Damascus Governorate in the context of "Rif Dimashq Governorate"

Syria is located in West Asia, north of the Arabian Peninsula, at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Lebanon and Israel to the west and southwest, Iraq to the east, and Jordan to the south. It consists of mountain ranges in the west and a steep area inland. In the east is the Syrian Desert and in the south is the Jabal al-Druze Range. The former is bisected by the Euphrates valley. A dam built in 1973 on the Euphrates created a reservoir named Lake Assad, the largest lake in Syria. The highest point in Syria is Mount Hermon (occupied by Israel) on the Lebanese border at 2,814 metres or 9,232 feet. Between the humid Mediterranean coast and the arid desert regions lies a semiarid steppe zone extending across three-quarters of the country, which receives hot, dry winds blowing across the desert. Syria is extensively depleted, with 28 percent of the land arable, 4 percent dedicated to permanent crops, 46 percent utilized as meadows and pastures, and only 3 percent forest and woodland.

Syria is divided into fourteen governorates, or muhafazat (singular: muhafazah). The governorates are divided into a total of sixty districts, or manatiq (sing. mintaqah), which are further divided into sub-districts, or nawahi (sing. nahiya). The capital Damascus is the second largest city in Syria, and the metropolitan area is a governorate on its own. Aleppo (population 2,301,570) in northern Syria is the largest city. Latakia along with Tartus are Syria's main ports on the Mediterranean Sea.

Administratively, Damascus Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, is divided into 16 municipalities (Arabic: بلدية, romanized: baladiyah). Every municipal district is managed by an elected mayor, which in turn is divided into 95 districts (Arabic: الحي hayy), each headed by a mayor, and they all participate in the election of the Damascus city council. Yarmouk is one whole municipality, and is divided into 6 neighborhoods.

Hama Governorate (Arabic: مُحافظة حماة Muḥāfaẓat Ḥamā) is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria, bordering Idlib and Aleppo Governorates to the north, Raqqa Governorate to the east, Homs Governorate to the south, and Tartus and Latakia Governorate to the west. It is the only Governorate (excluding Damascus) that does not border a foreign country. Measures of its area vary from 8,844 km to 8,883 km, with its capital being the city of Hama, also notably being the only Governorate with no land borders with any foreign countries.

The Southern Operations Room (Arabic: غرفة العمليات الجنوبية, romanized: Ghurfat Aleamaliaat Aljanubia), abbreviated as SOR, and also translated as the Southern Operations Command, is a Syrian rebel coalition consisting of various Syrian opposition groups and defectors that initially operated in the southern provinces of Daraa, Suwayda and Quneitra, though they expanded to Damascus, and Rif Dimashq. The group withdrew from Damascus following HTS' arrival.

The Southern Operations Room publicly declared their formation on 6 December 2024, to coordinate the southern Syria offensive in the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives. The group originated in the Southern Front which previously fought against the Assad regime in an earlier phase of the war. The formation process for what would become the Southern Operations Room began in 2023, with advisers from the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham-led Military Operations Command bringing together the leaders of around 25 opposition factions in southern Syria to coordinate planning for a future military operation.