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The military command of the opposition forces has issued a statement, with strict instructions sent out to all opposition forces.
The statement, as reported by Al Jazeera, states:
It is strictly forbidden to fire bullets into the air under any circumstances, as it causes panic among civilians and endangers the lives of the innocent.
It is forbidden to tamper with public institutions and property, as they are the rightful property of the people. It is our duty to protect and preserve them and help develop them.
It is forbidden to encroach upon or harm any private property in any form.
The Syrian rebel coalition said it is continuing work to complete the transfer of power in Syria to a transitional governing body with full executive powers.
In a statement, it said:
The great Syrian revolution has moved from the stage of struggle to overthrow the Assad regime to the struggle to build a Syria together that befits the sacrifices of its people.
As we have mentioned earlier in the blog, Bashar al-Assad, who has ruled the country for nearly 25 years, has reportedly left Damascus by plane for an unknown destination.
The president’s alleged departure comes less than two weeks after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist militant group leading the rebellion against government forces, launched a surprise and successful offensive in Syria.
The rapid developments in Damascus today came only hours after HTS said they had captured the strategic city of Homs, about 85 miles away from the capital.
Syrian prime minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali, who remains in Damascus, said he was ready to cooperate with “any leadership chosen by the Syrian people” (see post at 6.54 for more details).
In a speech broadcast on social media, he added that Syria “can be a normal country that builds good relations with its neighbours and the world”.
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The rebels that have taken Damascus - in 30 seconds
Catching up with the Islamist rebels behind Syria’s extraordinary offensive? We have this handy explainer for you.
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Celebrations across Syrian cities – video
Trump says Assad 'fled' Syria after losing Russia’s support
US president-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had “fled his country” after losing the backing of Russia.
“Assad is gone,” he said on his Truth Social platform. “His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer.”
A seismic day around Syria – in pictures
A portrait of President Assad on the side of a building in Damascus.
Celebrations in the Umayyad square, Damascus.
People gathered in Aleppo.
From Homs.
Rebel fighters parade detained members of Syrian government forces in Homs.
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Chief of Kurdish-led Syria force hails ‘historic’ fall of Assad
Kurdish forces are the latest to react to the dramatic developments in Syria overnight and into the early hours of Sunday morning, when Islamist rebels fired celebratory gunfire into the sky as they claimed the capital city of Damascus, and later to have toppled president Assad.
The commander of Syria’s US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls swathes of the country’s northeast, hailed the events as “historic”, Agence France Presse reports.
“In Syria, we are living through historic moments as we witness the fall of the authoritarian regime in Damascus,” commander Mazloum Abdi said in a statement on Telegram, adding that “this change presents an opportunity to build a new Syria based on democracy and justice that guarantees the rights of all Syrians”.
What's next? Syrian PM calls for free elections
Syria’s prime minister, Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali, has told Al Arabiya in an interview that he has had contact with rebel commander and HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani about how to manage the current period.
The Syrian PM has said the country should hold free elections so the Syrian people can choose who they want to lead the country, Reuters has reported.
His comments come after president Assad reportedly boarded a plane and fled as rebels seized control of the capital city in the early hours of Sunday morning.
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Israel says it does not intervene in events in Syria
Israel’s military has issued a statement saying that it does not intervene in events taking place in Syria, Reuters reports.
However, the country’s military did say that it had deployed forces in a buffer zone monitored by the United Nations and at a number of points necessary for defence in light of the events in the Arab nation.
Rebels on state TV say they have toppled "tyrant" Assad
Syrian state TV has broadcast a video from Syria’s rebel factions saying President Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown and all jail detainees freed.
In their first televised announcement since their rapid and surprise offensive, they called on all opposition fighters and citizens to preserve state institutions of “the free Syrian state”.
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Syrians trample on toppled statue of Assad’s father Hafez
In another symbolic moment, people in Damascus have trampled upon the fallen statue of Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez, who ruled the country with an iron fist for nearly 30 years.
Flares and fireworks, fresh images from Homs
Syria's "Berlin Wall moment"
The Guardian’s Ruth Michaelson has the full report on the extraordinary turn of events in Syria, and what looks like the end of an era for the Assad regime.
“Today is the end of 54 years of the reign of Assad family in Syria. This is the only regime I knew all of my life,” said doctor Zaher Sahloul, a Syrian-American physician who organised medical missions into Syria, including hospitals in Aleppo that were targeted by Syrian and Russian airstrikes.
“I don’t cry often in my adult life but today I did. It has been fourteen long years of horror. This is our Berlin Wall moment,” he said.
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The downfall of President Bashar al-Assad
The fall of the Assad regime is momentous for Syria.
President Assad had been clinging to power for 14 years as the country fragmented amid a brutal civil war that became a proxy battlefield for regional and international powers.
As the Associated Press writes, his downfall is in stark contrast to his first months as Syria’s unlikely president in 2000, when many hoped he would be a young reformer after three decades of his father’s strongman rule.
