22:00 Syria's Baath party has announced that it is suspending work indefinitely.
The Baath Party, which ruled Syria since 1963 with an iron fist, promoted a personality cult around the Assad family since 1969.
The party's central leadership has decided to "suspend party work and activity in all its forms ... until further notice," said a statement published on the party's newspaper website.
It added that its property and funds would be handed over to the interior and finance ministries.
19:00 Wafa Mustafa’s father, Ali, was detained on July 2, 2013. She hasn’t seen or heard from her activist father since that fateful day.
In an interview with FRANCE 24, the Berlin-based Syrian journalist and activist talked about her advocacy work to try to help Syrians looking for their disappeared loved ones.
Since Assad’s ouster on Sunday, social media sites have been crammed with clips and posts of Syrians reuniting with long-detained relatives, exposing the institutionalised brutality of the Assad regime.
Mustafa has no news yet about her father’s whereabouts, but she refuses to give up hope. “I have no privilege, and I don’t have the right to give up on my father,” she says.
18:00 Israel must withdraw forces from the buffer zone separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syrian territory, France's foreign ministry said Wednesday - as reported by France 24.
"Any military deployment in the separation zone between Israel and Syria is a violation of the disengagement agreement of 1974," a foreign ministry spokesman said.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he had ordered the army to "seize" the demilitarized zone in the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights after Assad's ouster.
"France calls on Israel to withdraw from the zone and to respect Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the foreign ministry spokesman said.
Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu unilaterally announced on 8 December the collapse of the 1974 border agreement with Syria and ordered his army to seize the Golan Heights buffer zone.
Israel also carried out a wave of over 350 heavy airstrikes across Syria as its troops advanced more profoundly into the country, and the Israeli defence minister announced that his forces had destroyed Syria’s navy.
This picture shows Israeli military forces driving in the buffer zone with Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights. AFP
17:00 Germany's foreign minister on Wednesday urged Israel and Turkey not to jeopardize a peaceful transition in Syria after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in an insurgent offensive led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.
"We must not allow the internal Syrian dialogue process to be torpedoed from the outside," Annalena Baerbock told a Berlin press conference.
"Neighbors such as the Turkish and Israeli governments, which are asserting their security interests, must not jeopardize the process."
16:08 We reported earlier that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would travel to Turkey on Friday. We now have more details: Blinken will also visit Jordan. Talks in both countries are expected to focus mainly on Syria. Still, they will also touch on efforts to end the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, which has devastated the territory since October 2023.
The State Department announced that Blinken would meet with Jordanian officials, including King Abdullah II, in the port city of Aqaba on Thursday before travelling to Ankara for meetings with Turkish officials on Friday.
Officials noted that additional stops in the region are possible.
Blinken “will reiterate the United States’ support for an inclusive, Syrian-led transition to an accountable and representative government,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
“He will discuss the need for the transition process and a new government in Syria to respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance, prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbours, and ensure that chemical weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed,” Miller added.
This marks Blinken’s 12th visit to the region since the Israeli war erupted last year, but it will be his first since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad. This event has sparked new fears of instability in a region now grappling with three simultaneous conflicts despite a ceasefire agreement to end Israeli aggression in Lebanon.
President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is currently in Israel, while the commander of US forces in the region visited American troops in Syria on Tuesday. Meanwhile, two top State Department officials — John Bass, undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Barbara Leaf, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs — have been in the region since the weekend.
15:47 Ahmed Al-Sharaa, aka Abu Mohamed Al-Jolani, the insurgent leader, said that foreign governments should not worry about the situation in Syria.
"People are exhausted from the war, and the country is not ready to engage in another conflict," Al-Sharaa told Sky News.
He pointed out that the fear was centred around Assad's regime, which has now fallen, and Syria is now "moving towards development, reconstruction, and stability."
"Our source of concern was the Iranian militias, Hezbollah, and the regime that committed the massacres we witness today," Al-Sharaa added.
He added that officials involved in torturing detainees would not be pardoned after thousands were released while families hoped to find others who disappeared in the country's notorious jails.
"We will not pardon those involved in torturing detainees," he said, urging "countries to hand over any of those criminals who may have fled so they can be brought to justice".
People pose for a picture with the leader of Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that headed a lightning rebel offensive snatching Damascus from government control, Abu Mohamed al-Jolani (C) before he addressed them at the capital's landmark Umayyad Mosque. AFP
14:39 The global chemical weapons watchdog will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation in Syria over concerns about the country’s stockpile of toxic chemicals.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons told Syria on Monday it is under obligation to comply with rules to safeguard and destroy dangerous substances, such as chlorine gas.
The organization’s executive council called the meeting to discuss the current situation in Syria and the status of ongoing investigations there.
