Militant leader vows to overthrow Assad and establish new governance for Syria

Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani spoke to CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh about the ongoing crisis in Syria. (Screenshot/CNN)
Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani spoke to CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh about the ongoing crisis in Syria. (Screenshot/CNN)
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Updated 08 December 2024
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Militant leader vows to overthrow Assad and establish new governance for Syria

Militant leader vows to overthrow Assad and establish new governance for Syria
  • Speaking in an exclusive interview with CNN at an undisclosed location inside Syria, Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani outlined his vision for a post-Assad Syria

LONDON: The leader of Syria’s militants currently sweeping across the country has reiterated his group’s determination to overthrow President Bashar Assad, as the opposition groups continue to gain ground in the country’s protracted civil war.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with CNN at an undisclosed location inside Syria, Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani outlined his vision for a post-Assad Syria, emphasizing the creation of a government based on institutions and a “council chosen by the people.”

Al-Jolani is the leader of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, a group that emerged from a former Al-Qaeda affiliate.

Speaking to CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh, he said: “When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal.”

Al-Jolani claimed that the Assad regime’s fall would be inevitable, despite years of support from allies like Iran and Russia.

“The seeds of the regime’s defeat have always been within it. The Iranians attempted to revive the regime, buying it time, and later the Russians also tried to prop it up. But the truth remains: This regime is dead,” he said.

As HTS continues to expand its territorial control in Syria, Al-Jolani sought to reassure minorities who have faced persecution during Syria’s decade-long conflict.

“People who fear Islamic governance either have seen incorrect implementations of it or do not understand it properly,” he said.

He promised that minorities such as Christians could live safely under a new coalition’s rule, adding: “No one has the right to erase another group. These sects have coexisted in this region for hundreds of years, and no one has the right to eliminate them.”

Human rights groups have criticized HTS for its treatment of political dissidents in areas such as Idlib, citing allegations of torture and harsh crackdowns on protests, but Al-Jolani denied any systemic abuse and said that if such incidents happened, it was “not done under our orders or directions” and that HTS had held those responsible accountable.

Al-Jolani also addressed HTS’ enduring terror designation by countries and organizations in the West, including the US, the EU and the UN, describing it as “primarily political and, at the same time, inaccurate.”

He claimed his group had severed ties with extremist Islamist factions, rejecting their brutal tactics. “I was never personally involved in attacks on civilians,” he told CNN.

The Assad government, bolstered by Iranian-backed militias, Hezbollah, and Russian air support, has maintained a tight grip on Syria since the uprising began in 2011.

Al-Jolani, however, said he sees the withdrawal of foreign forces as key to Syria’s future stability.

“I think that once this regime falls, the issue will be resolved, and there will no longer be a need for any foreign forces to remain in Syria,” he said.

Reflecting on the Assad family’s over five decades in power, Al-Jolani called for a complete overhaul of governance in Syria.

“Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional, not one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions,” he said.

Al-Jolani envisions a broader national project that goes beyond HTS itself.

“We are talking about a larger project — we are talking about building Syria. Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham is merely one part of this dialogue, and it may dissolve at any time. It is not an end in itself but a means to perform a task: confronting this regime.”


Israel says it will impose ‘sterile defense zone’ in southern Syria

Israel says it will impose ‘sterile defense zone’ in southern Syria
Updated 42 min 55 sec ago
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Israel says it will impose ‘sterile defense zone’ in southern Syria

Israel says it will impose ‘sterile defense zone’ in southern Syria
  • “We will not allow this, we will not allow threats to the state of Israel,” Katz said
  • He denied that forces had penetrated Syrian territory significantly beyond the zone

