With Assad ousted, a new era starts in Syria as the world watches

With Assad ousted, a new era starts in Syria as the world watches
A woman looks on, as Syrian-Americans and supporters celebrate after Syrian rebels announced that they had ousted Syrian President Bashar al- Assad in Syria, in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S. December 8, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 09 December 2024
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With Assad ousted, a new era starts in Syria as the world watches

With Assad ousted, a new era starts in Syria as the world watches
  • Syria wakes up to first morning without Assad
  • Russia gives asylum to Assad and his family

DAMASCUS: Syrians awakened on Monday to a hopeful if uncertain future, after rebels seized the capital Damascus and President Bashar Assad fled to Russia, following 13 years of civil war and more than 50 years of his family’s brutal rule.
With a curfew declared by the rebels, Damascus was calm after dawn, with shops closed and streets largely empty. Most of those out were rebels, and many cars bore license plates from Idlib, the northwestern province from which the fighters launched their lightning advance just 12 days ago.
Firdous Omar, from Idlib, among a group of fighters in central Umayyad Square, said he had been battling the Assad regime since 2011 and was now looking forward to laying down his weapon and returning to his job as a farmer.
“We had a purpose and a goal and now we are done with it. We want the state and security forces to be in charge.”
The lightning advance of a militia alliance spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, was a generational turning point for the Middle East.
It ends a war that killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble, swathes of countryside depopulated and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions. Millions of refugees could finally go home from camps across Turkiye, Lebanon and Jordan.
Assad’s fall wipes out one of the main bastions from which Iran and Russia wielded power across the region. Turkiye, long aligned with Assad’s foes, emerges strengthened, while Israel hailed it as an outcome of its blows to Assad’s Iranian-backed allies.
The Arab world faces the challenge of reintegrating one of the Middle East’s central states, while containing the militant Sunni Islam that underpinned the anti-Assad revolt but has also metastasized into the horrific sectarian violence of Islamic State.
HTS is still designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations and most countries, but has spent years trying to soften its image and distance itself from its Al-Qaeda roots to reassure foreign states and minority groups within Syria.

A new history
The group’s leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, vowed to rebuild Syria.
“A new history, my brothers, is being written in the entire region after this great victory,” he told a huge crowd at ancient Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on Sunday. With hard work Syria would be “a beacon for the Islamic nation.”
Assad’s prime minister, Mohammed Jalali, told Sky New Arabia he would be willing to meet with Golani and was ready to provide documents and assistance for the transfer of power. He said he had no answer to the fate of the Syrian army.
“It is a question left to the brothers who will take over the management of the country’s affairs, what concerns us today is the continuation of services for Syrians,” he said.
The Assad police state was known for generations as one of the harshest in the Middle East, holding hundreds of thousands of political prisoners. On Sunday, elated inmates poured out of jails. Reunited families wept in joy. Newly freed prisoners were filmed running through the Damascus streets holding up their hands to show how many years they had been in prison.
The White Helmets rescue organization said it had dispatched emergency teams to search for hidden underground cells still believed to hold detainees. One of the final areas to fall to the rebels was the Mediterranean coast, heartland of Assad’s Alawite sect and site of Russia’s naval base.
Looting took place in the coastal city of Latakia on Sunday but had subsided on Monday, residents said, with few people in the streets and shortages of fuel and bread.
Two Alawite residents said that so far the situation had panned out better than they thought, seemingly without sectarian retribution against Alawites. One said a friend had been visited at home by rebel fighters who told him to hand over any weapons he had, which he did.
Near Latakia, rebels had yet to enter the Assad family’s ancestral village of Qardaha, site of a huge mausoleum for Assad’s father who took power in the 1960s. A resident said all senior figures tied to Assad and his rule had left.
“Only the poor are left here. The rich guys and thieves are gone,” he said.

