Syria’s prime minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali agrees to hand over power to rebel forces
The former Syrian prime minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali has agreed to hand over power to the rebel “Salvation Government”, according to Al Arabiya TV in a development reported by Reuters.
On Sunday, the head of HTS, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who spearheaded the rebel offensive, said al-Jalali, would stay on in Damascus to lead a transitional government in the coming months however, he has now said he will hand over power.
Key events
Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has no plans to end the war in Gaza imminently, despite apparent progress in efforts to free hostages still held by Hamas, and renewed talk of a ceasefire.
The Israeli prime minister gave the remarks at a press conference Monday evening, in which he indicated he wanted to see Hamas completely destroyed.
“If we end the war now, Hamas will return, recover, rebuild and attack us again – and that is what we do not want to go back to,” Netanyahu said, according to AFP.
Earlier Monday, Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar said the country had higher expectations of a hostage deal amid reports that Hamas had asked for lists of all hostages still held by militant groups in the Palestinian enclave.
The White House has released a lengthy transcript of a media teleconference that took place earlier, laying out some of the Biden administration’s positions on developments in Syria over the last few days.
The briefing was “on background”, a media term for information provided that can’t be attributable to any named individual. Consequently, the person speaking for the president is identified only as “a senior administration official”.
Here are some of the highlights:
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The collapse of the Assad regime is “a momentous event… a historic landmark event [and] a fundamental act of justice”.
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“It is impossible not to place this week’s events in the context of the decisions the president has made to fully back Israel against Iran and its proxy terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, and Ukraine against Russia. Hamas is on its back, Iran is on its back, Hezbollah is on its back, Russia is on its back.”
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Rebuilding Syria post-Assad is “going to take an enormous effort from everybody” including rival rebel groups and international partners: “Syria is such a rich, diverse country, and there has to be a role for all minority groups, ethnic groups, and opposition groups need to work together, and commitment to the rule and everything else”.
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The fall of Assad is “something that will affect Iranian calculations. Whether that is in the direction of diplomacy we’ll have to see. If they ever were to make another fateful decision, such as moving towards a nuclear weapon, the US will simply never allow that”.
The ruling Ba’ath party of Syria’s ex-president Bashar al-Assad says it will support the country’s transition following the rebel takeover, an indication that it will try to retain some power in the aftermath of the downfall of its leader.
In a statement reported by AFP, Ibrahim al-Hadid, the party’s general secretary, said: “We will remain supportive of a transitional phase in Syria aimed at defending the unity of the country.”
‘At least two explosions’ in Damascus: witnesses
At least two explosions have been heard in the Syrian capital Damascus, where the time is approaching 10pm on Monday. Reuters cited three witnesses in the city, who said the explosions were in Barzeh, near a Syrian government center linked to the production of chemical weapons.
The source of the explosions was not immediately clear.
On Sunday, Israel conducted three airstrikes in Damascus, against a security complex and a government research center which Israeli officials have said was used by Iran to develop missiles, two regional security sources told he news agency.
Separately, an Israeli strike targeted an air defense installation near Syria’s Mediterranean Latakia port on Monday, Syrian security sources said, according to the news agency.
Israel has ramped up raids against Iran-linked targets in Syria since the 7 October attacks by Hamas in Israeli territory in 2023 that sparked the Gaza war.
The head of the United Nations refugee program, Filippo Grandi, has called for patience as millions of Syrian refugees displaced by the 13-year civil war weigh a possible return to the country after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
“There is a remarkable opportunity for Syria to move toward peace and for its people to begin returning home,” Grandi said in a statement, reported by Reuters.
“But with the situation still uncertain, millions of refugees are carefully assessing how safe it is to do so. Some are eager, while others are hesitant.”
Grandi said there was a need for “patience and vigilance” as refugees consider their options.
Several European countries, including the UK, announced Monday they were putting asylum applications from Syrians on hold until further notice.
