Syria’s caretaker PM meets with members of transitional government

Syria’s newly appointed caretaker prime minister, Mohammed al-Bashir, says he’s been meeting with members of the transitional government.

“[W]e invited members from the old government and some directors from the administration in Idlib and its surrounding areas in order to facilitate all the necessary works for the next two months until we have a constitutional system to be able to serve the Syrian people,” al-Bashir told Al Jazeera.

“Today, we had other meetings to restart the institutions to be able to serve our people in Syria,” he added.

Syria’s new PM says time for ‘stability and calm’

Syria’s new transitional Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir told Al Jazeera in a televised interview that his country needed peace and stability after nearly 14 years of war.

“Now it is time for this people to enjoy stability and calm,” al-Bashir said in his first interview hours after being appointed.

US remains in close contact with Turkiye, Syrian opposition groups: Kirby

US officials are in close touch with both Syrian opposition groups and Israeli officials as the situation develops, White House spokesperson John Kirby tells reporters. Kirby said President Joe Biden is staying fully briefed by his national security team and his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, was travelling to Israel on Wednesday.

He said the US was not involved in any Israeli operations in Syria, and that Israel had made clear these were “temporary measures to ensure their own security.”

Israel has admitted to carrying out hundreds of strikes across Syria on government and military infrastructure, and also seized a zone of territory next to its occupied Golan Heights.

Kirby also said the US remains in close contact with Turkiye and US-backed Kurdish Syrian forces (SDF) from the northern city of Manbij after an advance by Turkiye-backed rebels. The US and Turkiye reportedly reached an agreement to ensure the safe withdrawal of Kurdish Syrian forces from Manbij yesterday.

Of course the US plays the apologist again. Kirby forgets to mention their own bombing runs on Syria

https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-bombs-syria-again

Responding Monday to the latest attacks on Syria by U.S. forces, Danaka Katovich, national co-director of the peace group CodePink, told Common Dreams: "We condemn the U.S. airstrikes in Syria. The U.S. has sowed chaos in Syria and the entire region for years and the Biden administration ordering ongoing airstrikes is a disappointing sign that they have no intent on reversing their deadly policy of interventionism."

U.S. and coalition forces have killed and maimed at least tens of thousands of Syrians and Iraqis during the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations as part of the anti-ISIS campaign and wider so-called War on Terror.

US troops staying in Syria: White House

US troops will be staying in Syria after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad as part of a counterterrorism mission focused on destroying ISIL (ISIS) fighters, a top White House official says.

“Those troops are there for a very specific and important reason, not as some sort of bargaining chip,” US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said in an interview at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York.

US troops “have been there now for the better part of a decade or more to fight ISIS … we are still committed to that mission.”

Asked directly whether US troops are staying, Finer said, “Yes.”

Europe not extending any olive branches, only ready to send all Syrian refugees back.

EU’s Kallas warns of sectarian violence in Syria

There are legitimate concerns about the risks of sectarian violence in Syria and a resurgence of extremism in the country, says the EU’s new foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

“For Putin and the Iranian regime, the fall of Assad is a huge blow for both,” Kallas also said, in comments made before an EU Parliament committee hearing.

Danish and Austrian leaders call on Syrian refugees to return home

The leaders of Denmark and Austria have called on Syrian refugees to return home following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

“You are a refugee temporarily when conditions make it impossible to live where you come from,” Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen said on Tuesday. “When those conditions change, I firmly believe and encourage people to return to their country to help rebuild it. I would do the same myself.”

The prime minister stressed that many Syrians in Denmark do not hold permanent residency and said, “Therefore, of course, we expect them to go back now.”

Meanwhile, the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer called on the European Union to take a coordinated approach on Syrian refugees.

“Europe must promote the return of Syrians to their homeland and thus support the reconstruction of the country,” he said.

Israel says it has destroyed 80 percent of the Syrian army’s capabilities

Israeli Army Radio said that Israel’s air force has completed the main part of the military operation it began in Syria, called Operation Arrow of Bashan/Golan, and that it has destroyed about 80 percent of the Syrian army’s military capabilities.

Army Radio added that since the start of the operation on Sunday night, the Israeli military has destroyed warplanes, combat helicopters, surface-to-air missile batteries, Scud and cruise missiles, drones, weapons depots, and ammunition manufacturing sites, army sites and facilities connected to Iran, and sunk 15 missile boats.

The ground operation in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights east of the ceasefire line is continuing, Army Radio said.

UN says Syria’s neighbours should not encroach on its territory

Speaking to reporters from United Nations headquarters in New York City, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says the UN is against any violation of the territorial integrity of Syria.

Dujarric was asked about strikes by Israel on its neighbour. “We’re against these types of attacks. I think this is a turning point for Syria. It should not be used by its neighbours to encroach on the territory of Syria,” he said.

Dujarric also said that the UN considers the land in the Syrian Golan Heights taken by Israel in 1967 to be occupied territory.

Israel is taking advantage of ‘weaknesses around them’ in bid to expand

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara says Israel believes that it can “get away” with the assaults it is carrying out in the region.

Many of the Israeli ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government perceive parts of Syria, Jordan and Lebanon as being parts of the “‘greater Israel’ that they were promised”, Bishara said.

