Live: Over 100,000 bodies found in mass grave near Damascus

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that the bloc's envoy to Syria was heading to Damascus to engage with Syria's new leadership as Western powers increased engagement following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.

"Our top diplomat in Syria will go to Damascus today. We'll have the contacts there," Kallas told journalists ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

Kallas, a 47-year-old former Estonian prime minister, has taken over from Josep Borrell as the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, and will serve a five-year term.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from Syria:

• Hezbollah lost its most important supply route from Iran through Syria as a result of the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Naim Qassem, the chief of the Lebanese militia said.

• Speaking in Damascus, UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said: "We need to get the political process underway that is inclusive of all Syrians," as he met Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. He said the process needs to be led by the Syrians themselves.

Good evening, Middle East Eye readers,

It is 3AM in Damascus, and here are some of the latest developments unfolding in Syria:

• Israel has launched air strikes targeting missile launchers and weaponry in Syria’s Tartus region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is reporting. Israeli forces launched 800 strikes in a week on the territory.

• The UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have condemned Israeli  plans to expand its settlements in the occupied Golan Heights

• US officials informed Turkey earlier this month that Israel did not want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad removed from power, even after the rebel offensive that seized cities such as Aleppo and Hama, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan revealed in an interview on Sunday.

• Qatar is preparing to reopen its embassy in Damascus after a 13-year hiatus. The Gulf country withdrew its ambassador and closed the embassy in July 2011 following a series of deadly crackdown by Bashar al-Assad on street protesters.

• The interim government reopened schools and universities, and Syrian Christians attended regular Sunday services for the first time since Bashar’s fall.

• UK foreign secretary David Lammy confirmed that the British government has established diplomatic contact with HTS. He added that the group remains “a proscribed terrorist organisation, but we can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact, as you would expect”.

The UAE has issued a statement condemning Israel's plans to expand its settlements in the occupied Golan Heights, saying that the move  “threatens further escalation and tension in the region”.

It added that it is committed to the “territorial integrity of Syria, noting that the decision to expand settlements in the Golan Heights is a continuation of the occupation and a violation of international laws".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is reporting that Israeli fighter jets launched strikes targeting military sites in Syria's coastal Tartus region.

The war monitor said that the attacks were "the heaviest strikes in Syria's coastal region since the start of strikes in 2012."

The Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday that a special Russian air force flight from the Khmeimim air base in Syria evacuated some of the Russian diplomatic personnel in Damascus as well as Belarus and North Korean diplomats.

"The work of the Russian Embassy in Damascus continues," the crisis situation department of the Russian foreign ministry said on its Telegram messaging channel.

Russia's RIA state news agency reported, citing the Belarusian foreign ministry, that all Belarusian diplomats have been evacuated out of Syria. 

Reporting by Reuters

The Belarussian foreign ministry has announced that its diplomats have been withdrawn to Minsk.

In a post on X, the ministry said that the country's ambassador Yuri Sluka will remain in the capital "for consultations, which will result in a in-depth assessment of the situation".

The ministry expressed gratitude "to all Russian colleagues, who ensured the safe arrival of our diplomats to their homeland".

Diplomats of the Belarusian Embassy in Syria have been withdrawn to #Minsk.

Ambassador of Belarus to Syria Yuri Sluka will be in the capital for some time for consultations, which will result in an in-depth assessment of the situation.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry… pic.twitter.com/NQF3KhLco7

— Belarus MFA 🇧🇾 (@BelarusMFA) December 15, 2024

Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, discussed with the United Nations envoy for Syria the need to reconsider a roadmap outlined by the Security Council for the country in 2015, the Syrian ruling General Command said on Sunday.

Reporting by Reuters

A drug production hub linked to Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher al-Assad has been uncovered in Damascus, Anadolu agency is reporting.

The agency published footage of the villa in al-Dimas, revealing barrels containing raw materials and machinery used for drug production.

Since the fall of Assad, a series of drug manufacturing centres across Syria have been uncovered, revealing the scale of the ousted regime's drug trafficking, which served as its main source of revenue.

US officials informed Turkey earlier this month that Israel did not want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad removed from power, even after the rebel offensive that seized cities such as Aleppo and Hama, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan revealed in an interview on Sunday.

“Israel has never wanted Bashar to leave,” Fidan told Al Hadath TV.

“Israel was displeased with the space Bashar had granted to the Iranians. Even after the rebel operation began, the Americans conveyed to us that Israel does not want Bashar to go.”

Fidan further disclosed that during a 2016 visit to Turkey, then-US Vice President Joe Biden had informed Ankara that Washington opposed toppling Assad.

“He told us that the US doesn’t want Bashar to go,” Fidan said. “We understood that this wasn’t truly his own stance but rather Israel’s position.”

Qatar's foreign ministry has confirmed it will reopen its embassy in Damascus on Tuesday, following a 13 year hiatus.

The Gulf country withdrew its ambassador and closed the embassy in July 2011 following a series of deadly crackdown by Bashar al-Assad on street protesters.

Reporting by Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told UK foreign minister David Lammy  that Washington will back "an accountable and representative" government in Syria, the State Department said in a statement after their call on Sunday.

"The Secretary underscored U.S. support for an accountable and representative Syrian government chosen by the Syrian people," the statement read.

Reporting by Reuters

The UK has unveiled a new £50m ($63m) aid package to help vulnerable Syrians.

In a statement, the foreign ministry said that the package would provide "immediate help to more than a million people including food, shelter, emergency healthcare, and protection for the most vulnerable".

It added that the money, which will be distributed via UN channels, will support "emerging needs including the rehabilitation of essential services such as water, hospitals and schools". 

Most of the funding will be funnelled into existing UN programmes, while the remaining sum is earmarked for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Lebanon and Jordan, and the UN's refugee agency to help Syrians in neighbouring countries.

"The fall of the horrific Assad regime provides a once-in-a-generation chance for the people of Syria," foreign minster David Lammy said. "We’re committed to supporting the Syrian people as they chart a new course."

Reporting by Reuters

The UK newspaper Financial Times says it has uncovered records showing that Bashar al-Assad's central bank transferred around $240mn in cash to Moscow over a two-year period when the then president was indebted to Russia for military support.

According to the report, currency was flown in $100 bills and €500 notes to Moscow to be deposited at sanctioned Russian banks between 2018 and 2019.

Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry issued a statement condemning Israeli plans to expand its settlements in the occupied Golan Heights as "sabotage".

In the statement, the ministry said the plans are part of a "continued sabotage of opportunities to restore security and stability in Syria".

Reporting by AFP