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.
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‘We have no one here’: Syrian refugees return home from Turkey
Syrians lined up at the Turkish border on Wednesday to head home after rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad, speaking of their expectations for a better life following what was for many a decade of hardship in Turkey.
“We have no one here. We are going back to Latakia, where we have family,” said Mustafa, who only gave one name, as he prepared to enter Syria with his wife and three sons at the Cilvegozu border gate in southern Turkey.
Around 350 to 400 Syrians were already crossing back to rebel-held areas of Syria eah day this year before the opposition rebellion began two weeks ago. The numbers have almost doubled since.
Mustafa said he fled Syria in 2012, a year after the conflict there began, to escape conscription into Assad’s army. For years he did unregistered jobs in Turkey earning less than the minimum wage, he said.
“Now there’s a better Syria. God willing, we will have a better life there,” he said, expressing confidence in the new leadership in Syria as he watched over the family’s belongings, clothes packed into sacks and a television set.
Turkey, which hosts three million Syrians, has extended the opening hours of the Cilvegozu border gate near the Syrian city of Aleppo seized by rebels at the end of November.
Turkey has backed Syrian opposition forces for years but has said it had no involvement in the rebel offensive which succeeded at the weekend in unseating Assad after 13 years of civil war.
GCHQ head says too early to judge what’s happening in Syria
Anne Keast-Butler, the head of the UK’s intelligence agency GCHQ earlier told BBC Breakfast it was too early to judge the situation in Syria.
“That’s why we need to really monitor the situation, understand intent and direction, and make sure we can inform policy makers and other decision makers,” she said this morning.
Her comments follow a decision by the Home Office to pause decisions on Syrian asylum claims, and incendiary comments by foreign secretary David Lammy that Bashar al-Assad was the “rat of Damascus, fleeing to Moscow with his tail between his legs”.
European nations pause Syrian asylum claims
The Independent yesterday reported the UK paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims due to the uncertainty following the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Millions of Syrians fled the country after the outbreak of civil war and the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on opponents.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Office has paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims whilst we assess the current situation. We keep all country guidance relating to asylum claims under constant review so we can respond to emerging issues.”
The UK is not the only nation to do so, however. Here is what European countries have done:
Austria: Austria’s caretaker government on Monday ordered a stop to the processing of asylum applications by Syrians. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told the ministry to prepare a programme of “orderly repatriation and deportation to Syria“.
Belgium: The Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons said on Monday it would temporarily suspend processing cases until it has sufficient information to assess the security situation in Syria and the risk of persecution.
Croatia: Croatia said on Tuesday it had temporarily suspended asylum applications from Syrians.
Denmark: Denmark paused processing applications on Monday and said Syrians whose applications had already been rejected, and who had been given a deadline to leave, would be allowed to remain longer due to the current uncertainty.
France: The interior ministry said on Monday it was working on a suspension of current asylum cases from Syria, with a decision expected shortly.
Germany: The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees on Monday put all applications from Syrian nationals on hold until further notice.
Netherlands: The Netherlands will withhold for six months decisions on applications it received less than 21 months ago, Asylum and Migration Minister Marjolein Faber said in a note on Monday.
Qatar to reopen embassy in Syria
Qatar says it will reopen its embassy in Syria, allowing it to boost the flow of humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged country.
In a statement published on social media platform X, the Qatari foreign ministry said the reopening of the diplomatic presence in Syria signified “Qatar’s steadfast support for the brotherly Syrian people, who are striving to build their state on the foundations of justice, peace, stability and prosperity.”
New details of Assad escape emerge
Russian intelligence agents organised the swift escape of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad after convincing him he would lose to encroaching rebel forces.
News agency Bloomberg reports Russia offered Assad a safe exit if he left the country immediately, in fresh detail of the escape attributed to multiple, unnamed sources with knowledge of the dramatic events.
Russia has now issued several warnings over the instability in the country after Syrian miltant group HTS led the insurrection against Damascus that led to the Assad regime’s toppling 13 years after the beginning of the civil war.
Russia warns danger Islamic State will rise again
Russia has warned the overthrow of the Assad regime means there is a real danger Islamic State will raise its head again.
Russia’s foreign ministry issued the warning on Wednesday while cautioning other nations to refrain from provocative language that could prolong instability in Syria as a new interim government backed by rebel forces takes hold.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Russian facilities and assets in Syria were protected by conventions of international law.
Russia has a major air base in Latakia province and a naval facility at Tartous, its only Mediterranean repair and replenishment hub.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier Russia was in contact with those in charge in Syria and that it was hopeful stability would be achieved, playing down the damage done to Russian influence in the region.
Iran warned Assad over threats in recent months, ayatollah claims
Iranian intelligence had warned the Syrian government about threats to its stability over the last three months, Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported the ayatollah’s comments on Wednesday, adding that Damascus had “neglected the enemy” ahead of Bashar al-Assad fleeing the country as his regime fell to rebel insurgents.
Ayatollah Khamenei earlier condemned the events of the weekend as the result of a US and Israeli plot to overthrow the Syrian dictactorship, which was backed by Iran and Russia.
He labelled the rebellion a “joint American-Zionist plot” carried out by militant group HTS.
Kremlin plays down fallout from Assad toppling
The Kremlin has played down the damage to Russian influence in the Middle East from the fall of Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad, saying that its focus was Ukraine.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was in contact with hose in charge in Syria and that it was hopeful stability would be achieved.
When Russia intervened in the Syrian Civil War in 2015, it helped tip the balance in Assad‘s favour, so his fall from power dealt a serious setback to both Russia, which is fighting a major land war in Ukraine, and to Iran, which is battling US- backed Israel across the Middle East.
Asked how much the fall of Assad had weakened Russia’s influence in the region, Mr Peskov said Moscow’s priority was the war in Ukraine, which Russian president Vladimir Putin calls a “special military operation”.
“The special military operation is the absolute priority for our country: we must ensure the interests of our security, the interests of our Russian people, and we shall do so,” Peskov said on Wednesday.
Moscow has supported Syria since the early days of the Cold War, recognising its independence in 1944 as Damascus sought to throw off French colonial rule.
The tension over Golan Heights explained
Part of Israel’s military activity in Syria in recent days has been to occupy Golan Heights, a region in the south-west corner of Syria close to both Lebanon and Israel.
The Kremlin on Wednesday warned Israel’s actions would not help stabilise the country.
On Monday, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on that Israel was defending itself from militant groups occupying regions along the border which could be used to launch offensives.
He also claimed that the occupation of five Syrian villages across the Golan Heights was temporary, and would not amount to a permanent expansion of Israeli territory.
Israel itself, however, refuted that assertion directly just a few hours later, once again putting the Biden administration in the almost certain position of having spread falsehoods to the American public.
Read US correspondent John Bowden’s full report here
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