Israel, US launch strikes
Israel said Assad’s fall was a direct consequence of Israel’s punishing assault on Iran’s Lebanese allies Hezbollah, who had propped up Assad for years but were decimated since September by an Israeli air and ground campaign.
On Sunday, Israel struck sites linked to Iran in Syria. It has also pushed tanks over the border into a demilitarised buffer zone to prevent a spillover from the turmoil there, but says it intends on staying out of the conflict. On Monday the Israeli military published photos of its forces in the Mount Hermon border area.
The United States, which has 900 soldiers on the ground in Syria operating alongside Kurdish-led forces in the east, said its forces hit around 75 targets in air strikes against Islamic State camps and operatives on Sunday.
“There’s a potential that elements in the area, such as Daesh, could try to take advantage of this opportunity and regain capability... Those strikes were focused on those cells,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said during a visit to Japan.


US, Arab mediators make some progress in Gaza peace talks, no deal yet, sources say

US, Arab mediators make some progress in Gaza peace talks, no deal yet, sources say
Updated 3 sec ago
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US, Arab mediators make some progress in Gaza peace talks, no deal yet, sources say

US, Arab mediators make some progress in Gaza peace talks, no deal yet, sources say
  • Israeli strikes continue amid ongoing peace talks
  • Hamas demands end to war for hostage release
CAIRO: US and Arab mediators have made some progress in their efforts to reach a ceasefire accord between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but not enough to seal a deal, Palestinian sources close to the talks said on Thursday.
As talks continued in Qatar, the Israeli military carried out strikes across the enclave, killing at least 17 people, Palestinian medics said.
Qatar, the US and Egypt are making a major push to reach a deal to halt fighting in the 15-month conflict and free remaining hostages held by Islamist group Hamas before President Joe Biden leaves office.
President-elect Donald Trump has warned there will be “hell to pay,” if the hostages are not released by his inauguration on Jan. 20.
On Thursday, a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said the absence of a deal so far did not mean the talks were going nowhere and said this was the most serious attempt so far to reach an accord.
“There are extensive negotiations, mediators and negotiators are talking about every word and every detail. There is a breakthrough when it comes narrowing old existing gaps but there is no deal yet,” he told Reuters, without giving further details.
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Eden Bar-Tal said Israel was fully committed to reaching an agreement to return its hostages from Gaza but faces obstruction from Hamas.
The two sides have been an at impasse for a year over two key issues. Hamas has said it will only free its remaining hostages if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.
Severe humanitarian crisis
On Thursday, the death toll from Israel’s military strikes included eight Palestinians killed in a house in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, where Israeli forces have operated for more than three months. Nine others, including a father and his three children, died in two separate airstrikes on two houses in central Gaza Strip, health officials said.
There was no Israeli military comment on the two incidents.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the territory’s 2.1 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.
Israel denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza and says it has facilitated the distribution of hundreds of truckloads of food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to warehouses and shelters over the past week.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. On Wednesday, the Israeli military said troops had recovered the body of Israeli Bedouin hostage Youssef Al-Ziyadna, along with evidence that was still being examined suggesting his son Hamza, taken on the same day, may also be dead.
“We will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

Lebanon’s parliament fails to elect new president; Aoun falls 15 votes short of required 86 in first round

Lebanon’s parliament fails to elect new president; Aoun falls 15 votes short of required 86 in first round
Updated 33 sec ago
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Lebanon’s parliament fails to elect new president; Aoun falls 15 votes short of required 86 in first round

Lebanon’s parliament fails to elect new president; Aoun falls 15 votes short of required 86 in first round
  • Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun is the leading candidate
  • He is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the US and Saudi Arabia

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament yet again failed to elect a president on Thursday, after 12 previous attempts to choose a successor to former President Michel Aoun, whose term ended in October 2022.

Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun, the leading candidate, failed to muster enough support – getting only 71 votes or 15 short of the required 86 in the first round of voting.

He is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia, whose assistance Lebanon will need as it seeks to rebuild after a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri adjourned the session for two hours of consultations, after a first round of voting failed to produce enough votes for Aoun.

Two political sources said Aoun was likely to cross the 86-vote threshold in a second session later in the day.

