor. Perhaps not coincidentally, another operation was taking place by the Lebanese Army on its side of the border to drive out IS from Ras Baalbek, in the Country's northeast.



On August 28th, a total of 600 people, including Islamic State fighters and their families, began to be evacuated from the Lebanese-Syrian border. Hezbollah, Syria and Lebanon all argued that these were the conditions imposed by the victor. Variations of this phrase were repeated by both Nasrallah and the Lebanese Internal Security General, Abbas Ibrahim. Six soldiers who had been under IS capitvity since 2014 were also returned to Lebanon as part of the deal, which revealed that they were killed.



But this time, things would not go as smoothly as before. Both the prime-minister of Iraq, and the US-supported coalition fighting IS in Raqqa raised their complaints. Al-Abadi of Iraq called the evacuation deal, which was negotiated between Nasrallah and Assad, "unacceptable" and an "insult to the Iraqi people". The United States coalition released a statement on August 30, 2017 claiming that "The Coalition was not a party to any agreement between the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Syrian Regime and ISIS" and later added that "relocating terrorists from one place to another for someone else to deal with, is not a lasting solution."



Adhering to their own rules of engagement, they refused to attack the convoy -- which had civilians -- but did aim airstrikes on the road heading to Deir Ez Zor, in addition to destroying a bridge. When IS combatants attempted to help escort their stranded comrades, they were also struck by US air-strikes. The Syrian armed forces insisted that the convoy would continue nevertheless, but the latest reports refute that claim. In most recent news, U.S Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the commander of U.S led forces fighting Islamic State, told a Pentagon briefing that the convoy has now turned back and will be entering Syrian government territory. The fate of the convoy is not clear at the time of writing.

