'Friday of victory': Mass rallies across Syria celebrate end of Assad

TNA’s live coverage of the latest from the war on Gaza concludes for today. Join us again at 0800 GMT for updates from the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), has highlighted Syria's struggle with a "triple crisis": the aftermath of 13 years of civil war, an influx of refugees from the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, and the power vacuum following the removal of Bashar al-Assad.

"It’s a triple crisis, and the needs are going to be massive," Skau told The Associated Press.

Even before these developments, over three million Syrians were experiencing acute food insecurity, but WFP funding constraints allowed aid to only two-thirds of those in need.

While Aleppo remains relatively stable, Damascus faces ongoing uncertainty, with disrupted markets, currency devaluation, soaring food prices, and halted transport systems.

Some US officials suspect missing journalist Austin Tice might have been killed during Israeli airstrikes on Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, according to news agency Reuters.

Israel's extensive air campaign targeted Syrian military sites after Assad’s collapse. Tice, a former Marine and freelance journalist, was abducted in Syria in 2012.

For years, US authorities believed he was held by the Assad government and had been negotiating for his release.

Concerns have now shifted to the possibility that Tice, if detained in an underground Syrian prison, may have suffocated after Assad’s forces reportedly cut electricity, halting ventilation in Damascus prisons.

US President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff visited Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and met Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Axios reported on Friday, citing two sources with knowledge of the meeting.

Massad Boulos, appointed by Trump as a senior adviser on Arab and Middle East issues, met the Qatari prime minister in Doha this week, Axios also reported. 

The White Helmets, Syria's civil defence organisation, has issued a stark warning about the vast number of landmines and unexploded ordnance scattered across the country.

In a recent Telegram post, the group revealed that between November 26 and December 12, its teams conducted over 200 clearance operations, successfully removing and destroying 491 unexploded devices.

To ensure public safety, the White Helmets have also hosted multiple awareness sessions aimed at educating returning residents about the risks posed by these remnants of war.

"We remind our Syrian people of the dangers of approaching strange objects or unexploded ordnance," the group stated, encouraging anyone who encounters suspicious items to report them immediately.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday said that well-integrated Syrian refugees are welcome to stay, as far-right and conservative politicians called for them to return to their home country after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

"Those who work here, who are well integrated, remain welcome in Germany. That's obvious," the social-democrat leader said in a post on X, noting that "some declarations these past days have deeply destabilised our fellow citizens of Syrian origin".

Huriyah! Freedom! - This cry echoed through Syria and many German cities. After all the suffering, all Syrians deserve a life in freedom and security. We are working with our partners to realise their hope: freedom for their homeland at last! pic.twitter.com/YxpT4eY3T9

— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) December 13, 2024

Turkey said Friday its long-closed Damascus embassy would reopen on Saturday, with its new interim envoy and staff already dispatched to Syria earlier in the day.

The new charge d'affairs, Burhan Koroglu, and his staff "left today, the embassy will be operational tomorrow," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told NTV private television.

Earlier this week, Fidan had said Ankara would reopen its embassy when the conditions were right, just days after a lightning rebel offensive overthrew Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad.

Koroglu was appointed to the temporary post on Thursday, state news agency Anadolu said, quoting foreign ministry sources who did not say when he would begin the job.

The Damascus embassy closed on March 26, 2012, a year after Syria's civil war began, due to the deteriorating security situation amid calls by the Turkish government for Assad to step down.

Koroglu was appointed as Turkey's ambassador to Nouakchott, Mauritania, exactly a year ago.

It was not immediately clear how long he would hold the post in Damascus.

Turkey said Friday it had urged Russia and Iran not to intervene militarily to support Bashar al-Assad's forces as Islamist-led rebels mounted their lightning advance on Damascus that ended with the Syrian strongman's ouster.

"The most important thing was to talk to the Russians and Iranians to ensure that they didn't enter the equation militarily. We had meetings with (them) and they understood," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Turkey's private NTV television.

He said if Moscow and Tehran, both key Assad allies since the start of the civil war in 2011, had come to the Syrian president's aid, the rebels could still have won but the outcome could have been far more violent.

"If Assad had received support, the opposition could have achieved victory with their determination, but it would have taken a long time and could have been bloody," he said.

Turkey's aim was to "hold focused talks with the two important power players to ensure minimum loss of life," Fidan said.

They quickly realised the game was up, that Assad "was no longer someone to invest in" and "there was no point anymore", he added.

