Iktifaa: the land of displaced families in Hama, and the officials around it

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When opposition forces advanced on northern Hama in late 2024, residents of many predominantly Alawite villages fled; nearly a year and a half later, many still could not return. 1 2 Investigations by ARIJ and Middle East Eye and a report by Syrians for Truth and Justice describe how their farmland came to be administered by Iktifaa, an agricultural investment company founded in Idlib, whose former director-general, Basel Sweidan, also headed the committee whose clearance owners need to recover their land, and is now Minister of Agriculture. 1 3 2 4

What the investigations found

Supported by independent sources

  • ARIJ interviewed 12 displaced people from northern Hama, obtained contracts and recordings and analysed satellite imagery: agricultural use of the land around al-Mubattan fell from about 86.5 percent in 2024 to 22.3 percent in 2025. 1
  • Displaced owners describe being pressed to sign “direct investment” contracts that give the investor 60 percent of the yield and the owner 40 percent, as the only way to protect their trees; some were offered prices far below market value, and trees on land whose owners refused to sell were felled by unknown people. 1
  • According to a farmer who benefited and a video obtained by ARIJ, land in al-Zaghba was distributed by “Sheikh Abu al-Baraa”, whom ARIJ identifies as Munthir al-Zouhouri, listed on Iktifaa’s own page as manager of its Hama branch. 1
  • Syrians for Truth and Justice describes owners being classified as “absent” or “wanted for security reasons”, land offered through public auctions that require a security clearance displaced people cannot obtain, and adhesion contracts proposed by the company; it concludes that these practices are serious violations of international and domestic law. 2
  • Middle East Eye describes Iktifaa as a powerful state company operating in all provinces except Hasakeh and Sweida, and reports that it has begun handing documents to absentee owners cleared by the Illicit Gains Committee. 3

According to testimony

A displaced farmer told ARIJ that a delegation from his village was turned back at checkpoints when it tried to return; another said that two days after refusing to sell, he received photos of his trees cut down. Testimonies collected by Syrians for Truth and Justice include a death threat against a farmer who planned to return. 1 2

The role of the authorities in Hama

Supported by independent sources

In June 2025 the governor of Hama, Abdul Rahman al-Sahyan, a former senior HTS figure known as Abu Firas al-Hamawi, told a delegation of displaced people that they needed to sign investment contracts to protect their land and crops. 1

The officials connected to Iktifaa

Supported by independent sources

  • Basel Sweidan was director-general of Iktifaa from October 2024 until 18 February 2026; from May 2025 he also headed the National Committee to Combat Illicit Gain and worked in the Ministry of Agriculture, which he has led since May 2026. 4
  • According to Middle East Eye, the Illicit Gains Committee is overseen by Abraham Succarieh. 3
  • Before 2024, Sweidan was director-general of the Money and Consumer Protection Authority in Idlib, a body headed by Mohammed Omar Qadid. 4
  • ARIJ found that Iktifaa, Gheras and Al-Khadra are linked to the same international phone number, and that Iktifaa is linked to the Sovereign Fund’s agricultural sector, which Sweidan headed. 1 4

Responses

Munthir al-Zouhouri, replying to ARIJ, described the displaced people’s testimonies as “false” and invited the reporters to his office; he did not answer further questions. 1 Basel Sweidan told Zaman al-Wasl in February 2026 that Iktifaa is an investment arm of the government and that he received only one salary, and announced shortly afterwards that he had left the company. 4 A farmer in Morek told ARIJ that tree-felling was an angry reaction by families of Sunni victims and that the state had taken control of the land to protect it. 1

What this does and does not establish

The reports document coercive conditions around the land of displaced families, and one official holding at the same time the management of the company that administered that land and the leadership of the committee whose clearance owners need to recover it. No court, inquiry or audit has found that Sweidan or any other official personally profited or ordered abuses, and we do not make that claim. 1 2 3 4

Profile: Basel Sweidan · Iktifaa · Evictions of Alawite families

People in this article

Sources

  1. Press A Forced Reality: Influential Investors Press Displaced Syrians Over Land Deals — ARIJ (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism) — Saleh Ibrahim, September 16, 2026
  2. Human-rights organisation Syria/Rural Hama: Forced Displacement and Unlawful Seizure of Property against Alawites following the Fall of al-Assad — Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ), February 9, 2026
  3. Press Syria’s government begins to return Alawi lands, while maintaining its hold over others — Middle East Eye — Natacha Danon, June 1, 2026
  4. Archive Profile: Basel Sweidan (Minister of Agriculture; Iktifaa; illicit gain committee) — The Syrian Memory (الذاكرة السورية)