A deal to allow rebels to leave three towns in Syria is likely to change the scene in southwestern parts of the country. The newly recaptured towns give the Syrian army an advantage in future operations to retake the rest of Qunaitera Province along the border with Israel, an area controlled mostly by rebels. Our correspondent Alaa Ebrahim has the details.

Here in Muger Al-Meir, one of three towns the Syrian army retook on Friday after 90 days of launching an offensive, the intensity of the battle is visible everywhere. The biggest of the three towns is Beit Jinn then Mazara't Beit Jinn and Muger Al-Meir. Along with their hills, the towns give the army a clear military advantage if they decide to move against rebels in the rest of Qunaitera Province.

GENERAL ABDUL GHANI SYRIAN ARMY "This new victory will allow us to press ahead more and move towards retaking all of the province."

Civilians forced out of their houses since rebels took this town in 2014 are returning for the first time. Most of their houses are destroyed, like in the case of Gayda Hamed. Gayda is one of the 700 residents of the town -- all belonging to the Muslim minority known as Druze. During the Syrian conflict, the Druze have become the target of sectarian violence. Militants from Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate captured the town and forced the population out.

GAYDA HAMED CIVILIAN DISPLACED FROM MUGER AL-MEIR "Terrorists attacked the town three times in 2013 and 2014 before they took it on April 5th, 2014. Before they attacked, they sent their families in to seek shelter away from the fighting. We took them in and this is how they repaid us. My house is completely ruined, but I am happy returning here for the first time in 3 years."

The fighting ended with a deal to allow rebel fighters a safe way out in exchange for the surrendering of towns along with their heavy weapons. Buses will carry some of the militants to Edlib in the north of the country and others to Dara'a in the south.

ALAA EBRAHIM BEIT JINN, SYRIA "In the buses you see behind me 300 rebel fighters and their families will be leaving the town of Beit Jinn and other smaller villages around it. Ending all rebel presence west of the Syrian capital Damascus. "

Beit Jinn was one of the first towns in Syria to fall out of government control back in 2012 and since then it was considered the main stronghold for insurgents in the western countryside of Damascus and all the way to the neighboring Qunaitera province.

Twelve hours after the initial deal the buses were still not moving. Mediators told CGTN that the rebels want to take their heavy weapons with them and are refusing to disclose the location of soldiers killed in recent clashes. Two hours later the first bus started moving, carrying militants from Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham- heading towards Edlib, where the radical group controls most of the province. With their departure ends a chapter of the war south of Syria and prepares for another in the north. Alaa Ebrahim - CGTN - Beit Jinn.