In 1920 France gained control of Syria under the auspices of a mandate by the League of Nations, a move largely rejected by the general population.

One of those nationalists who was particularly impressed by the actions of al-Atrash's men was Fawzi al-Qawuqji,[2] a veteran soldier from the Ottoman army who fought against the Italian occupation of Libya and later against the Allied forces in Syria.

[3] Together with members of the city's religious establishment, al-Qawuqji formed the Hizb Allah ("Party of God"), an outfit for anti-French activity.

[6] On 4 October, at 7:00 pm, al-Qawuqji commanded the mutiny of his entire cavalry unit and together with irregulars from the nomadic Mawali tribe,[6] his forces numbered in the hundreds.

"[8] The rebels proceeded to occupy the city, cutting off its telephone lines, blocking its main thoroughfares and assaulting the government palace (saray).

[6] In response, French forces commenced a heavy aerial bombardment of the city from sunrise the following morning, 5 October, until the early afternoon.

[8] On 10 October the French newspaper Bulletin de Renseignements proclaimed "... the excellent impression produced by the energetic manner in which order was restored during the events in Ḥamâh.

The prestige of France is vastly increased ..."[11] After withdrawing, al-Qawuqji and his forces regrouped with Ramadan al-Shallash, a rebel leader from Deir ez-Zor, who had just arrived from British-controlled Transjordan.

[14] Following massive aerial and ground bombardment of the city, resulting in thousands of deaths and wide scale destruction, French forces retook Damascus.

The commander of the French garrison in Damascus reportedly "wished the Damascenes would give France a chance of dealing with them as the Hama rebels had been dealt with.