U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Saturday Assad had been largely abandoned by his key allies, Russia and Iran.
The IDF emphasized that it is not intervening in Syria’s internal matters. However, it will maintain operations as needed to secure the buffer zone and safeguard Israel and its civilians.
By JNS and EJP
Syria’s President Bashar Assad fled the country after a coalition of rebel and Islamist groups entered Damascus, ending his family’s five-decade rule over the Arab Republic, according to a report from Reuterson on Sunday.
Syria’s army command notified officers on Sunday that the regime had fallen, an officer who was informed of the move told the press agency.
A Syrian Air plane took off from Damascus International Airport as the capital was being taken by the rebels. Reuters said it could not immediately ascertain the destination or who was on board.
Rebel fighters declared the capital “liberated” in a televised statement carried on state television on Sunday.
“Damascus has been liberated, and the tyrant Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown,” a spokesman stated, adding that “prisoners in regime prisons have been released.”
“We ask people and fighters to protect all property in Free Syria,” added the rebel spokesman. “Long live Syria free for all Syrians of all sects.”
The Prime Minister of the Assad regime, Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, said in a statement from his home in Damascus that he was not leaving Syria and was willing to conduct a peaceful transition of power.
He called for all Syrians, including the opposition, not to damage state institutions or harm anyone.
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani — the leader of the Islamist rebel group HTS — called on all rebel groups in Damascus to stay away from government institutions.
He stressed that these will stay under the supervision of the former prime minister until an orderly transition takes place.
Sullivan. At the same time, the wars in Ukraine and Lebanon had robbed Assad of his allies’ backing, he added.
On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Assad remained in the country, though Egypt and Jordan had urged the dictator, who took over from his father in 2000, to flee and announce a government in exile.
Syria’s Arab Socialist Baath Party came to power in a 1963 coup. In 1970, Hafez Assad seized power in an internal party coup. Following his father’s death in 2000, Bashar Assad inherited control of the regime.
After the Syrian president in August 2013 launched a chemical attack on his own citizens, killing more than 1,000, then-U.S. President Barack Obama failed to enforce a “red line” set the year prior. The government in Damascus proceeded to gas thousands of Syrian civilians to death.
Government resistance appeared to be crumbling elsewhere as well on Friday, with U.S.-backed Kurds taking the city of Deir al-Zour in the east and rebel uprisings around Daraa province near the border with Israel.
On Nov. 30, opposition forces stormed the Iranian consulate in Aleppo as part of their advance into the city, Tehran’s Foreign Ministry said at the time, after footage on social media showed fighters in the building.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed late last month that the surprise offensive was part of “a plot by the Israeli regime and the U.S. to undermine regional security,” Iran’s IRNA broadcaster reported.
Syrian experts told Fox News on Sunday that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham seeks to impose a “Talibanesque society with a few tweaks.”
In the longer term, it could have dramatic implications not only for Syria, but also its allies: Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, which helped keep President Bashar al-Assad in power after the 2011 uprising.
The collapse of the Assad regime followed a shift in the balance of power in the Middle East after many leaders of Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, a lynchpin of Assad’s battlefield force, were killed by Israel over the past two months. Russia, Assad’s other key ally, has been focused on the war in Ukraine.
On Saturday, the European Union said in a statement it was ‘’closely monitoring the fast-moving and volatile situation in Syria.’’ With fighting between armed groups escalating throughout the country, we urge all parties to protect civilians and ensure the safety of humanitarian aid workers,’’ it said.
‘’We reiterate our call for a political solution consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.’’
The IDF spokesperson confirmed that, based on situational assessments after recent events in Syria, including the entry of armed personnel into the buffer zone, Israeli forces have been deployed there and in other strategic locations. These measures aim to ensure the security of Golan Heights communities and Israeli citizens.
The IDF emphasized that it is not intervening in Syria’s internal matters. However, it will maintain operations as needed to secure the buffer zone and safeguard Israel and its civilians.
”The IDF will continue to operate as long as necessary in order to preserve the buffer zone and defend Israel and its civilians,” it said.