Syrian rebels
Syrian rebelsReuters/Emin Sansar/Anadolu

The military leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group controlling parts of Syria, announced on Tuesday that they would be "the first" to disband their armed wing and merge with the Syrian national forces.

"In any state, all military units must be integrated into this institution," said Murhaf Abu Qasra, known by his nom de guerre Abu Hassan al-Hamawi, in an interview with AFP.

He added, "We will be, God willing, among the first to take the initiative (to dissolve our armed wing)."

Abu Qasra also discussed the integration of Kurdish-held territories, rejecting the idea of federalism. "The Kurdish people are one of the components of the Syrian people... Syria will not be divided and there will be no federal entities," he stated.

Turning to international issues, Abu Qasra condemned Israeli military actions and called for global intervention.

"We view the Israeli strikes on military sites and the incursion into southern Syria as unjust... we call on the international community to find a solution to this matter," he told AFP.

Israel has conducted numerous strikes on Syrian military targets, in order to prevent these assets from being used by hostile forces. Additionally, Israel has moved troops into the UN-managed buffer zone on the Golan Heights.

Abu Qasra also appealed for the removal of the "terrorist" label from HTS and its leader Abu Mohammed al-Julani, now known by his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa.

"We call on the United States and all countries to lift this designation... on his person and the whole group," he told AFP, describing the label as "unjust" and affirming that the group "will ultimately be integrated into state institutions."

HTS was once a part of Al-Nusra Front, which is Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch. HTS is labeled a terrorist organization by many Western governments.

HTS later broke off from Al-Nusra Front and prioritized combatting Al-Qaeda as well as the Islamic State (ISIS), of which Julani was critical, describing its self-proclaimed caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq as "illegitimate".

Earlier this week, Julani met with UN envoy Geir Pedersen. A statement by the rebels said the two discussed "the changes that have occurred on the political scene which make it necessary to update" a 2015 United Nations Security Council resolution "to suit the new reality".

The 2015 UN Security Council Resolution 2254, referenced by the rebel statement, outlined a roadmap for a political settlement in Syria and also included the designation of the Al-Nusra Front as a "terrorist" group.

Julani’s meeting with the UN envoy came a day after Julani said that the new Syrian regime will operate according to Sharia Law.

Speaking in Damascus, Julani said that the regime's morality police will operate under the Minister of Internal Affairs and be under the supervision of religious clerics and mullahs.

The morality police's job will be to ensure that the public implements Sharia Law, and in doing so, it will prioritize the path of "dawah," proselytization and education, instead of operating through force.