Daraa Governorate in the context of "Southern Syria offensive (2024)"

Rif Dimashq Governorate (Arabic: محافظة ريف دمشق, romanized: Moḥaafaẓat Reef Demashq, lit. "Damascus Countryside" or "Damascus Suburbs") is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the country. It borders the governorates of Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda in the southwest, Homs in the north, Lebanon in the west and Jordan in the south. The capital is the city of Douma.

The Governorate completely surrounds the city and governorate of Damascus and it has an area of 18,032 km² and a population of 2,273,074 (2004 census).

Bosra (Arabic: بُصْرَىٰ, romanized: Buṣrā), formerly Bostra (Greek: Βόστρα) and officially called Busra al-Sham (Arabic: بُصْرَىٰ ٱلشَّام, romanized: Buṣrā al-Shām), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Daraa District of the Daraa Governorate and geographically part of the Hauran region.

Bosra is an ancient city mentioned in 14th century BC Egyptian sources. A key Nabatean city, it became the prosperous provincial capital of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea following the dissolution of the Nabatean kingdom. With the advent of Christianity Bostra flourished as a Metropolitan Archbishopric under the jurisdiction of Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. It also became a Latin Catholic titular see and the episcopal see of a Melkite Catholic Archeparchy.

Daraa (Arabic: دَرْعَا, romanized: Darʿā, Levantine Arabic: [ˈdarʕa]) is a city in southwestern Syria, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located 90 kilometres (56 mi) south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way station for travelers. Nearby localities include Umm al-Mayazen and Nasib to the southeast, al-Naimah to the east, Ataman to the north, al-Yaduda to the northwest and Ramtha, Jordan, to the southwest.

According to the Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics, Daraa had a population of 97,969 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of a nahiya (subdistrict) which contained eight localities with a collective population of 146,481 in 2004. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.

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.

Sweida (Arabic: ٱلسُّوَيْدَاء, romanized: as-Suwaydāʾ), also known as Suwayda, is a mainly Druze city located in southern Syria, close to the border with Jordan, with small Christian and Sunni Muslim Bedouin minorities.

It is the capital of Suwayda Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, bordering Jordan in the South, Daraa Governorate in the West and Rif Dimashq Governorate in the north and east.

Quneitra Governorate is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in southern Syria, notable for the location of the Golan Heights. The governorate borders the countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Israel, and the Syrian governorates of Daraa and Rif Dimashq. Its area varies, according to different sources, from 685 km to 1,861 km. The governorate had a population of 87,000 at the 2010 estimate. The nominal capital is the now abandoned city of Quneitra, destroyed by Israel before their withdrawal in June 1974 in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War; since 1986, the de facto capital is Madinat al-Salam.

During the Syrian Civil War, most of the portions of the governorate that are not held by Israel were taken by various opposition and Jihadist forces. In the summer of 2018, the rebel-held areas in the governorate were retaken by the Syrian government.

Suwayda or As-Suwayda Governorate (Arabic: مُحافظة السويداء, romanized: Muḥāfaẓat as-Suwaydā’); officially Sweida Governorate; is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is the country's southernmost governorate, covering an area of 5,550 km, and is bordered by Daraa governorate in the west Rif Dimashq governorate in the north and northeast, and the country of Jordan in the south and southeast. The capital and largest city of the governorate is Suwayda.

Geographically the governorate comprises almost all of Jabal al-Druze, the eastern part of Lajat, and a part of the arid eastern steppe of Harrat al-Sham. Both Suwayda and Daraa governorates are part of the historic Hauran region.

Daraa District (Arabic: منطقة درعا) is a district (mantiqah) administratively belonging to Daraa Governorate, Syria. At the 2004 Census it had a population of 428,681. Its administrative centre is the city of Daraa.