Assad’s regime denied using chemical weapons, but the OPCW has found evidence indicating their repeated use by Syria in the country’s grinding civil war. Earlier this year, it found the Islamic State group had used mustard gas against the town of Marea in 2015.
14:30 The tomb of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's father Hafez was torched in his hometown of Qardaha; AFP footage taken showed rebels in fatigues and young men watching it burn.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor told AFP the insurgents had set fire to the mausoleum, located in the Latakia heartland of Assad's Alawite community.
Footage showed parts of the mausoleum ablaze and damaged.
14:00 Greece announced it is suspending the examination of Syrian asylum requests, aligning with similar measures other European countries took.
"We are temporarily freezing ... all procedures (for Syrians) until we have evaluated the new data," Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told Real FM radio.
11:45 Qatar said it would soon reopen its embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari stated that the Gulf country "will soon reopen its embassy in the sisterly Syrian Arab Republic after completing the necessary arrangements. "
Doha closed its diplomatic mission in Damascus and recalled its ambassador in July 2011 after an uprising against the Assad government turned into a civil war.
Unlike other Arab countries, Qatar never restored diplomatic ties with Syria under Assad.
11:44 The Kremlin condemned Israel's strikes on Syria and the creation of a "buffer zone" along the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
"The strikes, the actions in the Golan Heights and the buffer zone hardly contribute to the stabilisation of the situation in the already destabilised Syria," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
He added that Moscow was in contact with the new Syrian leadership over the fate of Russia's military bases in the country.
"We are in contact with those who control the situation in Syria," Peskov told reporters. "This is necessary since our (military) base and diplomatic mission are there."
The Tartus naval base and Hmeimim air base in Syria are Russia's only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union and have been key to the Kremlin's activities in Africa and the Middle East.
"We would like to see the situation in the country stabilised somehow as soon as possible," he added.
This combination of handout satellite images released by Maxar Technologies on December 10, 2024, shows (R) ships moored in the port of Latakia on November 6 and (L) the same vessels after Israel destroyed them on December 10. Photo by Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies / AFP
11:14 Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty condemned, during a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, Israel’s seizure of a Syrian territory, describing it as an occupation and pressing for international action to halt this aggression.
Abdelatty reiterated Egypt's complete rejection of Israel's seizure of the demilitarized zone with Syria and the adjacent commanding sites as "an infringement on Syria's sovereignty and a blatant violation of international law."
11:10 Syria's new transitional prime minister called for Syrians who have sought refuge abroad to return to their homeland.
"Mine is an appeal to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has earned its pride and dignity. Come back", Mohammad Al-Bashir said in an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera daily, adding that "the rights of all people and all sects in Syria" would be guaranteed.
He said the insurgents alliance will "guarantee" the rights of all religious groups.
"Precisely because we are Islamic, we will guarantee the rights of all people and all sects in Syria," said Al-Bashir.
Asked whether Syria's new constitution would be Islamic, he told the Italian daily that "we will clarify all these details during the constituent process."
11:02 Pope Francis called for "mutual respect" between religions in Syria.
"I pray... that the Syrian people may live in peace and security in their beloved land and the different religions may walk together in friendship and mutual respect for the good of that nation afflicted by so many years of war," said Francis, who leads the world's Catholics.
During his weekly audience at the Vatican, he said, " At this "delicate moment" of Syria's history, I hope that a political solution will be reached that will responsibly promote the stability and unity of the country without further conflicts and divisions."
10:53 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Turkey on Friday to discuss the developments in Syria, a Turkish official source told AFP.
But Washington's support of the Kurdish forces that have battled IS militants in northeastern Syria has put it at odds with Ankara, which sees them as an extension of the banned PKK, which has led a decades-long bloody insurgency against the Turkish state.
10:20 The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced a ceasefire in Manbij through American mediation after two weeks of fighting with Turkish-backed Syrian armed factions in the city northeast of Aleppo.
Mazloum Abdi, the General Commander of the SDF, said that the Kurdish-led, US-backed forces had reached a truce agreement in Manbij "to ensure the safety and security of civilians."
In a brief statement on his X account early Wednesday, Abdi added that the fighters of the Manbij Military Council will be withdrawn from the area as soon as possible.
He also emphasized: " achieving a ceasefire across all Syrian territories and entering a political process for the country's future."
10:18 As global focus shifts to Syria, Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza enters its 432nd day, with overnight strikes killing at least 26 people, including 19 in a deadly attack on a shelter for displaced people in Beit Lahiya in the north.
The victims included a family of eight, with four children, their parents, and two grandparents, all confirmed dead by Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Another Israeli strike targeted the crowded Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least seven people, including two children and their parents, as well as three relatives.
