On 6 November, rebel gunmen killed Mohammed Osama Laham, the brother of the Syrian Parliament Speaker, as he drove to work.

[37] On 25 November, rebels seized control of the Marj al-Sultan military airbase in Eastern Ghouta after a battle in which two Syrian Army helicopters were shot down.

[14][40] On 1 December, clashes occurred in Arbin (east of Damascus) and government forces shelled Zabadani, leaving many people wounded, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

[43] On 3 December, the Syrian Army continued firing artillery and using fighter jets against the rebel-held areas near Damascus in order to protect the capital.

[44] On 4 December, Syrian state television claimed that 29 students and a teacher were killed by a "terrorist" mortar attack in the suburbs of Damascus.

[48] A governmental spokesperson stated that the Syrian Army was "driving rebels back from positions in the suburbs and outskirts of Damascus".

A diplomat contacted by Cockburn stated, "In private, FSA commanders admitted that their attacks in Damascus had not gone as planned and they suffered losses, but this does not mean that they will not try again.

[51] On 16 December, Syrian Army jets bombed the Palestinian refugee Yarmouk Camp, for the first time since the uprising began in March 2011.

Activists reported at least two rockets fired and dozens killed as a mosque sheltering refugees from embattled areas of the capital was hit.

[56] On 24 December, rebel fighters ambushed and killed a Military Intelligence Chief in the predominantly Christian and Druze district of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus.

[58] Rebel fighters said that an armoured column was trying to advance into Daraya, but was being held back by resistance from the Free Syrian Army.

[59] On 2 January, up to 70 people were killed in the Damascus suburb of Mleiha after Syrian Army airstrikes hit a petrol station.

[60] On 4 January, Syrian ground and air forces bombarded rebel strongholds on the outskirts of Damascus, as part of the government's continuing offensive.

[68] On 30 January, the Israeli Air Force bombed a convoy in the Jimraya district northwest of Damascus which was alleged to be carrying anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah, according to American officials and regional security sources.

However, SOHR stated that while fighting for the highway continued, government troops regained control of the area after bombing rebel positions the day before.

[74] On 20 February, a SCUD missile fired by government forces hit the Douma command center of the Liwa al-Islam Brigade, which had been spearheading the attack against the roundabout and the Jobar district.

[75] On 27 February, SOHR claimed that rebels had fired several mortar shells which exploded in the military judiciary and literature department of the University of Damascus.

"[77] Daraya bore the brunt of the Army's offensive due to its proximity to the Presidential complex, which the rebels' rockets missed.

Due to the Army's retreat and false information leaked to the media on the state of the military, the rebels attacked even before their official start date for the offensive.