Hezbollah previously backed another candidate, Suleiman Frangieh, the leader of a small Christian party in northern Lebanon with close ties to former Syrian President Bashar Assad.

However, on Wednesday, Frangieh announced he had withdrawn from the race and endorsed Aoun, apparently clearing the way for the army chief.

Lebanon’s fractious sectarian power-sharing system is prone to deadlock, both for political and procedural reasons. The small, crisis-battered Mediterranean country has been through several extended presidential vacancies, with the longest lasting nearly 2 1/2 years between May 2014 and October 2016. It ended when former President Michel Aoun was elected.

As a sitting army commander, Joseph Aoun is technically barred from becoming president by Lebanon’s constitution. The ban has been waived before, but it means that Aoun faces additional procedural hurdles.

Under normal circumstances, a presidential candidate in Lebanon can be elected by a two-thirds majority of the 128-member house in the first round of voting, or by a simple majority in a subsequent round.

But because of the constitutional issues surrounding his election, Aoun would need a two-thirds majority even in the second round.

Other contenders include Jihad Azour, a former finance minister who is now the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund; and Elias Al-Baysari, the acting head of Lebanon’s General Security agency.

The next head of state will face daunting challenges apart from implementing the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war and seeking funds for reconstruction.

Lebanon is six years into an economic and financial crisis that decimated the country’s currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese. The cash-strapped state electricity company provides only a few hours of power a day.

The country’s leaders reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a bail-out package in 2022 but have made limited progress on reforms required to clinch the deal.


Turkiye to tell US that Syria needs to be rid of terrorists, Turkish source says

Turkiye to tell US that Syria needs to be rid of terrorists, Turkish source says
Updated 09 January 2025
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Turkiye to tell US that Syria needs to be rid of terrorists, Turkish source says

Turkiye to tell US that Syria needs to be rid of terrorists, Turkish source says
  • Ankara has repeatedly demanded that its NATO ally Washington halt its support for the YPG

ANKARA: Turkish officials will tell US Under Secretary of State John Bass during talks in Ankara this week that Syria needs to be rid of terrorist groups to achieve stability and security, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said on Thursday.
Bass’ visit comes amid repeated warnings from Turkiye that it could mount a cross-border military offensive into northeastern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia if the group does not meet its demands.
The YPG spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which played an important role in defeating Islamic State in Syria. Ankara views the group as terrorists and an extension of the Kurdish militants waging a decades-old insurgency against the Turkish state, and has said it must lay down its weapons and disband.
During his visit to Ankara on Thursday and Friday, Bass will hold talks with Turkiye’s deputy foreign ministers, the source said, adding the talks would focus on Syria.
Talks are expected to “focus on steps to establish stability and security in Syria and to support the establishment of an inclusive government,” the source said.
“Naturally, the Turkish side is expected to strongly repeat that, for this to happen, the country needs to be rid of terrorist elements,” the person said, adding the sides would also discuss expanding the US sanctions exemption to Syria for the country to rebuild.
Ankara has repeatedly demanded that its NATO ally Washington halt its support for the YPG. It has mounted several incursions against the group and controls swathes of territory in northern Syria.
Syria’s Kurdish factions have been on the back foot since the ousting of former President Bashar Assad, with the new administration being friendly to Turkiye.


37 killed in north Syria clashes between pro-Turkiye, Kurdish forces: monitor

37 killed in north Syria clashes between pro-Turkiye, Kurdish forces: monitor
Updated 09 January 2025
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37 killed in north Syria clashes between pro-Turkiye, Kurdish forces: monitor

37 killed in north Syria clashes between pro-Turkiye, Kurdish forces: monitor
  • Latest reported fighting comes despite the US saying it was working to address Turkiye’s concerns in Syria
  • Syria’s Kurds control much of the oil-rich northeast of the country, where they enjoy de facto autonomy

