Middle East crisis – live: Syria rebel leader vows revenge against Assad henchmen as Israel strikes ports
France joins Arab nations in criticising Israel for exploiting the Syria crisis to capture more territory near the Golan Heights
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Your support makes all the difference.The Syria rebel leader responsible for the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime has vowed that the former president’s henchmen involved in torturing the Syrian people will not be pardoned.
“We will not pardon those who were involved in the torture and liquidation of detainees and were the cause of this,” said Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the commander of rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
“We will pursue them in our country, and we demand that countries hand over to us those of these criminals who fled to them in order to achieve justice against them,” he added.
It comes as Israel continues its bombardment of Syria, as the country looks to build a post-Assad future after selecting Mohammed al-Bashir as caretaker prime minister until March 2025.
Israeli warplanes “continue to destroy what remains of Syria’s military arsenal for the fourth consecutive day”, UK-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
As of Wednesday, over 352 air strikes had been carried out in 13 Syrian provinces. This included attacks on warehouses, airports, and a naval fleet in a port on Latakia.
Israel says it is targeting military infrastructure to prevent it from falling into hostile hands.
Israeli forces seize buffer zone along occupied Golan Heights after Assad’s downfall
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These Syrians watched their town be destroyed in war as Assad kept them away. Now they are vowing to rebuild
Syria doesn’t have to become a jihadi hellhole
Rebels will dissolve regime security forces, leader vows
Syrian rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, has told Reuters he will dissolve the security forces of the toppled regime of Bashar al-Assad.
He also said his group that now rules most of Syria was working with international organisations to secure possible sites where chemical weapons may be located.
Kurds in Syria face an uncertain future
The jihadi rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad say they want to build a unified, inclusive country. But after 14 years of civil war, putting that ideal into practice will not be easy. For Syria‘s Kurdish minority - America’s closest ally in the country - the struggle for a new order is entering a potentially even more challenging phase.
Over the course of Syria‘s civil war, Kurdish fighters have fended off an array of armed factions, partnered with the US to rout the Islamic State group and carved out a largely autonomous region in the country’s oil-rich east. But the gains of the non-Arab Kurds are now at risk. The ascendance of the Sunni Arab rebels who overthrew Assad — with vital help from Turkey, a longtime foe of the Kurds — will make it hard for the Kurds to find a place in the new Syria and could prolong the conflict. The jihadi rebels who rode into Damascus over the weekend have made peaceful overtures to the Kurds. But the rebels violently drove Kurdish fighters out of the eastern city of Deir al-Zour days after government forces abandoned it. To the north, a separate opposition faction backed by Turkey that has been battling the Kurds for years seized the town of Manbij. And Turkey carried out airstrikes on a Kurdish convoy it said was carrying heavy weapons looted from government arsenals. The Kurds have long counted on US aid in the face of such challenges.
Around 900 American troops are in eastern Syria, where they partner with Kurdish forces to prevent an Islamic State resurgence.
But the future of that mission will be thrown into doubt under president-elect Donald Trump, who has long been skeptical about US involvement in Syria.
What does fall of Assad in Syria mean for the Middle East and the West?
For over half a century, one family ruled Syria. Yet nearly overnight, as rebels advanced through the country and ultimately reached the capital, Damascus, that brutal reign came to an end.
After 13 years of civil war under the iron-fisted rule of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, there is now hope for millions of Syrians who endured a campaign of barrel bombs, forced disappearances and torture.
But many questions remain as party lines shift and alliances in the region undergo dramatic changes.
How will the fall of the Assad regime reshape geopolitical dynamics worldwide, and what does it mean for key political players?
Safeguarding Russian bases and diplomats in Syria paramount: Kremlin
The Kremlin says ensuring the security of Russia’s military bases and diplomatic missions in Syria is of paramount importance.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was maintaining contacts with those in charge in Syria and that it was hopeful stability would be achieved.
Russia, whose airforce carried out strikes against advancing Syrian rebels earlier this month, before Bashar al-Assad’s regime was toppled, has a key air base in Latakia province and a naval facility at Tartous, its only Mediterranean repair and replenishment.
The Kremlin also took aim at Israel’s strikes against the Golan Heights region, in the border area abbutting Israel and Lebanon, after Israeli forces moved into the territory to prevent militant groups from occupying regions along the border which could be used to launch offensives into its territory.
Russia said Israel’s actions on the front were unlikely to contribute to Syria’s stabilisation.
How Russian agents persuaded Assad to flee his failed regime
Earlier, it was revealed Russian intelligence agents persuaded Bashar al-Assad to flee Syria with Moscow having become convinced that he would lose against the insurgents rapidly advancing on Damascus.