Faisal Ali
Scottish National Party MP Brendan O’Hara asked the foreign secretary about Israel seizing territory in demilitarised Syrian-controlled parts of the Golan Heights in the UK House of Commons just now. David Lammy dismissed the question as “simplistic”, adding that Israel has “legitimate security concerns particularly in the context of a country that has housed the Isis [the Islamic State], and al-Qaida and Daesh”.
Israel says it occupied the territory, which serves as a buffer zone between the two countries, following the breakdown of an agreement with the government of the ousted Syria leader Bashar al-Assad. Israel illegally occupied parts of the Golan Heights in 1967 and annexed those territories in 1981. The buffer zone seized by Israel lies adjacent to the territory it already occupied.
The UK considers the Golan Heights to be occupied territory, while the US, via a proclamation during the first administration of president-elect Donald Trump, consider it part of Israel.
Summary of the day so far
It is approaching 9pm in Damascus and Moscow, 8pm in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Gaza City, and 9.30pm in Tehran. Here are the headlines
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The former Syrian prime minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali has agreed to hand over power to the rebel “Salvation Government”, according to Al Arabiya TV in a development reported by Reuters.
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Rebel forces in Syria have announced a general amnesty for all conscripted soldiers who served during the Assad regime. “The Military Operations Directorate announces a general amnesty for all conscripted soldiers serving under mandatory service. Their safety is guaranteed, and any harm or assault against them is strictly prohibited,” the rebel forces said in a message on their Telegram channel.
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Three Israeli soldiers have been killed during fighting in the northern Gaza strip. The IDF has named them as Staff Sergeant Ido Zano, Staff Sergeant Daniel Barak Halpern, and Sergeant Omri Cohen. Alongside them, 12 IDF soldiers were wounded in the same incident, including two who were seriously wounded, Israeli media reported.
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Turkey is opening its Yayladagi border gate with Syria to manage the safe and voluntary return of the millions of migrants it hosts, President Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday, as hundreds gathered at border crossings.
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The Biden administration has indicated it will be pragmatic about the realities on the ground in Syria as it weighs whether to delist the Syrian jihadi insurgent group that toppled Assad as a terror organisation. They are saying the “right things so far”, an official told AP.
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It is “too early” to say whether the UK will strip the wife of Bashar al-Assad, Asma al-Assad, of her British citizenship, the prime minister, Keir Starmer, has said. The UK has also said it has yet make a decision on whether to unproscribe Hayat Tahrir al-Sham as a terrorist organisation.
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The UK has paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims. Germany, France and other European nations have either agreed or are working on similar decisions.
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Syrian Civil Defence (the White Helmets) are offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of the Assad regime’s rumoured network of secret prisons in what the organisation believes is a race against time to find prisoners who may be trapped and abandoned by the sudden collapse of the regime.
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Israel is now more optimistic about a possible hostage deal in Gaza, its foreign minister Gideon Saar said on Monday, amid reports that Hamas had asked for lists of all hostages still held by militant groups in the Palestinian enclave.
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Events in Syria are a “major, dangerous and new transformation”, according to a senior Hezbollah politician on Monday, in what marked the Iran-backed Lebanon group’s first reaction to the toppling of its ally Bashar al-Assad.
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Israeli forces have seized control of a previously demilitarised buffer zone in Syrian-controlled territory in the Golan Heights and attacked what it said were regime weapons depots with airstrikes.
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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said president Vladimir Putin personally approved the decision to grant Bashar al-Assad asylum in Russia. Peskov said it was “premature” to discuss the future of Russia’s military presence inside Syria
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The Syrian embassy in Moscow was seen flying the three-starred flag of opposition to Assad’s fallen regime. Tass reported the embassy has had no contact with Assad
My colleague Richard Luscombe will pick up the blog from here.
Syria’s rebel command has said it would not tell women how to dress.
“It is strictly forbidden to interfere with women’s dress or impose any request related to their clothing or appearance, including requests for modesty,” the command said in a statement on social media.
