In July 2013, the battle's final phase erupted and ended when an alliance of YPG-led troops (including Syrian government loyalists) completely expelled the rebels from Ras al-Ayn.

After months of increasing tensions, numerous rebel units of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), along with allied jihadist forces of the al-Nusra Front and Ghuraba al-Sham, began an attack on Ras al-Ayn on 8 November 2012.

At the time, the town was still mostly under Syrian Army control, though the Kurdish-majority Democratic Union Party (PYD) and their militia People's Protection Units (YPG) had also established a presence in Ras al-Ayn.

[25] According to Turkish journalist Mehmet Aksakal, the clashes possibly were the result of growing dissatisfaction between the Kurdish National Council (KNC) and PYD.

[28] On 10 November, militiamen of the YPG, aided by local Kurds, stormed the last government security and administrative stations in the towns of al-Darbasiyah (Kurdish: Dirbêsî) and Tel Tamer.

[33] On 15 November, the rebels declared that they had taken full control of Ras al-Ayn, capturing or killing the last remaining Syrian Army soldiers stationed there.

[28] On 19 November, the jihadists,[28] and the FSA launched an assault on a YPG checkpoint in Ras al-Ayn[35] that initially left six rebels dead.

[40] The same day, members of the al-Nusra Front and Ghuraba al-Sham opened fire on a YPG checkpoint, sparking clashes that killed dozens of people, including at least three rebel leaders.

Both the Kurdish National Council and top FSA commander General Riad al-Asaad condemned the clashes, with the KNC calling the presence of rebel fighters in the town "pointless and unjustifiable", and al-Asaad attributing the violence to "some groups trying to exploit the situation in order to blow up relations between Kurds and Arabs" while expressly denying any FSA affiliation with Ghuraba al-Sham.

The next day, however, a tenuous two-day ceasefire was announced between Kurdish fighters and the al-Nusra Front and Ghuraba al Sham in order to determine terms of a possible permanent agreement between the two sides.

[45] Under the terms of the ceasefire, both sides were to withdraw from the city, share checkpoints surrounding it, and transfer its administration to local civilian Kurds, Arabs, Chechens, and Christians.

In addition to organising their military command structure, the PYD members at the meeting stressed "the unity of the struggle of the Syrian people" and the importance of having good relations with the Arab opposition.

[49] Rebel leader Nawaf Ragheb al-Bashir accused the YPG of breaking the ceasefire by opening fire on and killing 15 of its fighters.

When relatives and el-Partî members sought to bring the body to a coroner's office in al-Darbasiyah, they were refused passage at a YPG checkpoint.

[60] In early February, talks began to attempt to establish a second ceasefire between Arab rebels and the YPG, temporarily halting fighting.

Members of the Kurdish Supreme Council met with delegates from the Arab opposition to discuss the terms of the agreement, which was planned to be applicable to the entirety of Syrian Kurdistan and not just Ras al-Ayn.

The FSA-affiliated Revolutionary Military Council in Hasakah Province demanded that the town and border crossing be handed over to the sole political control of the SNC, that FSA-affiliated fighters be the only force exercising military control in the town, that the PYD submit to the SNC as the sole legitimate governing force in the region, and that the display of Kurdish flags in Hasakah Province be prohibited.

[62] On 19 February, a new agreement was announced between Arab rebels, including FSA groups, and YPG fighters in Ras al-Ayn following a weeklong truce.

"[11] Three days after the agreement was signed, FSA commander-in-chief Salim Idris rejected it, citing the PYD's connections to the PKK and Iraqi and Iranian Kurdish groups in his decision.

Analysts believed that the repudiation was designed to placate Turkey, who had been actively supporting Arab rebels fighting the Kurds in Ras al-Ayn.

[65] The third phase of the battle erupted when al-Nusra militants surrounded a unit of female YPJ fighters near Ras al-Ayn on 16 July, and arrested the group's driver.

[28] Seeing a chance to take revenge on the insurgents, about 200 fighters of the Abu Jabal Brigade (an Arab government loyalist unit) joined the Kurds in their attack.

Second, it would secure a vital supply line from Turkey that could potentially enable Arab rebels to seize control over greater parts of Syria's east, including the city of Hasakah itself.