The Southern Operations Room (Arabic: غرفة العمليات الجنوبية, romanized: Ghurfat Aleamaliaat Aljanubia), abbreviated as SOR, is a Syrian rebel coalition consisting of various Syrian opposition groups and defectors that originally operated in the southern provinces of Daraa, Suwayda and Quneitra, though they expanded to Damascus, and Rif Dimashq (having withdrawn from Damascus before HTS arrived).

[5] The Southern Operations Room was announced on 6 December 2024 and was declared to consist of groups called the 8th Brigade, and the Central Committee alongside other organizations that were based in the Suwayda and Quneitra Governorates.

Their mandate was centered on two main goals: addressing community needs by guaranteeing stability and protection for Syrian citizens, and formalizing the Russian-sponsored reconciliation agreement into an accepted document.

[7] In the official statement made by the SOR command, the group pledged to maintain security and stability while controlling the southern regions of Syria.

[16][17] SOR claimed to have taken full control of the Daraa District and have started combing through its neighbourhoods and securing its institutions and government offices.

[22] They were supposed to wait until Homs fell so that the two rebel coalitions could approach Damascus at the same time, but the fighters started the offensive earlier out of excitement and energy.

[15] Officials from numerous countries, who met on 7 December in Qatar, anticipated that the offensive would stop in Homs and would be followed by negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland.

[26] Nasim Abu Ara withdrew SOR forces on 8 December to Daraa to avoid "chaos or armed clashes" with HTS.

[27] Colonel Nassim Abu Ara, the military spokesperson and commander of SOR, attributed the swift collapse of Syrian Arab Armed Forces to “the expansion of points of engagement and attacks from several areas in Daraa province, quickly taking control of many military positions and checkpoints”, which, he stated, caused “a collapse in morale”.

[citation needed] On 11 December, al-Sharaa met with the leaders of the Southern Operations Room to discuss military and civilian affairs coordination.

Prior to joining the rebels at the start of the Syrian civil war, Abu Ara served as an officer in Assad's army.