The evacuation of four Syrian towns that have been besieged since 2015 began on April 4 in a sectarian fashion. While civilians and opposition fighters will leave the towns of Madaya and Zabadani near Damascus, residents of al-Foua and Kefraya, two government-held towns located in the province of Idlib, will be given safe passage. The Sunnis will be transported to rebel-held Idlib and the Turkish-controlled town of Jarablus in the north, while the Shiites will be taken to the government-controlled areas of Damascus. The evacuation is scheduled to last 60 days. To make it possible, a truce will take effect in the areas south of Damascus and in several parts of Idlib province. The cease-fire will allow aid to be delivered. In addition, the deal will also see the Syrian government release 1,500 prisoners.

At first glance, the evacuation seems like a logical and expedient step in the way events have been unfolding. Opposition fighters and their families have recently been taken from the city of al-Waer in Homs province to Jarablus. The current deal, however, was different. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other sources reported that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) plus Hezbollah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reached this agreement on March 28 with mediation from two external players, Iran and Qatar. 

Doha played an unusual role as an intermediary in the new deal. At least several sources confirmed to Al-Monitor that on March 26, Hussam al-ShafiI (also known as Zaid al-Attar), spokesman for Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and political chief of HTS, visited Qatar to strike the deal.

Given the still-relevant Astana process, the deal may have looked suspicious to Moscow because the Syrian conflict was discussed without Turkey or Russia. Theoretically speaking, Russian and Turkish authorities should find it alarming, as the talks were unexpectedly held elsewhere rather than at the traditional venue of Istanbul or Ankara.