The relatively moderate and Turkish-backed National Front for Liberation (NFL), a coalition of 11 rebel factions, was allowed to remain within the demilitarized zone, but were to withdraw all heavy weapons from it, including tanks, multiple rocket launcher artillery, mortars and more.

[62] This led to HTS and Syrian government elements stationed along the deconfliction line to frequently exchange artillery fire and shelling, undermining any ceasefire terms brokered in the demilitarization deal.

[119][better source needed] On 19 May, the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria reported that rebel groups had conducted 13 attacks on government positions since the start of the ceasefire, leading to 3 injuries among SAA servicemen.

Concurrently, it reported that the Syrian Army had advanced into Kafr Nabudah, but encountered heavy resistance from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters that had entrenched themselves in the northern part of the town.

[150][151][better source needed] Pro-government media stated that Turkish observation posts within the DMZ were used to provide logistical and artillery support to rebel groups, including HTS and TIP.

[159][160] Pro-government air and artillery strikes on various rebel positions in northern Hama and southern Idlib continued with increasing intensity, with the SOHR reporting 26 May to be the heaviest day of airstrikes since the start of the offensive, with twelve civilians killed.

[179][180][181][better source needed] Reports emerged on 3 June that the Syrian Army, spearheaded by the Tiger Forces said it had, by morning, captured the village of Qasabiyeh, which lies to the north of Kafr Nabudah.

[195] By the end of the day, rebel forces were in control over the strategic villages of Jubbayn, Tell Malah and Kafr Houd,[196] cutting off a government supply route in the northwestern Hama countryside.

[208] Syrian state media reported that rebel forces had bombed residential neighbourhoods in the government-held towns of Karnaz and Mahardah with artillery and missiles, causing material damage.

[264] On 27 June, The Rouse the Believers operation room's special forces unit carried out a raid against the Syrian Army, reportedly killing 23 soldiers, however, a government source denied the death toll was as high as the rebels stated.

[273] On 9 July, the jihadist coalition Rouse the Believers launched an attack on some positions of the Syrian army in the Jabal al-Turkman area, northeastern countryside of Latakia, and managed to make some progress.

[285][286] During the evening of 17 July, the Syrian Army launched the second phase of their offensive, after a one-month pause, conducting heavy air-strikes on rebel positions near Sirmaniyah and Kabani on the Zuwayqat Mountain, which overlooks the northern Al-Ghab Plain.

[295][296] The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that by that point over 58,000 air and ground strikes had been carried out by pro-government forces against rebel targets, since the initial start of the offensive.

The government-controlled towns of Masyaf, Tell Salhab, Shathah, Mahardah, Qamhana, as well as Jabel Ramleh airport and camp Jurin were all hit by rebel Grad missiles and heavy artillery.

[376][377] The Syrian Army targeted Jayish al-Izza and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham positions near the rebel-held towns of Kafr Zita, Al-Lataminah, as well as the contested village of al-Zakah with missiles and heavy artillery.

[383] On 4 August, the SOHR reported the fall of several shells launched by the government forces targeting the village Al-Zakat and surroundings of the towns of Murak and Lataminah in the northern countryside of Hama.

[397] At dawn on 9 August, following intense airstrikes, the Syrian Army reportedly attacked rebel forces stationed at the mountain 'fortress' of Kabani, entering into combat with HTS and the Turkistan Islamic Party.

In addition to having a pre-war population of over 10,000 residents, the town is also dubbed "the gateway to Khan Shaykhun", a large opposition stronghold and key control point over the vital M5 highway, which linked Aleppo to Damascus prior to being taken over by rebel forces during the earlier stages of the Syrian Civil War.

Control over the strategic hills surrounding Kabani previously gave rebel forces a major defensive advantage, which they had used to repel multiple past Syrian Army assaults on the town.

[415] On 13–14 August, the Syrian Army captured the villages of Kafr Ein, Umm Zaytuna, Kharbat Murshed, Mintar, Tel A’as and its hill west of the city of Khan Shaykhun, one of the largest rebel strongholds in Idlib.

[422][423] By evening on 14 August, the rebel "Fatah al-Mubin Operations Room" announced that it had shot down a Syrian Air Force Su-22 over the rebel-held town of Al-Tamanah, just east of Khan Shaykhun.

Led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Rouse the Believers, they began their counter-offensive in southern Idlib by pushing the army from the large hilltop of Tal Tari to the town of Sukayk.

However, following a couple hours of intense clashes, the rebels were forced to withdraw from the outskirts of Sukayk after suffering a large number of casualties at the hands of the Syrian Army's 5th Corps and Republican Guard.

[443][444] Later that day, a pro-government airstrike, probably Russian, targeted an IDP camp near Haas in rural southern Idlib, killing 20 people, mainly women and children, according to a 2020 UN report.

[306][307] By late 16 and early 17 August, Ahrar al-Sharqiya and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army sent considerable reinforcements to the frontlines, including a large number of fighters from the Turkish-held regions of Northern Syria.

[464] By noon, it attacked the strategic hilltop of Tell Nimr, which overlooks the key M5 highway, reportedly in a bid to stop Turkey from sending reinforcements or supplies to the embattled city.

[505][506] Finally, on 23 August, Syrian Government forces captured the entire northern Hama pocket, composed of the towns of Morek, Kafr Zita, Al-Lataminah, around ten villages and the archaeological site of Tell Afis.

[523][524] The Syrian army also engaged in fierce fighting with HTS and TIP forces, while attempting to advance on the rebel-held mountain stronghold of Kabani, but was unable to secure any serious territorial gains on that axis.

[535] No military push was observed and the Observatory reported that, aside from a few strikes on rebel forces carried out by government helicopters and artillery, a 'cautious and relative' calm had settled into what was left of the Idlib demilitarized zone.

On 20 November, 16 civilians, including 11 children, were killed and 30 were injured when pro-government surface-to-surface cluster munitions hit an IDP camp at Qah village, near the Turkish border, a probable war crime according to the UN.