[12] HTS engaged in fighting against rival armed groups in the region, such as Ahrar al-Sham, the Syrian National Army and the local affiliate of the Islamic State, Liwa al-Aqsa.

[17] At its conclusion on 11 September 2017, the Conference formed a constituent body named the General Shura Council, headed by president Bassam al-Sahyouni,[18] and appointed a prime minister.

[6] On 6 January 2018, the SSG seized control of the SIG-run Free Aleppo University and closed several faculties in al-Dana and Sarmada, north of Idlib, where almost 4,000 students studied.

[24] On 18 August 2018, the Founding Body instructed Fawaz Hilal to form a new government with the deputy prime minister, Mohammed Jamal Shahoud, leading in the interim.

[29][30] After residents of Kafr Takharim refused to pay a new tax on olive oil and expelled SSG officials, HTS besieged and bombed the town, killing 5.

[31] Hilal and his cabinet resigned shortly afterwards, leading to the Shura Council asking Ali Keda, Deputy Minister of the Interior for Administrative Affairs and Public Relations, to form a new government.

Measures taken by the SSG to prevent the spread of COVID-19 included suspending Friday prayers, shutting down schools and markets and opening quarantine centres in Jisr al-Shughur, Sarmada and Kafr Karmin.

However, these efforts were undermined by hardliners from HTS and al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, Hurras al-Din, that continued to pray and hold sermons in mosques without social distancing.

[18] In May 2020, rapid depreciation of the Syrian pound triggered by the US Government's Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act prompted the SSG to replace it with the Turkish lira in its administered territories.

[38] In May 2023, Rojava and SSG announced separate proposals to host millions of Syrian refugees stranded across the neighboring countries, following Arab League's readmission of the Assad government.

The talks also involved negotiations on political arrangements, such as the prospects for a joint SSG-Rojava civil administration in the event of potential expulsion of SNA forces from northern Syria.

[44] In March 2024, the Ministry of Interior said it would form a three-judge panel 'security court' for the families of detainees following demonstrations in Idlib due to the death of military personnel in prison and dissatisfaction at HTS influence.

The committee prepared tents for new IDPs displaced by bombing, coordinated the transfer of 100,000 loaves of bread from Idlib's bakeries to Aleppo city, and dispatched rubble removal and street cleaning teams.

[13] By December 3, the SSG had opened several government institutions in Aleppo city, began garbage collection, and restarted water and electricity services,[46] it had also resumed traffic control duties and according to Reuters, "internet coverage has improved as a rebel-linked telecoms network (Syria Phone) has expanded its reach".

[11] Many of its positions are occupied by members of the educated urban elite attempting to regain influence after the end of direct governance by armed opposition groups, particularly businessmen and conservative revolutionary activists.

[49][7] While no country recognizes the SSG as a sovereign state or a legitimate government of Syria, its Department of Political Affairs (DPA) conducts diplomatic outreach.

It issued a similar statement directed to Iraq, amid rumours that Iraqi militias were planning to enter Syria to fight alongside government forces.

The poor level of infrastructure in the region was further degraded by the civil war, which destroyed oil production facilities, power plants and agricultural silos.

[15] Through its Local Product Protection Department, the SSG's Ministry of Industry has adopted a protectionist policy of imposing tariffs on imports that compete with domestically produced goods.

[59] The Turkish lira crisis raised the cost of imports, leading to increased unemployment, inflation and commodity prices,[60] and severely affecting economic activity.

[65] Both drought and groundwater depletion, exacerbated by illegal drilling and an influx of internally displaced persons into the region, have led to increasing production costs.

[65] In 2023, the ministry produced and distributed 4,600 kilograms of cottonseed to farmers in an attempt to restart cotton cultivation in the region, which fell into decline after the reduction of government subsidies in 2007, and increase female employment.

[67] In search of higher profits, farmers increasingly plant crops not traditionally cultivated in the region, including saffron, strawberries, bananas, broccoli and Damask roses, but such enterprises remain small and experimental.

[70] The Green Energy Company maintains an effective monopoly on the supply of electricity and has been accused by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights of unduly raising prices.

[11] The SSG has institutionalised religious structures and has reasserted the role of the Shafi'i madhhab of Islamic jurisprudence, the predominant legal school followed in Idlib, in an effort to marginalise Salafi-jihadi hardliners.

[79][11] It allows politically neutral traditional religious institutes which teach the competing Ash'ari school of aqidah to operate,[11] including those run by the Muslim Brotherhood and Tablighi Jamaat.

[10]: 27 In December 2024, the SSG's Department for Political Affairs issued a communique addressed to Syria's Alawites, stating that the Assad government had exploited the sect for its survival and had consequently caused "deep societal wounds".

It further stated that the "Syrian revolution is a call for freedom, dignity and justice for all under the roof of Syria", and that while it may be "challenging", "wise individuals" from the Alawite sect could lead it to a "just and inclusive future".

These include approximately 950 schools directly operated by the ministry and employing nearly 12,500 staff members, in addition to the private education system authorized by the SSG.

The curriculum is a continuation of the pre-2011 Syrian syllabus developed in partnership with UNICEF, with the exception of texts related to the Assad regime or deemed as contradicting the Sharia as per its education ministry guidelines.