JERUSALEM/DAMASCUS: Israel has ordered its forces to create a “sterile defense zone” in southern Syria that would be enforced without a permanent Israeli presence as it tightens its hold along the line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.
He gave no details but said the zone, would “prevent the establishment and organization of terror in Syria.”
“We will not allow this, we will not allow threats to the state of Israel,” he said in a statement following a visit to a naval base in the northern Israeli port of Haifa.
Earlier, a military spokesperson said Israeli troops remained in the demilitarized buffer zone in Syrian territory created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war as well as “a few additional points” outside the separation area.
But he denied that forces had penetrated Syrian territory significantly beyond the zone, after Syrian sources said the incursion had extended to within 25 km (15 miles) of the capital Damascus.
“IDF forces are not advancing toward Damascus. This is not something we are doing or pursuing in any way,” Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, the military spokesperson, told a briefing with reporters.
“We are not involved in what’s happening in Syria internally, we are not a side in this conflict and we do not have any interest other than protecting our borders and the security of our citizens,” Shoshani said.
Israeli jets have struck a string of targets across Syria since the weekend, aiming to ensure Syrian military equipment, including combat aircraft, missiles and chemical weapons, does not fall into rebel hands.
As part of the wave of strikes, Katz said Israeli missile ships had destroyed the Syrian military fleet in an operation on Monday night.
Israeli media reported that the air force had carried out as many as 250 strikes. The military declined to confirm the number but did confirm it was seeking to stop Syrian military weapons from being seized and used by potential enemies.
“We’re acting to prevent lethal strategic weapons from falling into hostile hands. We’ve been doing this for years now in different ways and in different situations, and we’re doing it now,” Shoshani said.
LIMITED, TEMPORARY MEASURE
The flight of Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday ended over five decades of his family’s rule.
Israeli troops then moved into the demilitarised zone inside Syria, including the Syrian side of the strategic Mount Hermon that overlooks Damascus, where it took over an abandoned Syrian military post.
Israel, which has just agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon following weeks of fighting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement, calls the incursion a temporary measure to ensure border security.
But it remained unclear how far beyond the designated buffer zone its troops had stopped.
Three security sources said on Tuesday the Israelis had advanced beyond the demilitarised zone. One Syrian source said they had reached the town of Qatana, several kilometers (miles) to the east of the zone and just a short drive from Damascus airport.
Israel welcomed the fall of Assad, an ally of its main enemy Iran, but has reacted cautiously to the leading rebel faction, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham. HTS has roots in Islamist movements including Al-Qaeda and Islamic State though it has sought for years to moderate its image.
Israel has said it does not seek conflict with Syria. But as in southern Lebanon following the ceasefire with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement, Israeli leaders have said they will intervene whenever they feel Israel’s security is threatened.
“We will not allow an extremist Islamic terrorist entity to act against Israel across its border,” Katz said.


Israeli jets pound ‘strategic weapons systems’ across Syria

Israeli jets pound ‘strategic weapons systems’ across Syria
Updated 10 December 2024
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Israeli jets pound ‘strategic weapons systems’ across Syria

Israeli jets pound ‘strategic weapons systems’ across Syria
  • UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that it has documented more than 310 strikes by the IDF since Sunday
  • Israel FM Gideon Sa’ar: ‘That’s why we attack strategic weapons systems like chemical weapons, or long-range missiles, in order that they will not fall into the hands of extremists’

LONDON: Israeli jets have reportedly carried out hundreds of airstrikes on “strategic weapons systems” across Syria since the fall of the Assad regime.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that it has documented more than 310 strikes by the IDF since Sunday.

The strikes have targeted military facilities of the Syrian Army, including weapon warehouses, ammunition depots, airports, naval bases and research centers.

Israel claimed its actions aim to prevent weapons falling “into the hands of extremists” as Syria transitions into a post-Assad era.

The SOHR reported that the attacks spanned Aleppo, Damascus and Hama, with more than 60 taking place overnight between Monday and Tuesday alone.

Reports said that many of the facilities hit have not merely been damaged, but completely destroyed.

Rami Abdul Rahman, SOHR’s founder, described the impact of the strikes as destroying “all the capabilities of the Syrian army” and said that “Syrian lands are being violated.”

The IDF denied that its troops had strayed into Syrian territory and said that reports of tanks near Damascus are “false.”

A spokesperson said: “IDF troops are stationed within the buffer zone, as stated in the past.”

The IDF seized Syrian positions in the buffer zone as a “temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

“If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that’s our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the state of Israel and the border of Israel,” he said on Monday.

Asked about the IDF strikes on Monday night, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that Israel is only concerned with defending its citizens.

“That’s why we attack strategic weapons systems like, for example, remaining chemical weapons or long-range missiles and rockets in order that they will not fall into the hands of extremists,” he added.

It is not known where or how many chemical weapons Syria has, but it is believed that former president Bashar Assad kept stockpiles.

Israel’s attacks come after Syrian rebel fighters captured the capital, Damascus, and toppled the Assad regime over the weekend. He and his father had been in power in the country since 1971.