Sources have told Bloomberg Moscow offered Mr Assad a safe exit if he left the country immediately as the rebel forces led by former al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS) approached, leading to the toppling of 50 years of rule by the Assad family.
According to a report by Bloomberg, citing three people with knowledge of the situation, Russian agents flew Mr Assad out via a Russian airbase in Syria, with the aircraft’s transponder turned off to avoid being tracked.
The new details follow confirmation by Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, that the Syrian dictator had been whisked out of the country “in the most secure way possible”.
“He is secured, and it shows that Russia acts as required in such an extraordinary situation,” he said during an interview with US television network NBC.
Who is Mohammed al-Bashir, Syria’s new interim PM?
After more than half a century of the Assad family ruling over Syria, a little-known local politician has been named as the country’s interim leader and tasked with ushering in a stable government.
Three days on from rebels completing a sweeping offensive forcing Bashar Al-Assad, who succeeded his father as ruler, out of Syria and out of office, the country is looking to ensure a peaceful transition of power.
Mohammed al-Bashir, a politician who has been governing the rebel-controlled province of Idlib in northwest Syria, from which the offensive began, from January this year, has been made responsible for that transition.
In a brief address on state television on Tuesday, he announced that representatives of the rebels and the ousted government had agreed for him to act as caretaker until 1 March.
Rights group says Syrian refugees should not be forcefullly sent back
As debate swirls over what to do with millions of displaced Syrian refugees seeking asylum in Western nations, Human Rights Watch said earlier today no government should send Syrian refugees back forcefully.
The statement comes after several European nations, including the UK and Germany, this week announced plans to pause asylum applications for Syrian citizens.
“Every citizen has the right to return to their home country, safe or not. But because one refugee chooses to repatriate is no justification to forcibly return another who remains fearful, as many Syrian refugees do, especially given the country’s unstable and possibly dangerous conditions,” the group said.
“This approach carries real risks, especially given how keen some European states are to declare Syria safe and begin returns,” it said, adding that Syria remains “inherently volatile”.
Lib Dems urge Starmer to take lead on Syria
Staying with the local political commentary on Syria, Lib Dems leader Ed Davey urged the government to take a lead role in ensuring the stability of Syria if the US wouldn’t do so.
Speaking during PMQs earlier, Sir Ed said he was worried many people around the world were worried at what would come next to fill the vacuum left by the Assad regime.
“Only an open political process can bring peace and stability, but that will require the full backing of the international community,” he told the House of Commons.
“Does the Prime Minister share my concern that President-elect Trump said about Syria, and I quote, ‘The United States should have nothing to do with it’?” he asked.
“If America walks away… will he step up and work with other allies to provide British leadership over Syria?”
In response, Keir Starmer said Sir Ed was right to categorise the fall of the Assad regime as a serious moment.
“We all welcome the fall of Assad, I hope this can be a turning point for Syria, a much-needed turning point, but that is by no means guaranteed and that is why we have been speaking intently and intensely with allies in the region, across the globe, about how we ensure that this is peaceful, it is political and it is a rejection of terrorism and violence,” the prime minister said.
Opposition asks whether Syrian refugees in Britain should return home
The fate of Syrian asylum seekers in the UK has been a topic of debate in the House of Commons today.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp asked his Labour counterpart Yvette Cooper whether people who fled the Assad regime in recent years should return home “once safe”.
“Will the Home Secretary agree that given most, if not all, of these asylum claims are predicated on the threat posed to the individual by former president Assad, now that threat has gone and the basis for the asylum claim has gone, it would be reasonable to ask those Syrians claiming asylum on that basis, or recently granted asylum on that basis, to return once safe?” he asked.
Ms Cooper appeared, at least in part, to agree, saying many claims had been made for asylum against the Assad regime.
“It would therefore not be appropriate to be granting asylum decisions on those cases in the current circumstances,” she said.
Badenoch urges Starmer to strip Assad backers of citizenship
Conservatives leader Kemi Badenoch has urged Keir Starmer to remove UK citizenship from any “jihadi terrorists and supporters of Assad” who want to return from Syria.
Ms Badenoch used PMQs this afternoon to claim the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime could increase small boat arrivals to the UK, as she also attacked Prime Minister Sir Keir’s record on immigration.
Sir Keir opened PMQs by welcoming the fall of the Assad regime, telling MPs: “The people of Syria suffered for far too long under his brutal regime.
“What comes next is far from certain. We’ve been talking to regional and global allies to ensure that it is a political solution which protects civilians and minorities, and absolutely rejects terrorism and violence,” he said.
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