10:15 The military operations administration of the Syrian transitional government has directed all military formations and citizens in the Syrian coastal region to cease firing weapons, refrain from seizing any arms or vehicles, and avoid entering public institutions, Al Jazeera reported.
10:11 The US Biden administration has urged the insurgent groups in Syria not to assume automatic leadership of the country. Still, instead of running an inclusive process to form a transitional government, two American officials and a congressional aide briefed Reuters on the first US contacts with the group.
The communications with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group formerly allied with al Qaeda and designated a terrorist organization by the United States, are being conducted in coordination with Washington's Middle East allies, including Turkey, Reuters said.
The official, speaking anonymously, said Washington had sent messages to the group to help guide early efforts to establish a formal governing structure for the country.
09:45 Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that what happened in Syria is "undoubtedly a result of a joint American-Zionist plan," adding that "Iran has documents proving this."
"A neighbouring country to Syria has played and continues to play a clear role in this, as everyone can see. However, they are merely a secondary factor," Khamenei added.
Khamenei sharply criticized the Israeli invasion and heavy airstrikes on Syria since Assad’s fall.
He added that the weakening of the anti-Israel "resistance" would not diminish Tehran's power.
Some, "unaware of the meaning of resistance, imagine that when the resistance becomes weak, Islamic Iran will also become weak... Iran is strong and powerful and will become even more powerful," Khamenei said in his first speech after Assad's fall.
09:31 Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group has recently demonstrated some pragmatism, US officials told the New York Times.
The officials said it will be difficult for President-elect Donald Trump to remain a mere observer as the contours of post-Assad Syria take shape.
Trump will have to consider the continued presence of approximately 900 US troops in eastern Syria, they added.
Syria is a mess, but it is not our friend, this is not our fight, do not get involved,” Trump has said.
09:11 New prime minister Mohammed Al-Bashir said that Syria’s transitional government will consist of members from the rebel-led administration that ruled an insurgent stronghold in the country's northwest.
The caretaker Syrian government, overseeing the country’s affairs until March, held its first meeting Tuesday. It was attended by the departing Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali and other ministers, along with Al-Bashir, who had led the so-called “salvation government” in areas controlled by rebel groups—led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham—that have taken control of much of the country.
“We were tasked by the general command with managing the affairs of the Syrian government during a transitional period,” Bashir said in a statement following the meeting in Damascus. He added that he hoped the former Syrian government ministers would assist the new government during this transitional period.
“The caretaker government was formed from several ministers of the revolutionary government, which is the Syrian Salvation Government, and this government is a temporary caretaker government that will last until March 2025, until the constitutional issues are resolved,” Bashir said.
A former senior Al-Qaeda militant, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, aka Abu Mohamed Al-Jolani, led the insurgent alliance.
09:00 Syrian armed groups who ousted President Bashar Al-Assad said that they had taken the eastern city of Deir Ezzor.
"Our forces have seized the entire city of Deir Ezzor," the rebels said. In contrast, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said that Kurdish forces had withdrawn to other localities.
Video caption: The video shows the moments when the Military Operations Department took control of the city of Deir Ezzor and expelled the "Syrian Democratic Forces Syria" from it.
A member of the armed group Hayat al-Tahrir (HTS), which leads the insurgent alliance, said in a recorded video that the group would soon conduct a thorough sweep of the city’s neighbourhoods to secure the area. The member added that the strategic nearby town of Boukamal has also fallen to opposition forces.
“We will advance toward Raqqa and Hasakah and other areas in eastern Syria,” the HTS fighters said.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had only held the city for a few days. On Friday, the SDF said it deployed to Deir Ezzor and west of the Euphrates River, replacing Syrian government forces. At the time, the SDF said its fighters were not in control of the Boukamal border crossing with Iraq.
Earlier Tuesday, the top US military commander for the Middle East, Erik Kurilla, was in eastern Syria for meetings with the SDF at several bases in the country's east. It wasn’t clear if he met with SDF leader Mazloum Abdi.
The US has about 900 troops in Syria, including forces working with Kurdish allies in the northeast.
The British-based Observatory said that at least "218 members of pro-Kurdish forces and pro-Ankara factions were killed during three days of fighting in and around Manbij" in northern Syria, where Turkish-backed factions launched an offensive.
14:30 Ahmed Al-Sharaa, the General Commander of the New Syrian Administration, said that foreign governments should not worry about the situation in Syria.
"People are exhausted from the war, and the country is not ready to engage in another conflict," Al-Sharaa said.
He pointed out that the fear was centred around Assad's regime, which has now fallen, and Syria is now moving towards development, reconstruction, and stability.
"Our source of concern was the Iranian militias, Hezbollah, and the regime that committed the massacres we witness today," he added.
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