Forces led by the Islamist opposition group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham entered Damascus in the early hours of Sunday, before appearing on state television to declare that Syria was now “free.”


Syrians taste freedom at famous Damascus ice cream parlour

Syrians taste freedom at famous Damascus ice cream parlour
Updated 10 December 2024
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Syrians taste freedom at famous Damascus ice cream parlour

Syrians taste freedom at famous Damascus ice cream parlour
  • Idrees had last savoured it 15 years earlier, before the Syrian civil war made him a refugee
  • For more than 100 years and through many wars, Bakdash has served up an Arabic-style of ice cream that is infused with Sahlab

DAMASCUS: After racing from Lebanon to Syria to celebrate the fall of the Assad regime and making arrangements for his family to follow, 42-year-old Anas Idrees knew what was next on his list of priorities.
He ventured into the grand Hamidiyeh Souk in old Damascus until he arrived at the renowned Bakdash ice cream parlour, then ordered a large scoop of their signature mastic-infused Arabic gelato.
Idrees had last savoured it 15 years earlier, before the Syrian civil war made him a refugee.
“I swear to God, it tastes different now,” he said after eating a spoonful. “It was good before, but it’s changed because now we are happy inside.”
For more than 100 years and through many wars, Bakdash has served up an Arabic-style of ice cream that is infused with Sahlab, a flour made from orchid roots and pounded by hand with meter-long mallets until it takes on a soft, stretchy texture.
A generous heap costs just $1 per bowl, and is served coated in pistachios.
Bakdash is much-loved across Syria, but many Syrians have been unable to visit their capital city since former Syrian President Bashar Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2011, igniting a 13-year civil war that divided the country.
In the wake of Assad’s ouster following a lightning rebel advance, tens of thousands of Syrians have converged on Damascus from across the country and outside its borders.
On Monday, hundreds turned up at Bakdash, many of them fighters fresh from the battlefield who slung guns around their backs to tuck into the cool treat that sometimes got caught in long, unkempt beards.
Ahmed Aslaan, a 22-year-old combatant wearing green fatigues, said he had not seen Damascus in more than a decade and enjoying the ice cream was a perk of his newfound freedom.
“Thank God we achieved our goal. Now we can go around all of Syria in our own car,” he said between bites. “We were all stuck in a tiny area before, now we have space.”
Co-owner Samir Bakdash said reopening the day after Assad fell was his way to show his joy at the end of a government that oppressed Syrians for decades and forced him to pay bribes just to keep his shop open.
He insisted the signature recipe had not changed since his great-grandfather came up with it in the 1890s.
But even regular customers said something felt new.
“It tastes different – it’s delicious and has gotten even better,” said Eman Ghazal, a business student in her 20s who has been coming to Bakdash since she was a child.
“It’s not just the ice cream, it’s life in general. It’s as if the walls are smiling and the sun has finally come out.”


Turkiye to reopen Damascus embassy ‘when conditions right’

Turkiye to reopen Damascus embassy ‘when conditions right’
Updated 10 December 2024
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Turkiye to reopen Damascus embassy ‘when conditions right’

Turkiye to reopen Damascus embassy ‘when conditions right’
  • The embassy closed on March 26, 2012 due to the deteriorating security situation

ANKARA: Turkiye’s top diplomat Hakan Fidan said Tuesday Ankara would reopen its embassy in Damascus when conditions allow following the ouster of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad.
At a gathering of Turkish diplomats in Ankara, Fidan was asked whether Turkiye was planning to reopen its embassy in the Syrian capital, which closed a year into the civil war that began in 2011.
“We will look into it. We’ll wait for the conditions to be right,” he told delegates.
The embassy closed on March 26, 2012 due to the deteriorating security situation and amid calls by the Turkish government for Assad to step down.


Eight dead in Cairo building collapse: health ministry

Eight dead in Cairo building collapse: health ministry
Updated 10 December 2024
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Eight dead in Cairo building collapse: health ministry

Eight dead in Cairo building collapse: health ministry
  • Nine ambulances were dispatched to the scene

CAIRO: Eight people were killed and three more injured when a six-story residential building collapsed in central Cairo on Tuesday, Egypt’s health ministry said.
Nine ambulances were dispatched to the scene as rescuers continue to “lift rubble and search for any wounded or bodies,” health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said in a statement.