The battle for the East Ghouta region of rural Damascus has proven to be one of the most violent fronts in all of Syria after almost 4 years of non-stop fighting between the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the Islamist rebels of Jaysh Al-Islam (formerly “Liwaa Al-Islam”).

However, the tide of this war has shifted and it is no long in favor of the Islamist rebels that once flourished in the East Ghouta due to its abundance of farms and rough terrain that make the Syrian Arab Army’s tanks immobile on the battlefield.

Recently, the Syrian Arab Army’s 102nd Brigade and the 416th Regiment of the Republican Guard seized the strategic Marj Al-Sultan Military Airport and its nearby village, marking the end of Jaysh Al-Islam’s presence at this strategic site in rural Damascus.

Now, the situation in the East Ghouta has turned from bad to worse for the Islamist rebels of Jaysh Al-Islam, as the Syrian Armed Forces are currently pushing north from Marj Al-Sultan to the imperative city of Harasta, where the majority of the firefights in this region are taking place.

On Christmas Eve, the Syrian Arab Air Force delivered a gift to the Islamist rebels in the East Ghouta via an airdrop of a large amount of leaflets reading “surrender now; you have nowhere to go”.

The leaflets were met with anger and frustration by the Islamist rebels as they posted the image of the leafleft with an agitated remark via their social media accounts.