The Western-educated ophthalmologist, then only 34, was a rather geeky, tech-savvy fan of computers with a gentle demeanor.
But when faced with protests against his rule that erupted in March 2011, Assad turned to the brutal tactics of his father in an attempt to crush them.
As the uprising hemorrhaged into an outright civil war, writes the AP, he unleashed his military to blast opposition-held cities, with support from allies Iran and Russia.
International rights groups and prosecutors alleged widespread use of torture and extrajudicial executions in Syria‘s government-run detention centers.
The Syrian war has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million. As the uprising spiralled into a civil war, millions of Syrians fled across the borders into Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon and on to Europe.
Damascus residents rejoice end of Assad rule
We are now hearing from people in the capital who are rejoicing the apparent end of the Assad regime.
“My feelings are indescribable,” Omar Daher, a 29-year-old lawyer told Associated Press. “After the fear that he (Assad) and his father made us live in for many years, and the panic and state of terror that I was living in, I can’t believe it.”
Daher said his father was killed by security forces and his brother was in detention, his fate unknown. Assad “is a criminal, a tyrant and a dog,” he said.
Crowds of Syrians gathered to celebrate in the central squares of Damascus, chanting anti-Assad slogans and honking car horns. In some areas, celebratory gunshots rang out.
“Damn his soul and the soul of the entire Assad family,” said Ghazal al-Sharif, another reveler in central Damascus. “It is the prayer of every oppressed person and God answered it today. We thought we would never see it, but thank God, we saw it.”
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White Helmets proclaim historic day in Syria
Syria’s White Helmets civil defence forces has released a statement about the extraordinary events of the past few days, writes the Guardian’s Faisal Ali.
“The sun of freedom rises on the Syrians... the moment that has been long awaited for years... even decades... Syria, the homeland, is writing history today,” the group said in a video statement posted on X.
شمس الحرية تشرق على السوريين….اللحظة التي طال انتظارها لسنوات…لا بل لعقود… سوريا الوطن تكتب التاريخ اليوم…سوريا على طريق العدالة… اليوم يوم العمل والبناء.#الخوذ_البيضاء #سوريا@RaedAlSaleh3 pic.twitter.com/poUvblb0YS
— الدفاع المدني السوري (@SyriaCivilDefe) December 8, 2024
“Syria is on the path to justice... today is the day of work and construction.”
The mood in Damascus
A jubilant mood on the streets of Damascus at dawn, hours after a coalition of Islamist-led rebels claimed to have taken over the capital.
An incredible shot here.
The celebrations continue.
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Scenes from Damascus
Dawn is breaking over the Syrian capital Damascus after an extraordinary sequence of events.
Television footage showed rebels in fatigues firing celebratory rounds into the sky, and yelling “Allah Akbar” hours after Islamist rebels claimed control of the city, and amid reports President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country to an unknown location.
On the streets people climbed on tanks to chant and gathered to celebrate.
In a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family, the Syrian government appears to have fallen.
Syrian PM says government ready to "extend its hand" to opposition
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said in a video statement that the government is ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government.
“I am in my house and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country,” Jalili said, as reported by the Associated Press.
He said he would go to his office to continue work in the morning and called on Syrian citizens not to deface public property.
He did not address reports that President Bashar Assad has left the country.
There was no immediate comment from the United Arab Emirates on Assad’s whereabouts. Assad’s family has extensive real estate holdings in Dubai.
Rebels in Syria proclaim end of 'dark era'
Rebels in Syria have announced a new era in Syria after 50 years of Baath rule.
“After 50 years of oppression under Baath rule, and 13 years of crimes and tyranny and (forced) displacement... we announce today, 12-8-2024, the end of this dark period and the start of a new era for Syria.”
Syrian army command tells officers that Assad’s rule has ended
Syria’s army command has notified officers that President Bashar al-Assad’s rule has ended following a lightning rebel offensive, a Syrian officer who was informed of the move told Reuters.
Assad reportedly flew out of Damascus on Sunday for an unknown destination, as rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.
Syrian rebels said Damascus was “now free of Assad”.
Meanwhile, Syrian prime minister, Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, said on Sunday that he remained at home and was ready to support continuity of governance.
On the streets of the capital, thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus waving and chanting “Freedom”, witnesses said.
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Syrian rebels say Syria is free of Assad
Syrian rebels claim to have captured the capital of Damascus, announcing the fall of the al-Assad regime, according to reports by Reuters and Al Jazeera.
“The tyrant Bashar al-Assad has fled,” the armed opposition said in a statement. “We declare Damascus free of the tyrant Bashar al-Assad.”
War observatory claims Assad has left the country
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Sunday that President Bashar al-Assad had left of the country, after losing swathes of territory to a lightning rebel offensive.
A quick recap of events
A lot has changed in 24 hours.
In the city of Homs, a statue of Assad’s father was symbolically torn down, after insurgents claimed control of the city.
Thousands took the streets amid rounds of celebratory gunfire.
The rapid advance of the coalition of rebel groups led by HTS has stunned not only observers and regional powers but also, it appears, the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, Syrian rebels entered the capital Damascus and the whereabouts of the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, are unknown.
