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

Syria's new government spokesman told AFP news agency that the country's constitution and parliament will be suspended for a transitional period of three months, during which the constitution will be examined by “a judicial and human rights committee" which will introduce amendments.

Obaida Aranaout told AFP that a meeting would be held on Tuesday "between Salvation Government ministers and the former ministers" of Assad's administration to carry out the transfer of power."

"This transitional period will last three months," he added. "Our priority is to preserve and protect institutions."

Reporting by AFP

Leaders of the G7, which the US, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Canada are part of,  "stand ready to support a transition process that leads to credible, inclusive, and non-sectarian governance" in Syria, a statement said on Thursday.

The G7 said a political transition after the end of Bashar al-Assad's 24-year authoritarian rule had to ensure "respect for the rule of law, universal human rights, including women's rights, the protection of all Syrians, including religious and ethnic minorities, transparency and accountability".

"The G7 will work with and fully support a future Syrian government that abides by those standards and results from that process," the statement added.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Jordan's King Abdullah in the Red Sea town of Aqaba on Thursday as he arrived in the region for talks on Syria following the overthrow of Assad. 

Blinken will reportedly discuss US priorities of ensuring Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles are secured and destroyed, facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid and that the country is not used as a "base of terrorism," the State Department said.

Later on Thursday, Blinken will head to Turkey.

Turkey-backed rebel forces are continuing their advance in what Turkish officials refer to as "clearing terrorism" in northern Syria, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.

Turkey-backed rebel forces battle against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which is spearheaded by Kurdish militia in the region which Ankara regards as a terrorist group.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the funeral of activist Mazen al-Hamada which is scheduled to be held later today in Damascus.

Hamada, one of Syria’s most prominent anti-government activists, had spent years abroad telling people of the abuses he suffered in Sednaya, where he was held for over a year and a half for trying to smuggle in baby formula in 2012.

He returned to Syria in 2020 after the Syrian regime announced a general amnesty, but he was arrested upon arrival at the Damascus airport.

There has been no news of him since then before Monday when his body was identified among others at the Harasta Military Hospital morgue near the capital Damascus.

Syria’s incoming HTS-led government has invited citizens to apply to join the police force.

In a Telegram post, the Interior Ministry announced that applicants can enroll in police academies located in Idlib or Aleppo, directing them to a Facebook questionnaire to begin the process.

Since seizing power in Damascus, the rebel group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham has made a point of trying to get state institutions back up and running.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers welcome to our live coverage of the ongoing developments in Syria following the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad.

These are some of the key developments in Syria unfolding: 

• Israeli forces continue to pound Syria, attacking the port of Latakia and a missile warehouse in Tartus, causing the weapons to explode, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights 

• As Syrians around the world continue to celebrate al-Assad’s fall, residents of Damascus say they are struggling to make ends meet amid worsening economic conditions

• Syria's new interim prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir pledged to protect minority rights ahead of US Secretary of Defense Antony Blinken's visit to the region on Thursday to urge an "inclusive" transition

• Seeking safety from SNA factions seizing territory throughout the Aleppo governorate, more than 100,000 people fled to areas in the Kurdish-controlled Northeast of Syria and are facing dire conditions due to the lack of adequate shelter, water, food, and health care, according to Human Rights Watch 

•  Millions of psychostimulant Captagon (fenethylline) pills have been found at a military division in Damascus commanded by former president Bashar al-Assad's brother 

Good evening Middle East Eye readers, 

Syria's new government continued to move forward with its transition, promising to respect the rights of the country's religous sects and saying it will work with the international community to secure chemical weapons of the former Assad government. 

Asked whether Syria's new constitution would be Islamic, transition Prime Minister Mohammad al-Bashir said "we will clarify all these details during the constituent process".

Meanwhile, Israel continued its unprecedented air campaign to destroy Syria's military assets. 

In the north, Turkish-backed rebels advanced, with the top commander of the Kurdish-led SDF accusing the US of being noncomittal in coming to its ally's defence against the Turkish-backed forces. 

Here is what else happened:

• Republican Congressman Joe Wilson called on the Biden administration to lift sanctions on Syria
• Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani said he wants displaced Syrians to return to the country to contribute to its reconstruction
• Syria's transitional government must be more inclusive
• The Washington Post reported that Ukrainian drone operators assisted HTS in its offensive 

Israel launched more air strikes on military sites belonging to former President Bashar al-Assad in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 

Israeli warplanes hit Latakia port and warehouses in neighbouring Tartus province. 

"Israeli warplanes continue to destroy what remains of Syria’s military arsenal for the fourth consecutive day since the fall of the former regime," the monitor said. 

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces' (SDF) top general, Mazlum Kobani, suggested the US was abandoning its Kurdish allies after the US brokered a withdrawl of SDF troops from the strategic city of Manbij.

Kobani said the US provided "no firm position," on helping the SDF maintain control of the city that came under attack by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. 

“There is no American decision to protect the areas we liberated together from ISIS,” Kobani, according to a report from CNN, citing a translated interview. 

Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, one of the main advocates for sanctioning the government of Bashar al-Assad, on Wednesday called on the Biden administration to lift sanctions on Syria. 

Wilson said while sanctions on former Assad officials should remain, the US should lift sanctions on Syria as a whole related to reconstruction and foreign investment. 

"The administration should issue waivers and general licenses to suspend sanctions statutes and executive orders connected to reconstruction, economic development, foreign investment, and other critical economic activities," Wilson wrote in a letter addressed to national security advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. 

"Such temporary waivers and licenses at this critical time could build good will for the United States in Syria and help sideline terrorist groups by facilitating economic and financial access for ordinary Syrians," he added. 

Wilson said lifting sanctions on foreign investment and reconstruction would not stop sanctions on designated terror groups operating in Syria. 

Syrian rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammad Jolani, said on Wednesday that Syria's new HTS-led government is working with international organisations to secure possible sites where chemical weapons may be located.

In a statement to Reuters, Sharaa also said he plans to dissolve the security forces of the toppled government of Bashar al-Assad. 

The US welcomed the statement on chemical weapons. 

"We welcome this type of rhetoric, but... actions have to meet words as well," Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said. 

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani said on Wednesday that his government wants displaced Syrians to return to the country to contribute to its reconstruction, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. 

He added that HTS was committed to the "unity" of all Syrians.

Syria's new Prime Minister said the transition government led by the Islamist group HTS will guarantee the rights of all religious groups and called on the millions who fled the war to return home.

"Precisely because we are Islamic, we will guarantee the rights of all people and all sects in Syria," transition Prime Minister Mohammad al-Bashir, told Italian daily Corriere della Sera. 

Asked whether Syria's new constitution would be Islamic, he said "we will clarify all these details during the constituent process".

Damascus airport, closed since the opposition took control of the Syrian capital, will reopen "in the next few days", its director Anis Fallouh told AFP on Wednesday.

"God willing, the airport will reopen as quickly as possible because we are going to work flat out," Fallouh said.

Pushed to give a timeframe for the reopening, he said it ought to happen "in the next few days".

"We can quickly let aircraft resume flights through Syrian airspace, which has been closed," he added.