UK pauses decisions on Syrian asylum claims
The UK has paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims while it assesses the current situation, after rebel forces seized the capital of Damascus over the weekend.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The Home Office has paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims whilst we assess the current situation.
“We keep all country guidance relating to asylum claims under constant review so we can respond to emerging issues.”
The UK’s decision comes after Germany, Austria and other European countries ordered a halt to asylum applications by Syrians after Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia following 13 years of civil war.
Most went to Turkey and other neighbouring nations but Syrians also made up a large proportion of the more than a million people who fled to Germany and Austria during the European migration crisis of 2015 and 2016.
In the UK, by the end of February 2021, more than 20,000 Syrian refugees had been resettled under a government scheme, according to the Refugee Council.
The United States has three primary interests in Syria: protecting US. soldiers and personnel, ensuring US allies are safe, and preventing a humanitarian catastrophe, the US deputy ambassador said ahead of an emergency UN Security Council meeting, according to the Associated Press.
The United States will work to try and ensure that “all of those things happen,” Robert Wood told reporters before Monday afternoon’s closed council meeting called by Russia.
He said another “high, high priority” for the US is to locate and free the missing American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared 12 years ago near the Syrian capital. “We have reasons to believe that he still is [alive], but we have to see,” he said.
Wood called the situation in Syria “dynamic” following the rebel overthrow of Assad. The US will judge the insurgent force now in control of Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS on “what actions they take.”
We reported earlier that rebel forces in Syria had announced a general amnesty for all conscripted soldiers serving under mandatory service in the now-ousted Syrian regime. There is a little more detail on what has been said.
“The Military Operations Directorate announces a general amnesty for all conscripted soldiers serving under mandatory service. Their safety is guaranteed, and any harm or assault against them is strictly prohibited,” the rebel forces said in a message on their Telegram channel.
Turkey is opening its Yayladagi border gate with Syria to manage the safe and voluntary return of the millions of Syrian migrants it hosts, President Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday, adding Ankara was ready to support the country’s rebuilding in any way it can.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Erdogan added that Turkey would not allow new terrorist elements to emerge on its borders.
‘Too early’ to say whether UK will strip Asma al-Assad of her British citizenship, Keir Starmer says
It is “too early” to say whether the UK will strip the wife of Bashar al-Assad, Asma al-Assad, of her British citizenship, the prime minister, Keir Starmer, has said. However, the UK has said it has yet make a decision on whether to unproscribe Hayat Tahrir al-Sham as a terrorist organisation and it will judge it on its actions.
Asked about the possibility of any such move against Asma al-Assad, Starmer told broadcasters: “We are far too early in any decisions about anything.”
The UK prime minister added: “At the moment we are hours, days into a fast-moving situation and that’s why it’s very important for us to continue to talk to our allies, including here in discussions I’ve been having today, to make sure that what happens next is peaceful.
“There’s a lot of moving parts in that, a lot of risks, I absolutely accept, and challenges, but they are going to be best met if we work with our allies towards that peaceful resolution and the rejection, the utter rejection, of terrorism and violence.”
On whether HTS, the leaders of the Syrian rebels who have swept through the country and toppled Assad, would be delisted as a terrorist organisation, the UK’s foreign minister, David Lammy, said: “HTS has offered reassurances to minorities in Aleppo, Hama and Damascus. They have also committed to cooperating with the international community over monitoring chemical weapons. We will judge HTS by their actions, monitoring closely how they and other parties to this conflict treat all civilians in areas they control.
“The UK and our allies have spent over a decade combating terrorism in Syria, Daesh remains one of the most significant terrorist threats to the UK our allies and our interests overseas, we take seriously our duty as government to protect the public from this and other terrorist threats.”
The founder of HTS, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, was once a participant in the Iraqi insurgency against the US as a member of the group that eventually became Islamic State.
It is designated as a terrorist group by the US and there are serious human rights concerns in the area it controls, including executions for those accused of affiliation with rival groups and over allegations of blasphemy and adultery.