Reuters reported that he left the country for an unknown location. A war monitor has also confirmed that Assad has left.
Meanwhile footage from the airport in Damascus show people chaotically streaming in.
A look at HTS - the Islamist group leading the Syrian offensive
For those catching up on the lightning offensive in Syria led by the armed Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former branch of al-Qaida, here is a look at its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who has been described as a “pragmatic radical”.
Since breaking ties with Al-Qaida in 2016, Jolani has sought to portray himself as a more moderate leader. But he is yet to quell suspicions among analysts and western governments that still class HTS as a terrorist organisation.
Syrian President Assad has reportedly fled Damascus
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly left Damascus, boarding a plane for an unknown location, according to Reuters news, citing two senior Syrian officers familiar with the incident.
The Guardian was unable to independently confirm the report.
As the Guardian’s Ruth Michaelson writes, the Syrian president has not been seen publicly for days, despite reassurances from the presidency that he was working and remained in Damascus just a few hours ago.
Assad did not publicly address the Syrian people or his troops even as the insurgents advanced toward Damascus, and questions begun to mount about his whereabouts.
Assad’s last appearance was a week ago, during an urgent meeting with the Iranian foreign minister in Damascus. The Syrian leader was pictured grinning despite the insurgents taking control of Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria only a day earlier.
Syria’s armed opposition meanwhile say they have taken control of the radio and television building in the centre of Damascus, as per Al Jazeera.
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Syrian rebels enter capital Damascus
Rebel forces have entered the capital, Damascus, writes Guardian reporter Ruth Michaelson.
Video circulating online shows Syrian army forces removing their uniforms in the streets of the capital.
In a second post, the insurgents announced that they have begun freeing detainees from Sednaya prison, a notorious detention facility near Damascus.
Sednaya is considered a symbol of the Assad regime’s brutality, a place where tens of thousands of opponents of Assad’s rule have suffered extreme torture and abuse. The prison has been referred to over the years as a “human slaughterhouse”.
Here is what Amnesty International say about the facility:
Saydnaya Military Prison is located 30km north of Damascus, Syria. The prison is under the jurisdiction of the minister of defence and operated by the military police. Saydnaya became notorious for the use of torture and excessive force following a riot by detainees in 2008. There are two buildings on the Saydnaya site, which between them could contain 10,000-20,000 prisoners.
Since the beginning of the crisis in Syria in 2011, the prison has become the final destination for both peaceful opponents of the authorities as well as military personnel suspected of opposing the regime.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the Syrian army, and security forces, have left for Damascus International Airport, according to sources from the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Intense shooting heard in Syrian capital, Damascus
Hours after Syrian rebels claimed full control of the key city of Homs and continued their march to the capital, intense sounds of shooting have been heard in the centre of Damascus, residents have said.
The source of the shooting was not immediately clear, two residents who live in a residential area close to the centre of the capital said, as reported by Reuters.
Rebel advancements in the past 24 hours have left President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule dangling by a thread.
Hezbollah withdrawal widens to Homs, Damascus outskirts
After retreating from Qusayr, Hezbollah is now also pulling its forces from the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus and the Homs area, a source close to the Lebanese group said on Sunday, as their ally President Bashar al-Assad faces a rebel offensive.
The group “has instructed its fighters in recent hours to withdraw from the Homs area, with some heading to Latakia (in Syria) and others to the Hermel area in Lebanon”, the source told AFP, noting that “Hezbollah fighters have also vacated their positions around Damascus.”
The significance of Homs, then and now
It is hard to overstate the importance of the people of Homs to the start of the uprising against Assad in 2011, writes Robert Mackey.
Homs was widely seen as the “capital of the revolution” when mass protests broke out during the Arab Spring. When Syrians first took to the streets in 2011, video posted online by Syrian activists throughout the spring of that year showed mass protests, often around the clock tower where rebels celebrated on Saturday.
In April, 2011, a government massacre of protesters who packed into the clock square in Homs chanting “The People Want to Topple the Regime!” helped spur the armed revolt that has continued to this day.
From the archive - 18-4-2011
— Rami (@RamiSafadi93) April 18, 2024
13 years ago Syrians poured into the streets of Homs and occupied the new clock square, demanding the regime's fall. This historic sit-in ended in a bloody massacre when security forces assaulted the protesters, firing live ammunition into the crowd. pic.twitter.com/JbOiUQqKua
Online, Syrian activists and journalists have been pointing to the significance of that moment in the history of the uprising as rebels and supporters of the movement to topple Assad celebrated around the clock tower on Saturday night.
Deraa was the cradle of the Syrian revolution; Homs became its capital. Regime opened fire on clock tower square sit-in👇killing 100+ in April 2011. Homs was then under siege by Assad's army for 3 years. Tonight, Homs is liberated and rebels are freeing the detainees. pic.twitter.com/BphuCb7AeX
— Rime Allaf (@rallaf) December 7, 2024
#Syria BREAKING: Rebel forces are in FULL control of the city of #Homs. The #Assad regime has been defeated.