Syria's rebel alliance had been planning the surprise ouster of President Basher al-Assad for a year, an opposition military leader told the Guardian in an interview published Friday.

After being weakened in a 2019 government operation, the group realised the "fundamental problem was the absence of unified leadership and control over battle", Abu Hassan al-Hamwi, an HTS commander and former leader of the group's military wing, told the UK daily.

Correcting those mistakes, HTS began last year preparing for a retaliatory operation dubbed "Deterring Aggression" to oust Assad.

It strengthened its control over opposition groups in the northwest and trained up its own militia, developing a "comprehensive military doctrine".

HTS then tried to bring together rebel and jihadist forces in southern Syria, under Assad's control for the past six years, to create a "unified war room", according to the Guardian article.

The "war room" convened commanders of 25 opposition groups who could steer the offensive against Assad from the south, with HTS driving in from the north, and converging in the capital and Assad's stronghold Damascus.

The moment to launch the operation came in late November, with Syria's staunch allies Iran and Russia distracted by other conflicts.

Over the weekend, the rebels succeeded in entering Damascus after sweeping through the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs in the north, causing Assad to flee the country and ending five decades of brutal rule by his clan.

"We had a conviction, supported by historical precedent: that 'Damascus cannot fall until Aleppo falls'", Hamwi said.

"The strength of the Syrian revolution was concentrated in the north, and we believed that once Aleppo was liberated, we could move southward toward Damascus," he added.

 The US military has transported out of Syria an American who disappeared seven months ago into former President Bashar Assad’s notorious prison system and was among the thousands released this week by rebels, a US official said Friday.

Travis Timmerman was flown out of Syria on a US military helicopter, according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation.

Timmerman, 29, told The Associated Press he had gone to Syria on a Christian pilgrimage and was not ill-treated while in Palestine Branch, a notorious detention facility operated by Syrian intelligence.

He said he was freed by "the liberators who came into the prison and knocked the door down (of his cell) with a hammer."

Timmerman said he was released Monday morning alongside a young Syrian man and 70 female prisoners, some of whom had their children with them.

He had been held separately from Syrian and other Arab prisoners and said he didn’t know of any other Americans held in the facility.

Russia appears to be packing up military equipment at a military air base in Syria, according to satellite images released by Maxar following rebels' overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad last weekend.

The images taken on Friday show what appear to be at least two Antonov AN-124s, one of the world's largest cargo planes, with their nose cones open at the Hmeimim air base in Syria's coastal Latakia province.

"Two An-124 heavy transport aircraft are at the airfield—both with their nose cones lifted and prepared to load equipment/cargo," Maxar said.

"Nearby, a Ka-52 attack helicopter is being dismantled and likely prepared for transport while elements of an S-400 air defence unit are similarly preparing to depart from its previous deployment site at the air base."

Russia's naval base at Tartous, Russia's only Mediterranean repair and replenishment hub, "remains largely unchanged since our Dec. 10 imagery coverage with two frigates continuing to be observed offshore of Tartous," Maxar said.

Britain's Channel 4 News reported that it had seen a convoy of more than 150 Russian military vehicles moving along a road.

Channel 4 said the Russian military was moving in good order and that it appeared there had been a deal struck to allow the Russians to exit Syria in an orderly fashion.

Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond.

A delegation from Qatar is due to visit Syria on Sunday for meetings with officials in its transitional government following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, a Qatari diplomat told news agency AFP Friday.

"The first Qatari delegation visit to Syria is expected to happen Sunday where they will take the necessary steps to reopen the embassy and discuss enhancing aid delivery," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the visit.

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, who was toppled over the weekend by an Islamist-led rebel advance that swept through major cities and then the capital Damascus.

The diplomat said officials from Qatar's foreign ministry would join the delegation and described as "untrue" "reports about a previous visit by (the) Qatari intelligence chief to Damascus".

This week, an official briefed on developments said Qatar had "established the first channel of communication" with the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the ouster of the former government in Damascus.

The official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, added the "focus of the communication with HTS and others is on the need... to maintain calm and preserve Syria's public institutions during the transition period".

Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 40 Palestinians in the last 24 hours - according to medical reports.

The Israeli army committed three attacks, also injuring 98 Palestinians.

Hundreds of armoured vehicles with Russian flags are travelling on the Damascus-Homs highway towards the Syrian coast - Al Jazeera reports.

