Live: Over 100,000 bodies found in mass grave near Damascus
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Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghany said on Tuesday that the rebel forces have completely taken control over the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor.
- Reporting by Reuters
Syrian media is reporting that Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham-aligned forces have taken control of al-Taym oil field in the Deir Ezzor desert, which produces 5,000 barrels per day. Russian-backed forces had run the area.
Islamic State (IS) group fighters on Tuesday killed at least 54 people in Syria's Homs region, all of whom are said to have been former members of the Bashar al-Assad government and tried to flee upon its collapse on Saturday.
The news comes from the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, and follows a declaration by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham-led (HTS) rebels who took over Damascus and said that all those who were conscripted into the Syrian military would receive amnesty.
The Russian deputy foreign minister has confirmed to NBC News that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was transported to the Russian capital, Moscow, "in the most secure way possible".
“He is secured, and it shows that Russia acts as required in such an extraordinary situation,” Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with the US broadcaster.
He added, however, that he has "no idea what is going on with him right now" and that it “would be very wrong for me to elaborate on what happened and how it was resolved”.
When asked about potentially handing Assad over to the International Criminal Court, Ryabkov only said that Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute, which established the court.
Russia is providing sanctuary to Bashar al-Assad, having transported him there “in the most secure way possible” after the swift collapse of the Syrian leader's regime, Russia’s deputy foreign minister tells NBC News. https://t.co/zc4GFxd0Z0
— NBC News World (@NBCNewsWorld) December 10, 2024
The US State Department said on Tuesday that the parties assuming power in Syria have an obligation to destroy any chemical weapons they find in the country.
In response to more than 100 Israeli air strikes that have targeted alleged weapons depots and chemical weapons sites in Syria, the US warned that that it does not want to see actions that would make a Syrian-led political process more difficult.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about the situation in Syria on Tuesday with counterparts from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.
Miller told a regular State Department briefing that Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the faction that overthrew the previous Syrian government, was using the right words but the United States would judge it by its actions.
- Reporting by Reuters
The head of US Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, visited Kurdish and US-backed forces at "several bases" in northwestern Syria on Tuesday.
"He received a firsthand assessment of force protection measures, the rapidly evolving situation, and ongoing efforts to prevent ISIS from exploiting the current situation. USCENTCOM remains committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS," a statement said.
𝐔𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐂𝐎𝐌 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐒𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐪
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 10, 2024
𝐒𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐚
Today, Dec. 10, Gen. Kurilla visited U.S. military commanders and servicemembers, as well as our Defeat-ISIS partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces, at several bases in Syria. He received a… pic.twitter.com/rH0dUl5ECM
The Emirati Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday issued a statement condemning Israel's seizure of the buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights.
"The occupation is in violation and contravention of international law," the statement said, citing the disengagement deal of 1974 between Israel and Syria.
It added that the UAE categorically rejects any actions that lead to "escalation" or "exacerbate tensions in the region".
UAE Strongly Condemns Israel’s Seizure of Golan Heights Buffer Zonehttps://t.co/cDq4k5SaqI pic.twitter.com/SN9vLArTMd
— MoFA وزارة الخارجية (@mofauae) December 10, 2024
In a video posted on Tuesday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he vows that Syria's new government will face the same fate as the ousted government of Bashar al-Assad, should it threaten Israel.
"We have no intention of interfering in Syria's internal affairs, but we clearly intend to do what is necessary to ensure our security," Netanyahu said. "In this context, I instructed the Air Force to strike strategic military capabilities left by the Syrian army to prevent them from falling into the hands of jihadists. This is similar to what the British Air Force did when it bombed the Vichy Regime that collaborated with the Nazis to keep it from falling into Nazi hands."
Netanyahu continued: "We want normal relations with the new regime in Syria, but if this regime allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, permits the transfer of Iranian or any other weapons to Hezbollah or attacks us, we will respond forcefully and exact a heavy price - and what happened to the previous regime will happen to this one too."
אם המשטר החדש בסוריה יאפשר לאיראן לחזור להתבסס, או יאפשר העברת נשק לחיזבאללה - נגיב בעוצמה ונגבה ממנו מחיר כבד pic.twitter.com/VUFf5xUQ3i
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) December 10, 2024
The White House on Tuesday released a readout of a virtual meeting one day earlier between US President Joe Biden's deputy national security advisor Jon Finer and his European counterparts from France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
The team discussed "the importance of working closely together... to support the aspirations of the Syrian people and manage risks associated with the ongoing transition".
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement on Tuesday lending the Biden administration's "full support for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition".
"This transition process should lead to credible, inclusive, and non-sectarian governance that meets international standards of transparency and accountability, consistent with the principles of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254," Blinken said.
The transition process and new government, he added, "must also uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance to all in need, prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors, and ensure that any chemical or biological weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed."
Israel's military attacked at least six Syrian naval vessels in the port of Latakia on Monday, British security firm Ambrey said.
Ambrey said video footage showed that five of the vessels had been sunk. It added that there was no visible damage to the port's infrastructure.
A Syrian security source told Reuters that Israel's military also targeted an air defence installation near Latakia on Monday.
Nine Lebanese prisoners who were freed from Syrian jails in recent days have arrived in Lebanon, Beirut's interior minister announced on Tuesday.
Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since the 1967 war with Syria.
Between 1974 and 2024 the territory was divided between areas controlled by Israel and areas controlled by Syria, split by a buffer zone.
On Sunday, President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebels, ending the rule of the Baath Party who first seized power in a coup in 1963.
Shortly after, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the 1974 agreement maintaining the buffer zone in the Golan Heights was null and void.
On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that Israeli forces had taken over Syrian army positions in parts of Mount Hermon, an area Israel first evacuated in 1974.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the move as "a limited and temporary step we took for security reasons" but Syrian security sources said on Tuesday that Israel had advanced 10km into the country.
Read more: Why control of Mount Hermon, Syria's highest peak, matters
Mohammed al-Bashir, the head of the administration that ran Idlib in northwest Syria, has been appointed as the country's interim prime minister following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
The decision came after Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani met with outgoing Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Jalali and Vice President Faisal Mekdad to discuss a transitional government on Monday.
"The general command has tasked us with running the transitional government until 1 March," Bashir said on Tuesday, according to state media.
Bashir has been the head of the Syrian Salvation Government, a HTS-controlled administration in the Idlib governorate, since January 2024.
Bashir, an engineer by trade, was born in the Jabal Zawiya region of Idlib during the mid-1980s. According to a CV published by the Salvation Government, he studied electrical engineering at the University of Aleppo.
Mohammed al-Bashir: Who is Syria's new interim prime minister?