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) December 7, 2024
Rebels celebrate around the clock tower, the epicenter of the Syrian Revolution. pic.twitter.com/J0h9ZqvDOU
It’s 2:32 am in Homs, Syria, now and videos keep coming from the city. It all started here in this square, with a humble clock tower that became the symbol of the city, and a symbol of the revolution. pic.twitter.com/2y894XSnkc
— ammar azzouz 🪁 عمّار عزّوز (@Dr_Ammar_Azzouz) December 7, 2024
Following the brutal repression of peaceful protests in Homs, the Syrian Army first used heavy artillery against rebels in the Baba Amr district of the city. It was there that the veteran American war correspondent Marie Colvin, reporting for The Sunday Times of London, and a young French photographer, Rémi Ochlik, were killed by Assad’s forces in 2012. Colvin’s colleague Paul Conroy, a British journalist who survived the attack, remembered the activists in Homs who saved his life on Saturday.
Remembering all my friends from Homs who looked after us in the dark days of 2012 when Marie was killed and we were all so badly wounded. You never gave up on us, and many never made it through. Thank you all and enjoy the sweet taste of freedom. Shukran 🙏 ❤️❤️ #Syria #Homs
— Paul Conroy @reflextv.bsky.social (@reflextv) December 7, 2024
Hezbollah withdraws from strategic Syrian city of Qusayr
As rebel forces claim the city of Homs, and start to encircle the Syrian capital city, Lebanon’s pro-Iranian Hezbollah group has withdrawn from the strategic city of Qusayr, along the border with Lebanon, according to Reuters.
Qusayr has long been a major supply route for the militia’s arms transfers and flow of fighters in and out of Syria since Hezbollah seized it in 2013 in the early phase of the Syrian conflict.
In recent days Hezbollah had pledged to stand by the Syrian government.
But on Sunday Hezbollah withdrew from Qusayr before rebel forces seized it, Syrian army sources said. At least 150 armoured vehicles carrying hundreds of fighters left the city in phases.
Israel, which has repeatedly hit Hezbollah weapons depots and underground fortifications it had built in the city, hit one of the convoys that was leaving, one source said.
Celebratory gunfire, thousands on streets, as insurgents take Homs
Thousands of people are still out on the streets of Homs tonight, now just past 3am. The staccato blasts of celebratory gunfire can be heard throughout the city as cars honk their horns and people continue to celebrate its capture from Assad’s forces, writes Faisal Ali.
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As opposition forces gain ground, Trump says US should stay out of Syria
Donald Trump said the US should avoid engaging militarily in Syria as an insurgent offensive reached the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, according to the Associated Press.
The president-elect’s first extensive comments on the dramatic rebel push came on Saturday via his social media website. “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT”, he wrote in a social media post.
Trump condemned the overall US handling of what is a 13-year war in Syria. But, he added, “THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”
Separately, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the Biden administration had no intention of intervening militarily but would keep acting as necessary to keep the Islamic State group from exploiting openings presented by the fighting.
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Statue of Bashar al-Assad's father torn down by crowd in Homs
Elsewhere in Homs, a statue of Hafez al-Assad, the father of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad, has been torn down by a large crowd, writes our contributor Faisal Ali.
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Images of Bashar al-Assad torn down in Homs
The city of Homs has witnessed an outpouring of emotions this evening. Many are celebrating what they believe to be the imminent fall of the Assad regime, and others have begun tearing down images of the president. Here is a clip we’ve looped from the centre of Homs, filmed at the Officers’ Club hotel.
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Summary of the day
It is approaching 1am in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Gaza City, and 2am in Damascus.
Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul-Ghani said early on Sunday that insurgent forces had “fully liberated” Syria’s central city of Homs, Reuters confirms. Homs is a city of strategic and hugely symbolic importance to the militants and to the opposition as a whole.
Syrian opposition forces have begun to encircle the capital city of Damascus after a lightning offensive brought rebel factions to Bashar al-Assad’s doorstep and led the president’s office to deny he had fled the country.
Government forces have withdrawn from much of the central city of Homs, according to a Syrian opposition war monitor and a pro-government media outlet.
Speaking in Doha, the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said he had secured the joint agreement from the foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran and Russia to hold urgent talks in Geneva with a date to be agreed upon shortly.
Protesters brought down the statue of the late father of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, in a main square in Jaramana suburb, nearly 10km from the centre of Damascus.
The UN in Syria denied rumours that it was evacuating all staff from the country, but confirmed that it is “strategically reducing its footprint by relocating non-critical staff outside the country”.
At least 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza on Saturday, according to local health officials.
Lebanon’s health ministry said on Saturday that Israeli airstrikes had killed six people in the country’s south, just 10 days into a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.
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Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul-Ghani says insurgent forces have 'fully liberated' Syria’s central city of Homs, Reuters confirms
Al Jazeera Mubasher has been broadcasting live footage early Sunday of crowds gathered in the city centre of Homs near the historic clock tower celebrating the city’s capture by rebel forces.
