Al-Hasakah justice file delays the implementation of the January 29 agreement with the SDF
Ahmed al-Hilali, spokesman for the presidential delegation to implement the January 29 agreement, said that the process of merging the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is facing a clear slowdown due to the Ministry of Justice's failure to receive the judicial palaces in al-Hasakah province, especially the Palace of Justice in Qamishli, considering that this file has become the "main knot" that hinders the implementation of the agreement.
Al-Hilali explained in statements to the Syrian newspaper Enab Baladi that last week witnessed intensive meetings that included presidential envoy Ziad Al-Eish, Hasakah governor Noureddine Ahmed, Minister of Justice Mazhar Al-Weiss, and Attorney General Hassan Al-Turba, with the aim of reaching a final formula for receiving judicial palaces and integrating judges and employees affiliated with the SDF into the official judicial system.
Al-Hilali: The judiciary file is "a sovereign issue that cannot be tolerated"
He stressed that the judiciary file is "a sovereign issue that cannot be tolerated", and that the meetings stressed commitment to general legal principles, foremost of which is the independence of the judiciary, in accordance with the Syrian judiciary law. Despite the consensus on the general framework, there are still disagreements over the implementation mechanisms and technical details of the merger process.
Al-Hilali pointed out that the failure to receive the judicial palaces was directly reflected in the file of the detainees, explaining that the Syrian government has taken over the prisons in Hasakah, and that work is underway to release SDF detainees inside Syrian prisons, but the process has been stopped due to the lack of completion of the judicial integration procedures. He accused "beneficiary parties" of obstructing the handover of the Palace of Justice in Qamishli, disrupting the entire process.
He pointed out that the January 29 agreement links the integration process to several parallel files, including the detainees' file, which he described as "humanitarian and non-negotiable", but it is automatically affected by any disruption in the implementation of the agreement, which led to the delay in the release of detainees.
Al-Hilali: Upcoming meetings
Al-Hilali revealed that meetings are expected during the current week to resolve the file of judicial shortcomings, expressing his optimism that a breakthrough can be achieved within days, whether at the end of this week or at the beginning of next week, if the remaining obstacles are overcome.
On the other hand, he said that the path of military integration is proceeding at a better pace, as four brigades affiliated with the SDF received their salaries for the month of April from the Ministry of Defense's budget, three of which are within the 60th Division in al-Hasakah, and the fourth (the Ayn al-Arab/Kobani Brigade) within the 72nd Division, considering this an indication of the progress of military integration.
He also explained that the next phase will witness interviews with Asayish members after submitting lists of their names to the Ministry of Interior, in preparation for integrating those admitted into the Internal Security Command.
Al-Hilali acknowledged that there are discrepancies in the interpretation of some of the terms of the agreement, especially with regard to the order of the steps to take over the judicial palace in Qamishli, as the agreement stipulates that the government will take over its civil buildings in full before the start of the merger, while some parties believe that the merger must be done first, which is one of the most prominent points of contention.
Integration is broken. The decisions of the "Autonomous Administration" paint a different reality in Al-Hasakah
Despite the passage of three months since the signing of the January 29 agreement, the path of institutional integration in Al-Hasakah province is still almost stalled, while the "Autonomous Administration" continues to manage various aspects of daily life without any real change, especially in the living files, which have witnessed new decisions during the past few days that have reinforced this reality.
At a time when the management of service facilities is supposed to gradually be transferred to Syrian government institutions under the agreement, the Hydrocarbons Directorate of the Autonomous Administration has raised the prices of a number of subsidized fuel oil items, in a move that came amid a suffocating fuel crisis that the province has been experiencing for about two weeks, with increasing difficulties in securing gasoline and diesel and rising prices in the duty free market.
The increases included raising the price of agricultural mazout from 1,300 Syrian pounds (about 10 cents) to 25 cents per liter, while the price of institutional fuel was set at 55 cents instead of 3,050 pounds (24 cents). The price of industrial mazout also increased to 55 cents from 2200 liras (16 cents), and the mazout of tourist ovens reached the same price from 2050 liras (15 cents).
On the other hand, no new price was announced for heating diesel, while the price of service diesel for generators and public ovens remained stable at 125 Syrian pounds (less than one cent). The price of free diesel remained at 75 cents, and the price of subsidized traffic diesel for cars was at 525 pounds (about 3 cents).
Despite the recent increases, the prices of fuel in al-Hasakah are still about 20 cents lower than the prices applied in the rest of the Syrian governorates, which reflects, according to residents and local officials, that the province is still outside the scope of the central government's decisions, and that the integration process has not yet been reflected in the reality of services and living.
The Autonomous Administration refuses to hand over the justice of Al-Hasakah
On Tuesday, April 21, 2026, the so-called "Autonomous Administration" in northeastern Syria prevented judges and employees of the Ministry of Justice from entering the judicial palace in the city of Al-Hasakah on April 21, 2026, in a step that is considered an escalation that may hinder the integration of institutions in implementation of the January 29 agreement between the Syrian government and the SDF.
This measure came hours after government employees arrived at the Justice Palace building to begin work, before the security forces of the "Autonomous Administration" informed them of the ban, which led to a halt in movement inside the building and the complete suspension of judicial work, according to local sources.
The sources added that the decision to ban came against the background of disagreements on the issue of the integration of judicial cadres, as the "Autonomous Administration" believes that the integration of its cadres should be done "completely and without exception", while the Syrian government insists on adopting a selective mechanism that includes the re-evaluation of employees and determining the needs of the official judicial staff, which led to the stalled implementation of the agreement.
"Massad" turns against the January 29 agreement
In an escalatory step that appears to be a coup against the January 29 agreement, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) announced its adherence to a decentralized system, demanding that the security and military forces be kept under the administration of the "Autonomous Administration" in the areas under its control.
This came in the words of the head of relations at the SDF, Hassan Mohammed Ali, who stressed in a statement on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, the need for "the military and security forces to be affiliated with the Autonomous Administration and not to Damascus," while the January 29 agreement stipulated the integration of the institutions of the Autonomous Administration and the introduction of government security forces in the cities of Al-Hasakah and Qamishli, which reflects the direction of the "SDD" towards establishing the model of self-administration as a fait accompli in any future political settlement in Syria.