Government official confirms progress in handing over of Qamishli justice to government
A government official announced that progress has been made in resolving the crisis of the Ministry of Justice's receipt of the judicial palace building in the city of Qamishli in the context of the process of integrating the SDF into the Syrian state institutions in implementation of the January 29 agreement signed between the two parties.
Mustafa Abdi, a member of the presidential team tasked with monitoring the implementation of the agreement, said that the Ministry of Justice "will take over the judicial palace in the city of Qamishli soon", after the handover process stalled as a result of the refusal of those in the building to hand it over to the government.
In a statement to local media, Abdi explained that the refusal to hand over the judicial palace building in Qamishli was "expected", noting that this refusal "did not come from the entire SDF system, but from some people who "may have special allergies or certain circumstances".
He pointed out that the merger process and the Ministry of Justice's receipt of the judicial file in al-Hasakeh "is not in the interest of them for technical reasons", as he put it, "they are neither judges nor lawyers, yet they work in the judiciary, and therefore they tried to obstruct the matter".
Abdi added that there are other people from the SDF who tried to help the Ministry of Justice delegation take over the Justice Palace building in Qamishli, but their attempts were unsuccessful, stressing at the same time that "things are not definitive, and we will return and receive the Justice Palace soon."
Abdi denied that the refusal to hand over the judicial palace in Qamishli to the government poses a threat to the implementation of the integration agreement, explaining that "proof of this" is the meeting he held on Tuesday with the governor of al-Hasakah Noureddine Ahmed and the security official in the SDF, during which they discussed the return of the displaced people from the cities of Ras al-Ain, Ayn al-Arab and Afrin to their towns and villages, and the preparation of the necessary steps to complete this file.
The Autonomous Administration prevents judges and employees from entering the Judicial Palace in 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
On Tuesday, a group affiliated with the SDF advanced towards oil wells in the village of Sahrij in the countryside of the town of Al-Yarubiya, northeast of Al-Hasakah, which led to the outbreak of clashes in the area, according to local sources.
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 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 SDF towards establishing the model of self-administration as a fait accompli in any future political settlement in Syria.