“They take advantage of each and every pretext, of each and every opportunity in order to expand that territory,” he said. “It is something that they have their eye on, and they will continually expand, and take advantage of weaknesses around them.”

Syria has to unite first to formulate stance on Israel

Israel is using the situation in Syria to its advantage to create a huge buffer zone, said Marina Miron, a post-doctorate researcher in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.

“The new Syrian government will want to reassert its authority but one step at a time. If we look at such transitions, the group needs to show it can govern the country,” Miron said.

“This is a very difficult task, but this would be the most important focus internally to unite the country before Syria as a whole can reinforce its defences and formulate a stance towards Israel.”

Israel is making sure there won't be any defenses left to take over...

Israeli army says it hit Syria with about 480 strikes in 48 hours

The Israeli military said that it conducted about 480 strikes over the past 48 hours on strategic military targets in Syria, days after the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad.

“Within the last 48 hours, the [Israeli army] struck most of the strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria, preventing them from falling into the hands of terrorist elements,” the military said in a statement, adding that the targets included 15 naval vessels, anti-aircraft batteries and weapons production sites in several cities.

Department of Political Affairs of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham: Carrying weapons outside the state will not be allowed‎

Recap of events on Dec 10th

HTS-led opposition forces take over Manbij after SDF withdrawal

Syrian opposition forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group have taken full control of Manbij in northeastern Syria and have published the footage below, verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency.

We reported earlier how the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) evacuated from the area after an agreement.

Latakia residents welcome Syrian opposition forces

Latakia city residents have welcomed the opposition forces, amid celebrations following the fall of al-Assad’s regime, videos posted on social media show. Syrian activist Mohammad al-Deeb posted footage on his Instagram account, which has been verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency.

“These are the ones Assad described as terrorists,” he said. “If this is terrorism, then welcome it, we embrace it warmly.”

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDZNMwAi7el

(Link seems broken or removed, Instagram sucks)

HTS leader says Syria not ready for another war, people exhausted

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting the latest comments from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani.

Here is a translated summary of what he said:

_{Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani}

Looking like the typical western image of a terrorist, I wish him luck with Western governments :/ He'll need it.

Opposition fighters clash with group loyal to al-Assad in Deraa (south of Damascus near the border)

Can all the outside actors fuck off, the situation is precarious enough already.

Over 350 Israeli air strikes hit 13 Syrian provinces in four days: War monitor

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says “Israeli fighter jets continue to destroy the remaining military assets in Syria for the fourth consecutive day”. According to the war monitor, some of the main targets of today’s Israeli air strikes were:

Deraa fighters speak of unity among Syrian armed groups

Syrian fighters from the southern province of Deraa, who participated in taking out al-Assad’s forces in Damascus, say they are ready to give the new government in Idlib a chance.

What we understand by speaking to rebel leaders here is that there is coordination between different armed factions. Ultimately, this is what led to the fall of the al-Assad regime.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen has warned that different factions exist in Syria and that this means there are risks ahead, but people here are hopeful they can have a better future.

We always forget that the Syrian revolution started in the rural areas, where people felt left out and humiliated by those in power. In Deraa, known as the “cradle of the revolution”, people are saying the government must be inclusive and give a voice to minorities.

The groups controlling Syria

Syria’s interim prime minister calls for refugees to return home

Mohammed al-Bashir, Syria’s new transitional prime minister, has also told Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily that “the rights of all people and all sects in Syria” will be guaranteed.

“Mine is an appeal to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has earned its pride and dignity. Come back,” he said.

Erdogan will probably just wait for Trump to abandon the Kurds then go mass slaughter them, only has to wait 1-2 months.

Some Gaza news

Israeli attacks on Gaza residential areas kill at least 29

Israeli attacks on the north and centre of the besieged Gaza Strip have killed dozens of people, medical sources say.

The Israeli army in the early hours of Wednesday bombed a residential building in Beit Lahiya, near Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, which has been under an even tighter siege for more than two months.

The attack killed at least 20 people, including women and children, but there were fears the death toll could rise. Local media reports said at least 30 displaced people were living in the multistorey home of the Abu Tarabish family before it was struck.

Footage seen by Al Jazeera showed people using their bare hands trying to remove large pieces of concrete from the ruins of the bombed structure. One child’s body was removed from the rubble. “This residential building has been turned into ruin. The smoke is still rising,” said journalist Moath Kahlout, reporting from the site. “Due to a shortage of rescue teams, the neighbours are trying to pull the dead bodies from under the rubble.”

Later in the day, another attack on a residential home in the densely populated Nuseirat refugee camp killed at least seven people, all members of the same family.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said another two people were killed by an Israeli air raid on a house in Gaza City.

‘No letup’ in Israeli attacks amid truce efforts

Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the latest deadly attacks come amid “a deepening humanitarian crisis”.

“There are no basic supplies available, markets are depleted and the crisis keeps continuing to evolve in a devastating way,” he added, all the while there is “no letup” in the Israeli bombardment.

The renewed attacks are taking place as efforts to reach a ceasefire are under way in Egypt.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is heading to Israel this week for talks on on a truce deal in Gaza, among others. Sullivan will meet Israeli officials to discuss “efforts to reach a hostage release and ceasefire deal in Gaza, the latest developments in Syria, and for discussions about Lebanon and Iran,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said.