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Syrian opposition forces have begun to encircle the capital city of Damascus after a lightning offensive brought rebel factions to Bashar al-Assad’s doorstep and led the president’s office to deny he had already fled the country.
The advance came just a week after Islamist insurgents led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) retook Aleppo in northern Syria, inspiring rebel factions all across the country to rise up against the Syrian army.
Overnight, opposition factions in the southern provinces of Daraa and Suwayda routed government forces and took control over wide swathes of the district. By the afternoon, opposition fighters had entered Daraya, about 5 miles from the centre of the capital. East of Damascus, members of the Free Syrian Army took control over the ancient city of Palmyra.
As rebels advanced from the south and east towards the capital city, forces led by HTS began fighting the Syrian army in the central Syrian city of Homs. Homs is a strategic asset for the Syrian government, linking it to Tartous and Latakia – provinces where Assad has traditionally enjoyed strong support.
Syrian state media reported that government forces were concentrating on stopping HTS’s advance in Homs, carrying out heavy airstrikes on rebel forces there and sending reinforcements to the central Syrian city.
If Homs were to fall to the rebels, the government would be besieged in Damascus. Opposition forces would be advancing from the north, south and east of the country.
The government in neighbouring Iraq said that 2,000 Syrian soldiers had fled across their border. Al Jazeera showed footage of Syrian tanks and other military vehicles packed with soldiers crossing into Iraq.
Read the latest developments coming from Syria here:
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Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of HTS, the armed group spearheading the charge against the Assad regime, has urged his fighters to “show mercy” and “protect those who surrender” in a video message.
Jolani said his group was in the “final moments” before the capture of Homs, adding that it would be a “historic event”.
It would be the third major city HTS has captured since its fighters fanned out from Idlib at the end of November.
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Rebel leader says insurgents combing Homs after government army flees
An insurgent commander said that forces spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham are combing Homs after forces loyal to Damascus have fled.
“An incursion into the neighbourhoods of the city is now underway and we are combing it in preparation for declaring it completely liberated,” said Lt Col Hassan Abdul-Ghani in a statement.
Homs is a city of strategic and hugely symbolic importance to the militants and to the opposition as a whole. The city is a key juncture on the highway that leads to the capital Damascus, connecting it with coastal regions traditionally loyal to Assad.
It also saw some of the fiercest fighting in the early years of Syria’s civil war, when rebels battled to seize neighbourhoods from president Bashar al-Assad’s control.
The loss of Homs would mean that Syria’s major provincial capitals would no longer be controlled by Assad’s regime in Damascus, fundamentally altering his grip on the country his family has ruled for decades.
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Government forces withdraw from much of central city of Homs
AP has a quick snap that government forces have withdrawn from much of the central city of Homs, according to a Syrian opposition war monitor and a pro-government media outlet.
More details soon …
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Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul-Ghani said rebel forces had entered the key city of Homs.
Dozens of fighters from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces fled the Syrian city of Homs, Reuters reports, after a decision was taken with the Syrian army that the city could no longer be defended.
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Rebel fighters claim to have entered key city of Homs - report
Syrian opposition media reports that Syrian government forces have withdrawn from Homs city and fighters from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have entered the city proper.
Videos showed members of state security branches fleeing their posts in Homs before the rebel advance. Syrian state media did not acknowledge the loss of the city, but said that HTS fighters had entered the city’s suburbs and outlying villages.
If Homs were to fall to rebels, Damascus would be cut off from Tartous and Latakia – coastal provinces where Bashar al-Assad has historically enjoyed strong support. Rebel forces would then be approaching the country’s capital city from the north from Homs, from the south from Daraa and Suwayda province and from the east from the ancient city of Palmyra.
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Here are some of the latest images from inside Syria sent to us over the news wires:
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Lebanon’s health ministry said on Saturday that Israeli airstrikes had killed six people in the country’s south, just 10 days into a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.
Agence France-Presse reports that both Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been accused of violating the truce, which took effect on 27 November to end a conflict that has left thousands dead in Lebanon and caused mass displacement on both sides.
According to the ministry, “The Israeli enemy’s airstrike on the town of Beit Lif resulted in the martyrdom of five people and the injury of five others.” It added that a separate drone strike killed one person in the town of Deir Seryan.
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Residents of isolated Syrian refugee camp liberated after more than 10 years
Residents of al-Rukban camp rejoiced on Saturday night, after the Syrian army soldiers which had enforced a more than six-year-long siege on the camp abandoned their positions and fled.
Al-Rukban, a camp formed in 2014 in the arid no man’s land between Syria and Jordan, houses about 10,000 refugees who fled the Syrian government’s crackdown on protesters during the country’s revolution. In 2018, the Syrian army and the Jordanian government imposed a siege on the camp, forcing residents to survive on meager amounts of food brought in periodically by a few smugglers.