The publication's reporters on the ground say that Russian forces in central and southern Syria in Qudssaya, who were there before the rebel offensive, are now withdrawing to the Khmeimim airbase and the port of Tartus.

Russian wheat supplies to Syria have been suspended because of uncertainty about the new government and payment delays, Russian and Syrian sources said on Friday, while two vessels carrying Russian wheat for Syria did not reach their destinations.

Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, was a staunch supporter of Bashar al-Assad and supplied wheat to Syria through complex financial and logistical arrangements, circumventing Western sanctions imposed on both Syria and Russia.

A Russian source close to the government told Reuters that supplies to Syria have been suspended because exporters are concerned by uncertainty over who will manage wheat imports on the Syrian side following the change of power in Damascus.

"I think no one would dare supply wheat to Syria under the current circumstances," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, told Reuters.

Shipping data shows that one vessel, the Mikhail Nenashev, is anchored off the Syrian coast, while another, the Alpha Hermes, has been off the Syrian coast for several days and is now heading towards the Egyptian port of Alexandria.

(Reuters) 

A Dutch court on Friday rejected a bid from human rights groups to block weapons exports to Israel and trading with the occupied territories, after finding there were sufficient checks already in place to comply with international law.

The ten organisations told The Hague District Court last month that they thought the Netherlands was in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention, drawn up following World War II, by continuing to sell weapons to Israel more than a year into the conflict.

“The government uses my own tax money, that I pay, to kill my own family. I’ve lost 18 members of my own family,” Ahmed Abofoul, a legal adviser for the pro-Palestinian organization Al-Haq, one of the groups involved in the lawsuit, told the court during a hearing in November.

The court ruling said that “it is not up to the interim relief judge to order the state to reconsider government policy. That is primarily a political responsibility.”

Republican and Democratic US senators say it is too soon to consider lifting sanctions on Syria following the removal of President Bashar al-Assad, an indication that Washington is unlikely to change its policy any time soon.

"We're all really happy that Assad is gone," Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Reuters. "We worked at it for a long, long time, and the job is done. The problem is, what comes next?"

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States and most other countries, and also sanctioned by the United Nations.

"So, given that, it certainly calls for considerable pause, to watch and see what happens," he said, noting that while rebel leaders were making encouraging statements about unity and human rights, it remains to be seen how they act.

(Reuters)

Greece is in advanced talks to buy 36 PULS rocket artillery systems from Israel as it pushes to modernise its armed forces, two officials said on Friday.

The discussions on the 600-700 million euro ($630 million-$735 million) deal come as the countries are in negotiations for Israel to sell Greece a 2-billion-euro anti-aircraft and missile defence dome.

Greece's government will submit the deal to a parliamentary committee for approval in the first quarter of 2025, the officials said.

(Reuters)

The EU is seeking to establish diplomatic contact "soon" with Syria's new rulers, spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a high-ranking EU official said Friday.

"What we are now thinking is to establish contacts, to pass messages about our expectations," the official said, adding that the outreach would be at "working level".

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised Friday to work with Iraq to ensure no resurgence of the Islamic State group after Bashar al-Assad's overthrow in neighbouring Syria.

Blinken said he told Sudani of "our commitment to working with Iraq on security and always working for Iraq's sovereignty, to make sure that that is strengthened and preserved".

"I think this is a moment as well for Iraq to reinforce its own sovereignty as well as its stability, security and success going forward," Blinken said.

He added that "no one knows the importance" more than Iraq of stability in Syria and avoiding the resurgence of Islamic State (IS) jihadists, also known by the Arabic acronym Daesh.

"We are determined to make sure that Daesh cannot re-emerge," Blinken said.

"The United States (and) Iraq, together had tremendous success in taking away the territorial caliphate that Daesh had created years ago."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Friday to meet Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani for talks on the future of neighbouring Syria.

Blinken visited the US embassy in Baghdad and said he spoke to Sudani about the situation in Syria.

The pair discussed "the conviction of so many countries in the region and beyond that, as Syria transitions from the Assad dictatorship to hopefully a democracy, it does so in a way that, of course, protects all of the minorities in Syria that produces an inclusive, non-sectarian government," Blinken said, adding that Syria should not become a "platform for terrorism".

"No one knows the importance of that more than Iraq because of the ongoing presence of ISIS or Daesh in Syria, and we are determined to make sure that Daesh cannot reemerge," he said, referring to the Islamic State group.

