On 1 July, several media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced that the Lebanese militia Hezbollah was pulling out a large number of its forces operating in the Syrian capital Damascus. According to Israel’s Channel 7, the Shia organization withdrew its militia also in the southern regions of the country. This move follows similar withdrawals by Iranian forces from the “de-escalation zones” agreed between Turkey, Russia and Iran in the framework of the Astana process’ peace talks. Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian civil war, in support to Bashar Al-Assad’s regime and its Iranian allies, dates back to 2012, during the early stages of the conflict.