Syria – stay: Tomb of Assad’s father set on hearth by rebels as France calls out Israel for buffer zone seize

Syrian rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who fronted the group responsible for the collapse of the Assad regime, has vowed not to pardon the former dictator’s henchmen.

On Wednesday afternoon, Syria’s state broadcaster posted the commander’s comments.

“We will not pardon those who were involved in the torture and liquidation of detainees and were the cause of this,” the leader of Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) said.

“We will pursue them in our country, and we demand that countries hand over to us those of these criminals who fled to them in order to achieve justice against them.”

Syrian rebels set fire to the tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father in his family’s hometown in Al-Qardahah, near Latakia.

Eyewitness video released on Wednesday, 11 December, showed men gathering around flames inside the mausoleum of Hafez al-Assad.

The date of the footage could not be independently verified, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that gunmen set fire to the tomb on Tuesday.

Hafez Al-Assad took office on March 14 1971, seizing power in a bloodless coup in which Dr Noureddin Al-Atassi was overthrown.

His son Bashar was ousted over the weekend and fled to Russia where he was given political asylum.

The family ruled Syria for more than 50 years with a brutal regime.

Israel has continued its bombardment of Syria as the country looks to build a post-Assad future.

UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Wednesday: “Israeli warplanes continue to destroy what remains of Syria’s military arsenal for the fourth consecutive day since the fall of the former regime.”

Over 352 air strikes have been carried out in 13 Syrian provinces, the monitor said. They have been focussed on “warehouses, aircraft, radar systems and military signal stations, scientific research centres and weapons and ammunitions warehouses in different positions across Syria”.

Israel says it is targeting military infrastructure to guarantee its own security.

Syria’s caretaker prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir has urged all Syrians who fled president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship to return and help “rebuild” the Arab nation.

“My appeal goes out to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has regained its pride and dignity. Come back,” he told Corriere della Sera.

“We need to rebuild, to get our country on its feet again, and we need everyone’s help.”

At least 7.4 million Syrians remained internally displaced and nearly 4.9 million were seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, the UN said in a 2024 report.

Syria-based Palestinian factions have formed a unified delegation to meet the country’s new rebel-led authorities.

The factions said after a meeting at the Palestinian embassy that they stood by the side of the Syrian people.

They condemned Israel’s air strikes on Syria over the past few days that have destroyed much of the assets of the Syrian army.

The factions decided to form a joint committee to run the affairs of Palestinians in Syria as well as to be in contact with the new insurgent-led transitional government, following the ousting of president Bashar Assad.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in Syria, many of them refugees, and the factions that have been based in Damascus were close to Assad’s government. Hamas was based in Syria until it left in 2012, a year after the county’s civil war began.

Syrian activist Mazen Al-Hamada, whose face became the symbol of the Assad regime’s brutality, died in Saydnaya prison shortly before rebels took over Damascus and forced the president to flee.

Hamada, a former prisoner of Bashar al-Assad’s security services and an early activist in the 2011 Syrian uprising, was confirmed dead at the Harasta Military Hospital on Monday.

The Syrian activist had fled to Europe but returned to Syria in 2020 and was imprisoned upon arrival. His mangled corpse was found wrapped in a bloody sheet in Saydnaya, according to reports.

Human rights groups and the United Nations have asked European countries not to deport Syrian refugees in haste amid the chaos and uncertainty that has gripped the West Asian nation following the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad.

After 13 years of civil war, which forced millions of Syrians to seek refuge in Europe and Asia, rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a rebranded Al Qaeda and Isis affiliate, swept the country and took control of Damascus over the weekend, overthrowing Assad and forcing him to flee to Russia.

Mr Assad’s ouster has offered hope to Syrians who endured a campaign of bombings, forced disappearances and torture under his family rule for decades.

At least 14 European nations, including the UK and Germany, have put asylum applications from Syrians on hold.

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France has called on Israel to withdraw troops from the buffer zone between Israel and Syria which was captured by Benjamin Netanyahu’s forces swiftly after the fall of the Assad regime.

Mr Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered his ground forces to take control of the buffer zone established by a ceasefire agreement with Syria after armed rebel groups pushed out president Bashar al-Assad from Damascus and took power.

“Any military deployment in the separation zone between Israel and Syria is a violation of the disengagement agreement of 1974,” a French foreign ministry spokesperson said yesterday.

Israel’s exploitative move has been condemned by Egypt, Jordan and Qatar.

Two of US president Joe Biden’s most senior aides are travelling to the Middle East, seeking to advance efforts to reach an elusive Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal and help ensure a smooth transition in Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

Secretary of state Antony Blinken was set to visit Jordan and Turkey, while national security adviser Jake Sullivan planned stops in Israel, Qatar and Egypt in the coming days.

The Biden administration hopes that the recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon as well as the ouster of Assad, a close ally of Tehran, can help build momentum toward a Gaza accord

.“Hamas has got to be looking out at the world today and realising that the cavalry is not coming to rescue them,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said.

“One would hope that recent developments in Syria reinforce for them that they are just increasingly isolated and ought to take a deal.”