Austria's conservative-led government said on Friday it is offering Syrian refugees a "return bonus" of 1,000 euros ($1,050) to move back to their home country after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer reacted quickly to Assad's overthrow on Sunday, saying the same day that the security situation in Syria should be reassessed so as to allow deportations of Syrian refugees.

"Austria will support Syrians who wish to return to their home country with a return bonus of 1,000 euros. The country now needs its citizens in order to be rebuilt," Nehammer said in an English-language post on X.

(Reuters)

The Red Cross said on Friday it had opened two new telephone hotlines to try to reunite Syrians who have been missing for years with their families, but warned that many cases will take months or years to resolve.

Stephan Sakalian, head of delegation for ICRC in Syria, told reporters that it had opened two hotlines this week: one for prisoners and one for families to try to connect them.

"We can provide them with mental health and psychosocial support ... we can even help them financially if they need to be reunited," he told a Geneva press briefing via video link from Damascus. Legal aid and healthcare are also available, an ICRC statement said.

"Let's make no mistake: giving answers to people will take weeks, months and maybe years, given the amount of information to process," he said. "The work is tremendous," he added.

The ICRC is also looking for three of its colleagues who were abducted in 2013. "Like everyone we want to have hope and seek any signal or any news that may bring some closure to their families, but for the moment, we do not have any news," he added.

(Reuters)

Over 44,875 Palestinians have been killed, and over 106,454 have been injured since 7 October 2023.

Syria's new interim authorities have asked the United Nations refugee agency to remain in the country following the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad, sending a "constructive" signal, the organisation said on Friday.

"The needs are absolutely huge," Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, UNHCR's representative in Syria, told reporters in Geneva by video link from Damascus.

Since Assad's ouster, the agency had had "some contact with the interim authorities", he said, adding: "the initial signals that they are sending us are constructive".

The authorities were saying "they want us to stay in Syria, that they appreciate the work that we have been doing now for many years, that they need us to continue doing that work," Vargas Llosa said.

Most importantly, he said the interim authorities had indicated "they will provide us the necessary security to carry out those activities".

The health ministry in Gaza said Friday that at least 44,875 people have been killed in more than 14 months of war.

The toll includes 40 people killed in Israeli attacks in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 106,454 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began.

Thousands of jubilant Syrians gathered outside a landmark mosque in the capital, Damascus, to celebrate during the first Friday prayers since the ouster of leader Bashar al-Assad.

Thousands flocked to the mosque - some raising the three-star Syrian independence flag while crowds chanted, "One, one, one, the Syrian people is one!"

Several hundred people gathered in a festive and relaxed atmosphere in the main square of Syria's second city, Aleppo.

Thousands of Syrians gathered at the #UmayyadMosque in central #Damascus for the first Friday prayers after the fall of #BasharAlAssad’s regime. The crowd raised slogans calling for the death sentence of Bashar and for the unity of the Syrian people.#Syria pic.twitter.com/wPIEJIN7qS

— This is Beirut (@ThisIsBeirut_) December 13, 2024

The European Commission on Friday announced the launch of an "air bridge" operation to deliver an initial 50 tonnes of health supplies to Syria via neighboring Turkey.

The items from EU stockpiles in Dubai will be flown to Adana, Turkey for distribution in Syria "in the coming days," a commission statement said.

A further 46 tonnes of relief supplies will be trucked from a stockpile in Denmark to Adana, for distribution in Syria by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation.

King Hamad has told Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani that Bahrain is ready to cooperate with the new authorities, the official BNA news agency reported Friday.

It said that in a letter addressed to Jolani using his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the monarch said Bahrain, current Arab summit president, was ready to "continue consultations and coordination with Syria".

Thousands gathered in the Umayyad Mosque in Damasus for the first Friday prayers since the fall of the Assad regime. 

The first Friday prayer in the Umayyad Mosque in the capital, Damascus. 💚@LiveUpdateSyria pic.twitter.com/kyge7jODDH

— Live Updates Frontline (@LiveUpdateSyria) December 13, 2024

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said he had asked Turkey to use its influence with Hamas to get the Palestinian Islamist movement to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza.

"We talked about the imperative of Hamas saying 'yes' to the agreement that's possible, to finally help bring this to an end. And we appreciate very much the role that Turkey can play in using its voice with Hamas to try to bring this to conclusion," he said after top-level talks in Turkey.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that he discussed the imperative of Hamas to say 'yes' to the Gaza ceasefire agreement in his talks with Turkey's President and Foreign Minister.