“I cannot describe the feelings, the words don’t exist. I will be able to return to my village after 14 years,” said Yasser, a resident of the camp originally from a village outside Homs in central Syria speaking under a pseudonym in case government forces returned. Yasser had read a few hours earlier that the Syrian army had been driven out of his home town by rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as part of its attempt to take Homs city.
Pictures sent to the guardian showed Syrian army vehicles, tanks and artillery abandoned where soldiers had fled or had been killed by members of the Free Syrian Army. The Free Syrian Army had patrolled the 55-kilometer demilitarized zone around the camp, supervised by US forces as part of its global coalition to defeat the Islamic State.
On Saturday, the Free Syrian Army had broken out of the demilitarized zone, killing the remaining Syrian army soldiers and capturing the ancient city of Palmyra.
Leaving al-Rukban had been a dream for Yasser and for the other camp residents. Living conditions in the camp had deteriorated in recent years, with food and medical supplies scarce. Syrian soldiers had tightened their siege on the camp, preventing smugglers from reaching the camp. During the last survey of a UN clinic before it closed down in 2020, almost 100% of children under five who went to the clinic were malnourished.
Still, camp residents had to wait before they could return home. The area around the demilitarized zone had been heavily mined, and would take some time to clear.
“We have to wait around 20 days. I will be counting every second,” Yasser said.
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Amid rampant speculation as to the whereabouts of President Bashar al-Assad as the rebel offensive presses ever closer to the capital, Bloomberg’s Sam Dagher reports that the leader of an increasingly shrinking rump state is making a last-ditch effort to hold on to power. This includes indirect diplomatic overtures to the US and President-elect Donald Trump.
One proposal, according to Dagher, conveyed through the United Arab Emirates, offers to sever Syria’s ties with Iran-backed militant groups like Hezbollah – but only if western powers use their influence to curb the fighting.
Assad has ordered his army to retreat and focus on defending Damascus, effectively relinquishing control of much of the country.
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As government forces withdraw from cities and towns across Syria, there is a scramble to preserve documents that could be used to hold members of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to account for crimes against humanity. The Syrian journalist Qusay Noor points to video that appears to show “a huge warehouse of records and reports on citizens in the Political Security Branch” in the city of Suwayda.
But, according to Rim Turkmani, director of the Syria conflict research programme at the London School of Economics: “The notorious State Security branch of Mukhabarat in Homs has evacuated its building, setting tons of documents – evidence of their crimes – ablaze on the roof. Friends in the city witnessed the evacuation from their balconies, and now, many in Homs are overwhelmed with tears of relief and joy.”
“As opposition forces continue to take control of key sites across Syria – central offices, prisons, political, intelligence offices, and military branches – we are witnessing a historical moment in the search for justice!” Rawan Shaif of Amnesty International notes on Bluesky. “These documents are not just pieces of paper – they are the threads that connect us to the past and to the hope for accountability. They hold the potential to expose the full extent of the crimes committed and the perpetrators behind them. They are essential for holding individuals, command, and perpetrators accountable and ensuring that justice is pursued. But the road ahead requires preservation; these materials, these records and accounts, must be safeguarded, archived, and kept secure. Some incredibly emotional times ahead, but the work is just beginning.”
Panic gripped Damascus after fast-advancing rebels announced the start of operations to encircle Syria’s capital, prompting many to rush to secure essential supplies.
Residents spoke to Agence France-Presse of a state of panic as traffic jams clogged central Damascus and people sought supplies and queued to withdraw money from ATM machines.
Damascus resident Mohammed, 35, told the news agency he felt “a mix of shock, fear and worry about the future”.
“Nothing compares to what we’re going through today. But I think we’re witnessing days that will go down in history,” he added.
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Syrian activists and journalists, including the freelance reporter Thomas van Linge, are sharing video of Assad banners being taken down in Douma, just east of Damascus, where there was a deadly chemical attack in 2018 during a government offensive.
Last year, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) concluded in its third report on Douma that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Syrian Arab Air Forces were the perpetrators of the chemical weapons attack on 7 April 2018.”
Rawan Shaif, an open-source investigator at Amnesty International, shared one video clip said to habe been recorded in Douma tonight with the observation: “Chemical weapons have long been used by Assad to break the will of the people. Douma, scarred by that day, has not known freedom since.
Justice is not just about punishment—it’s about giving survivors and families the opportunity to be heard and to be recognised, its the least that they deserve. It’s about holding perpetrators accountable, ensuring these crimes are not forgotten.
Douma may have been broken in April 2018, but it has not been forgotten. Perhaps now, it can be free once again.”
According to Charles Lister from the Middle East Institute, the main rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, issued a statement declaring its “full readiness to cooperate with the international community in.. monitoring weapons & sensitive sites.”
When Islamist militants swept into her home town of Aleppo little over a week ago, Rama Alhalabi sheltered indoors as fear engulfed her.
Forces loyal to president Bashar al-Assad, who had sought to reassure residents that nothing was happening, suddenly deserted the city. But as the insurgency pushed south, rapidly seizing control of the city of Hama on the road to Damascus, Alhalabi’s fears about life under militia rule have slowly ebbed. Instead they have been replaced by fears that her friends in the army will be abandoned by their commanding officers as Assad’s regime loses its grip.