DAMASCUS: Battles between Turkish-backed groups, supported by air strikes, and Kurdish-led forces killed 37 people on Thursday in Syria’s northern Manbij region, a war monitor said.
The latest reported fighting comes despite the United States saying Wednesday that it was working to address Turkiye’s concerns in Syria to dissuade the NATO ally from escalating an offensive against Kurdish fighters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported “fierce battles in the Manbij countryside... in the past hours between the (Kurdish-led) Syrian Democratic Forces and the (Turkish-backed) National Army factions... with Turkish air cover.”
“The attacks killed 37 people in a preliminary toll,” mostly Turkish-backed combatants, but also six SDF fighters and five civilians, said the British-based Observatory with a network of sources inside Syria.
The monitor said at least 322 people have been killed in fighting in the Manbij countryside since last month.
On Wednesday, Mazloum Abdi, who heads the US-backed SDF, said his group supported “the unity and integrity of Syrian territory.” In a written statement, he called on Syria’s new authorities “to intervene in order for there to be a ceasefire throughout Syria.”
Abdi’s comments followed what he called a “positive” meeting between Kurdish leaders and the Damascus authorities late last month.
Turkish-backed factions in northern Syria resumed their fight with the SDF at the same time as Islamist-led militants were launching an offensive on November 27 that overthrew Syrian president Bashar Assad just 11 days later.
The pro-Ankara groups succeeded in capturing Kurdish-held Manbij and Tal Rifaat in northern Aleppo province, despite US-led efforts to establish a truce in the Manbij area.
The fighting has continued since, with mounting casualties.
On Wednesday Washington’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Turkiye had “legitimate concerns” about Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants inside Syria and called for a resolution in the country that includes the departure of “foreign terrorist fighters.”
“That’s a process that’s going to take some time, and in the meantime, what is profoundly not in the interest of everything positive we see happening in Syria would be a conflict, and we’ll work very hard to make sure that that doesn’t happen,” Blinken told reporters in Paris.
Turkiye on Tuesday threatened a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria unless they accepted Ankara’s conditions for a “bloodless” transition after Assad’s fall.
Syria’s Kurds control much of the oil-rich northeast of the country, where they enjoyed de facto autonomy during much of the civil war since 2011.
The US-backed SDF spearheaded the military campaign that ousted Daesh group militants from their last territory in Syria in 2019.
But Turkiye accuses the main component of the SDF, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with the PKK, which has waged a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States, the European Union and most of Turkiye’s Western allies.
Turkiye has mounted multiple operations against the SDF since 2016.


Gaza rescuers say children among 12 killed in Israeli strikes

Gaza rescuers say children among 12 killed in Israeli strikes
Updated 09 January 2025
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Gaza rescuers say children among 12 killed in Israeli strikes

Gaza rescuers say children among 12 killed in Israeli strikes
  • Israeli air strikes and shelling continues across Gaza, even as mediators push on with their efforts to halt the fighting

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces pounded the Palestinian territory on Thursday, killing at least 12 people including three girls, 15 months into the war.
The latest strikes came as Qatar, Egypt, and the United States mediate negotiations in Doha between Israel and Hamas militants for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza and secure the release of hostages.
Three girls and their father were killed when an air strike hit their house in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the civil defense agency reported.
Local paramedic Mahmud Awad said he helped transfer the bodies of two girls and their father, Mahmud Abu Kharuf to a hospital.
“Their bodies were found under the rubble of the house that the occupation bombed in the Nuseirat camp,” Awad said. He added that the body of the third girl had been found earlier by residents.
In a separate strike, eight people were killed when their house was struck in the town of Jabalia in northern Gaza, where the army has focused its offensive since October 6.
Several more were wounded in that strike, the civil defense agency said.
Israeli air strikes and shelling continues across Gaza, even as mediators push on with their efforts to halt the fighting and secure a deal for the release of hostages still held in Gaza.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Paris that a ceasefire was “very close.”
“I hope that we can get it over the line in the time that we have,” Blinken said, referring to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
But if not, “I believe that when we get that deal – and we’ll get it – it’ll be on the basis of the plan that President (Joe) Biden put before the world back in May.”
In May, Biden unveiled a three-phase plan for the release of the hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.