"In my discussions with President Erdogan and with Minister Fidan we talked about the imperative of Hamas saying yes to the (Gaza) agreement that's possible to finally help bring this to an end," Blinken said, following his meeting with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara.

"We appreciate very much the role that Turkiye can play in using its voice with with Hamas, to try to bring this to conclusion."

(Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday he saw "encouraging signs" of progress toward a ceasefire in Gaza, urging Turkey to use its influence to encourage Hamas to accept.

His remarks came after meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on the second leg of his Syria crisis tour following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government.

"We discussed Gaza, and we discussed I think the opportunity... to get a ceasefire in place. And what we've seen in the last couple of weeks are more encouraging signs that that is possible," Blinken told reporters in Ankara.

"We talked about the imperative of Hamas saying 'yes' to the agreement that's possible, to finally help bring this to an end," he said.

"And we appreciate very much the role that Turkey can play in using its voice with Hamas to try to bring this to conclusion," he added.

The leader of the Islamist rebels that seized power in Syria last week called on Syrians to take to the streets to celebrate "the victory of the revolution" on Friday.

"I would like to congratulate the great Syrian people on the victory of the blessed revolution and I call on them to go to the streets to express their joy," said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa. The leader was wearing a dark waistcoat and a white shirt in the video message shared on Telegram.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday told Turkey it was "imperative" to work against a resurgence of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

"Our country worked very hard... to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS (IS), to ensure that that threat doesn't rear its head again. And it's imperative that we keep at those efforts," Blinken said in Ankara at a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday he discussed the imperative of continued US-Turkish efforts to keep Islamic State down in Syria in a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara.

"Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS, to ensure that that threat doesn't rear its head again, and it's imperative that we keep at those efforts," Blinken said at a news conference.

Blinken also said that there is broad agreement on what Turkey and the US would like to see in Syria after Assad's ouster.

(Reuters)

Turkey's priority in Syria is ensuring the stability and prevention of domination by groups deemed terrorists after the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday.

Speaking alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after their meeting in Ankara, Fidan said that possible Turkish and US roles for Syria's future were among the topics they discussed.

(Reuters)

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has ordered the military to "prepare to remain" throughout the winter in the UN-patrolled buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces on the strategic Golan Heights.

"Due to the situation in Syria, it is of critical security importance to maintain our presence at the summit of Mount Hermon, and everything must be done to ensure the (army's) readiness on-site to enable the fighters to stay there despite the challenging weather conditions," Katz's spokesman said in a statement Friday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a visit to Turkey with talks with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday as he presses ahead with efforts to unify Middle Eastern nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria.

On the second stop of his latest Mideast trip, his 12th since the Israel's war on Gaza erupted last year but first since the weekend ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Blinken saw Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Thursday to try to bring Turkey into a consensus to prevent Syria from collapsing into wider turmoil.

In his meeting with Erdogan, Blinken stressed the importance of continuing the fight against the Islamic State while also supporting a Syrian transition that protects the rights of women and minorities and moves to secure and destroy suspected chemical weapons stocks.

Blinken “emphasized the need to ensure the coalition to defeat ISIS can continue to execute its critical mission,” the State Department said.

China's foreign minister Wang Yi told his Egyptian counterpart on Friday that Beijing is "deeply concerned" about the situation in Syria, as the two top diplomats met in the Chinese capital.

On Friday, Wang and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held a joint press conference at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, wrapping up a two-day trip for "strategic dialogue".

"The two sides are deeply concerned about the current situation in Syria and call for respect for Syria's sovereignty," Wang told journalists, urging the prevention of "terrorist and extremist forces from taking advantage of the chaos".

"We agreed that we should promote peace and negotiations in order to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East."

G7 leaders will attempt Friday to forge a common approach to the new government of Syria, which has pledged to protect the rule of law after years of abuses under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

"I turned the world upside down looking," Abu Mohammed told AFP as he searched for news of three missing relatives at the Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus.

"But I didn't find anything at all. We just want a hint of where they were, one percent."

The group has sought to moderate its rhetoric, and the interim government insists the rights of all Syrians will be protected.

"We respect religious and cultural diversity in Syria," government spokesman Obaida Arnaout told AFP on Thursday.