“People in Aleppo are feeling more comfortable now we’re further from the areas under the regime’s control,” said the 29-year-old, while still using a pseudonym in fear Assad could retake the city.
“At the same time, I have many friends serving in the army and I don’t want them to get hurt. People with power inside the regime will protect themselves, and they will leave the poor fighters who were forced to join the army to face their awful fate alone.
“Things changed insanely fast,” she added. “We can barely believe what’s happening.”
As militants spearheaded by the group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) massed outside the city of Homs and rebel forces said they had entered the vast southern suburbs of the capital, rapid change swept across Syria.
The Syrian army declared it had “redeployed”, its forces in two restive provinces south of Damascus in the latest thinly veiled message of retreat, days after they withdrew from Hama. In under a week, five provincial capitals across the country were suddenly no longer under Assad’s control.
Read more on the unprecedented events in Syria:
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UN in Syria denies rumours it is evacuating all staff from country
The UN in Syria denied rumours that it is evacuating all staff from the country, but confirmed that it is “strategically reducing its footprint by relocating non-critical staff outside the country”, as insurgents get closer to the centre of Damascus.
The UN’s resident and humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, released the following statement:
Recent rumors suggesting that the United Nations is evacuating all staff from Syria are false. The United Nations remains steadfast in its commitment to stay and deliver life-saving assistance to the people of Syria during this critical time.
To ensure the safety of our personnel while maintaining essential operations, the UN is strategically reducing its footprint by relocating non-critical staff outside the country. This is a precautionary measure to protect our teams amid evolving circumstances. Let me emphasize – this is not an evacuation and our dedication to supporting the people of Syria remains unwavering.
The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. Hostilities have displaced over 370,000 individuals, with many seeking refuge in the northeast and others trapped in front-line areas, unable to escape. Civilian casualties, including women and children, continue to rise, underscoring the urgent need for coordinated humanitarian action.
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More footage has been released of protesters pulling down a statue of Hafez al-Assad in Jaramana’s southern suburbs.
The main rebel group, the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, said it had a duty to protect governmental, international and UN offices in Syria.
Around 2,000 Syrian soldiers crossed the border into Iraq to seek sanctuary, the mayor of Iraqi border town al-Qaem said.
For the latest footage, journalist Rami Jarrah is posting clips of unfolding developments on his Bluesky feed.
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Syria’s regional allies and even some of its opponents are hoping to slow fast-moving events in Damascus “in order to keep the country and its institutions together”, and fearing the state’s total collapse, said former Syrian diplomat Bassam Barabandi.
“No one wants a power vacuum in Damascus – they don’t want to see a situation like the fall of Kabul again,” he said. Even Syria’s northern neighbour, Turkey, feared instability in Damascus, he added, despite president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s cautious statements of support for change.
News from Doha of urgent talks between Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan was unlikely to comfort Assad. The three countries agreed that there should be a halt to the fighting, but Assad’s longtime backers Russia and Iran publicly voiced a need for talks between the Syrian leader and opposition, a shift away from their previous positions of total support for his rule.
“The most important thing is to start political talks between the Syrian government and legitimate opposition groups,” said Araghchi.
Barabandi believes that Bashar al-Assad, isolated in Damascus, is likely obsessing over how to react to the mass uprising against his rule in a way that differentiates him from the legacy of his father, Hafez al-Assad, using new tactics to crush dissent that neither president has tried.
The younger Assad has previously turned the state’s weapons against his own people, including using the chemical nerve agent sarin on people in the Damascus suburbs in 2013, killing 1,400 people.
The fight for Damascus “will be make or break” for Assad, said Barabandi. “At the same time, things on the street are moving so fast that we don’t know what the options will be. There are a lot of moving parts, it’s hard to say the end game.”
The Syrian presidency issued a statement earlier this afternoon in an attempt to quash rumours that Assad had fled, and said he remained at work “in Damascus”. Barabandi was skeptical that Assad would remain in Damascus should the threats to his rule continue to mount.
He added: “For sure, Assad is out, there will be a new Syria. But now the discussions are what kind of new Syria, who will shape it, who will steer it. I think this is where we are now.”
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Saydnaya prison, located about 30km north of Damascus, sits within close reach of fighters opposing the Syrian government.
The prison, which holds thousands of critics of the regime, has been the subject of reports accusing Syrian authorities of systematically and secretly killing detainees.
In 2017, Amnesty International documented acts of murder, torture, enforced disappearance and extermination at Saydnaya since 2011, calling the violations “crimes against humanity”.
Amid the prison’s inaccessibility to journalists and monitoring groups, Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture met with five survivors in Istanbul in April 2016. The researchers built a 3D model to reconstruct conditions inside the prison using the survivors’ testimonies.
Syrian activist Shakeeb al-Jabri said that “thousands of families eagerly await news of their loved ones”.
