Situation at a glance: Netanyahu: “We want a different Syria”

After the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, the rebel alliance is paving the way for a transitional government. After a top meeting in the capital Damascus, Mohammed al-Bashir, previously head of government in the rebel stronghold of Idlib, was tasked with forming a new government, several Arab media reported. Meanwhile, according to activists, Israel carried out its heaviest attacks to date in Syria – apparently to destroy the Assad government’s military facilities. According to unconfirmed media reports, Israeli tanks are near Damascus.

Israel is in the process of “changing the face of the Middle East,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the evening. Assad’s Syria was “the most important link in Iran’s axis of evil.” The collapse of Assad’s rule is a “direct consequence of the severe blows” that Israel dealt the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran. But the fight is not over yet.

Netanyahu: We want a different Syria

“The State of Israel is establishing itself as a center of power in our region in a way that has not been the case for decades,” said Netanyahu. “We want a different Syria” that benefits both Israel and the people of Syria, he said. Israel had previously deployed forces to the buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights and other locations, including on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon. It is a temporary measure.

After closed-door deliberations of the UN Security Council in New York, Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told reporters: “The Council was more or less unanimous on the need to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Syria, the protection of the “To secure civilians and ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the population in need.” The council met at Russia’s request.

UN Security Council: Preserve Syria’s territorial integrity

“Everyone was surprised by the events, everyone, including the members of the council,” said Nebensja after the deliberations. “So we have to wait, observe and evaluate how the situation will develop.” Outgoing US President Joe Biden stressed his “full support for a Syria-led transition process under the auspices of the United Nations” in accordance with a UN resolution in a telephone call with the King of Jordan, according to the White House.

The political transition in Syria is already underway and is being managed internally, Foreign Policy magazine quoted four sources connected to the rebel alliance. A political transition process led by the United Nations is unnecessary and this is rejected. “We refuse to fall into the traps of the past,” one of the sources was quoted as saying.

The Baath Party of deposed ruler Assad wants to support the political transition. “We will be in Syria for a transition period with the aim of defending the unity of the country,” said the party’s general secretary, Ibrahim al-Hadid, according to Arab media. Local leaders in Kardaha, the Assad family’s hometown in the Alawite heartland, also expressed support for the insurgent militias.

Scholz calls Macron

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the situation in Syria by telephone. “Both agreed that they were ready to work with the new rulers on the basis of fundamental human rights and the protection of ethnic and religious minorities,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit in Berlin. It is important to maintain Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“The Syrian people must decide for themselves their path and their future,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a speech in Washington. At the same time, he emphasized that the USA had “clear and lasting interests in Syria”. The aim is to prevent the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia from gaining strength in Syria and to ensure that weapons of mass destruction remaining in Syria do not “fall into the wrong hands”.

Israel is massively attacking Syria’s military facilities

US ally Israel attacked research centers, weapons depots, naval ships, airports and air fleets in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. According to eyewitnesses, residents reported a strong smell of gas after the air strikes on a research center. Assad repeatedly used poison gas against civilians and rebels during the civil war. Syria’s air defenses in Damascus, Homs, Hama, Latakia and Daraa were also disabled by Israel’s attacks, it said.

These are the “most serious attacks (Israel) in Syria’s history,” said the head of the observatory, Rami Abdel-Rahman, to the German Press Agency. The UK-based organization relies on informants in Syria. Israel’s military did not comment on the attacks when asked. Everything that the Syrian army has held and built over decades has been destroyed, said a military reporter from the Israeli Army Radio.

Italy and Great Britain are also suspending asylum procedures

Meanwhile, Great Britain and Italy are also temporarily suspending asylum procedures for people from Syria. This is following the example of other European partners, said the Italian right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. In Germany, too, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) initially stopped all decisions on asylum applications from Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes that once stability returns to Syria, more refugees will voluntarily return to their home country. To ensure that this happens in an orderly manner, he is opening another border crossing in the southern Turkish province of Hatay. Turkey has taken in the most refugees from Syria in the world; according to the UN, around three million are currently living in the country.

White Helmets: No more prisoners in Assad’s “slaughterhouse”

According to activists, there are no longer any prisoners in Syria’s notorious Saidnaya military prison after the fall of the Assad government. The systematic search of the huge complex north of Damascus for secret cells and hidden basement rooms has now been completed. At the same time, the members of the Syrian civil defense known as the White Helmets expressed their sympathy for the many families who had hoped in vain that missing relatives would be found alive in the prison after Assad’s fall.