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Syria minister says ‘very strong’ security cordon around Damascus – state TV
Syria’s interior minister told state TV that security forces had imposed an impenetrable cordon around Damascus on Saturday, as fighters opposing the government said they were nearing the capital, Agence France-Presse reports.
“There is a very strong security and military cordon on the far edges of Damascus and its countryside, and no one ... can penetrate this defensive line that we, the armed forces, are building,” Mohammed al-Rahmoun told state TV from Damascus.
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At least 30 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza on Saturday
At least 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza on Saturday, according to local health officials.
Qatar expressed hope for renewed efforts toward a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Palestinian health officials, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its daily death tolls, said that dozens more people were injured across the enclave.
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Syrian rebels enter suburbs of Homs, according to Reuters
A Homs resident as well as army and rebel sources told the news agency that the insurgents had breached government defenses from the north and east of the city.
A rebel commander said they had taken control of an army camp and villages outside the city.
The Syrian military, which had sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comments on the reports.
Insurgents have seized almost the entire south-west within 24 hours, and have advanced to within 30km (20 miles) of Damascus.
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Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaida affiliate, said on Saturday it has a duty to protect governmental, international and UN offices in Syria.
Meanwhile, in Doha, the UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, urged “calm” and “avoidance of bloodshed”.
“I reiterate my call for de-escalation, for calm, for the avoidance of bloodshed and the protection of civilians in line with international humanitarian law,” Pedersen said at the Doha forum for political dialogue, urging “the start of a process that leads to the realisation of the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people”.
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Israel’s military assists UN forces against attack in Syria
The Israeli military said it is helping United Nations forces to head off an attack on a UN position in Syria close to the Israeli border, the Associated Press is reporting.
The army said in a statement on Saturday that an attack was carried out by “armed individuals” on a UN post near the Syrian town of Hader and it was “assisting UN forces in repelling the attack”.
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Hamas released a video claiming to show Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker in captivity.
The video released on Saturday shows a man who introduces himself as the 24-year-old Matan Zangauker. He can be seen pleading with the Israeli leaders to make a deal that would bring captives being held by Hamas in Gaza back to Israel.
Nearly 100 hostages, both dead and alive, are believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza since the 7 October 2023 raid by the group.
After Israel signed a landmark ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon last month, mediating countries see increased momentum for a possible deal that could allow the hostages to be released in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners.
Speaking in Doha, the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said he secured the joint agreement from the foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran and Russia to hold urgent talks in Geneva with a date to be agreed shortly.
He said: “The need for an orderly political transition has never been more urgent,” saying it needed to start with credible inclusive transitional arrangements. He said the talks would be the start of a process that led to the restoration of the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria.
Eager to use the crisis to breathe life into Syria’s stalled diplomatic process, Pedersen said he had also been in touch with representatives from the US, France, Germany and the UK.
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Here are some of the latest images coming through from Syria:
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Trump says the US should have nothing to do with the conflict in Syria
President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday the US should not be involved in the conflict in Syria, where rebel forces are threatening the government of president Bashar al-Assad.
“Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
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Protesters brought down the statue of the late father of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a main square in Jaramana suburb, nearly 10km from the centre of Damascus, a witness and activists told Reuters.
The protesters in the mainly Druze-inhabited suburb, who called for the downfall of Assad, also headed to government buildings in the heavily policed area of the capital where several security branches are located, they said.
The protesters headed to security offices to demand they evacuate from their area, activist Ryan Marouf, editor of Suwayda 24, a website that covers the province, told Reuters.
The authorities have tolerated most protests by the country’s Druze minority, unlike in other government-held areas where demonstrators are fired on by security forces.
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Bashar al-Assad remains in Damascus - state news agency
Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, remains in Damascus and is carrying out his work from the capital, the Syrian state news agency said on Saturday.
Anti-government protesters toppled a statue of Assad’s late father, Hafez, in the mostly Druze and Christian Damascus suburb of Jaramana earlier on Saturday, witnesses told Agence France-Presse.
A witness said he he had seen dozens of protesters tearing down the statue in a main square in Jaramana, which bears the former president’s name. Another witness said the statue had been broken up when he went to the square later. Video footage circulating online and verified by AFP showed young men toppling the statue and chanting anti-Assad slogans.
Around 2,000 Syrian troops have crossed the border into Iraq and sought refuge, Turki Al-Mahlawi, the mayor of Al-Qaim border town, told Reuters.
Some of the troops were wounded and are currently receiving medical treatment, he added.
Syrian rebels reach Damascus suburbs - rebel commander
Syrian insurgents have reached the suburbs of Damascus, opposition activists and a rebel commander said on Saturday, as a rapidly moving offensive in which they have taken over some of Syria’s largest cities continued.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were active in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya.
He said opposition fighters were also marching from eastern Syria towards the Damascus suburb of Harasta.
Hassan Abdul-Ghani, an insurgent commander, posted on Telegram that opposition forces had started to encircle Damascus in the “final stage” of their offensive. He said fighters were heading from southern Syria towards Damascus.
We will bring you live updates on this developing story.
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