(SEOUL) — The leader of South Korea’s ruling conservative People Power Party said he is now in favor of impeaching President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law, telling reporters “there is no other way,” during a briefing Thursday.
One week ago, ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon suggested similar action against the president, stating that “prompt suspension of his duties is necessary.”
But those intentions were, in part, waylaid by a motion of impeachment that had already been initiated by the opposition party.
When that motion moved through South Korea’s National Assembly, lawmakers in the People Power Party declined to join in the vote.
That left Yoon in power — and the ruling party back where it started.
“Since it has been confirmed that President Yoon Suk Yeol has no intention of resigning early, an immediate suspension from office is necessary,” Han said Thursday morning in Seoul. The sentiments echoed those he shared the previous week, and again carefully avoided using the word “impeachment.”
However, this time, Han was slightly more specific about the intentions behind his words, stating, “Our party members should attend the National Assembly and vote according to their consciences at the next vote.”
In a late-night speech last week, Yoon declared martial law in the country. The move, which touched off a wave of protests, included banning political activities and called for a stop to the “dissemination of fake news” and the manipulation of public opinion.
Within hours, the National Assembly voted to demand that the president lift the martial law order — which he soon did.
“From the time martial law was declared until now, we have consistently taken a firm stance that those involved in martial law, including the president, should be severely punished, and we will continue to do so,” said Han. “The president should be immediately suspended from state affairs, including the right to command the military. We must prevent any further confusion, and now there is only one effective way to do so.”
South Korean police then raided the president’s office on Wednesday as a part of the ongoing investigation into the martial law declaration.
Embattled president says he will ‘not avoid’ responsibility for martial law crisis
In a defiant speech on Thursday, local time, Yoon said he will defend himself if his critics try to impeach or investigate him.
“Whether they try to impeach me or investigate me, I will speak for myself. I will not avoid legal and political responsibility regarding the declaration of martial law,” Yoon said.
Yoon explained why he believed he needed to invoke martial law, saying he felt the “majority opposition party continued to abuse its constitutional authority and repeat unconstitutional measures,” causing him to “exercise the president’s authority within the framework of the Constitution.”
“I intended to prevent the collapse of the liberal democratic constitutional order and normalize the function of the state,” Yoon said.
Yoon’s statement came just hours before the opposition party was expected to submit a new impeachment motion against Yoon, which could come up for a vote on Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
(LONDON) — The U.S. believes an individual seen in a video circulating online could be Travis Pete Timmerman, an American who went missing from Hungary earlier in the year, two officials familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Officials said they were seeking to provide support to the person, who doesn’t speak in the short video and is seen lying on a mattress on the floor.
Timmerman, 29, has been missing since June 2, 2024, the date of his last contact, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol.
It wasn’t immediately clear when and where the circulating video was taken, but the person speaking in Arabic to the camera identifies the man as an American, according to a translation. The speaker was identified as a Syrian local.
Police in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, published a statement in August seeking information about Timmerman, whom they said was missing.
“According to available data, the 29-year-old man was last seen at a church in District II, and has since left for an unknown location, with no sign of life,” police said, according to a translation.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
(ITALY) — An 11-year-old girl was miraculously rescued after three days of being stranded at sea when a shipwreck off Italy’s Lampedusa island is believed to have killed the remaining passengers on the vessel.
Germany’s CompassCollective, the charitable organization that rescued the girl at 3 a.m. on Wednesday, said its boat was en route on a different rescue operation when they heard her shouting from the water.
“It was an incredible coincidence that we heard the child’s voice despite the engine running,” Skipper Matthias Wiedenlübbert said in a press release detailing the rescue.
The shipwrecked metal boat, which had initially set off from Sfax, Tunisia, was caught in a storm that lasted several days in the central Mediterranean, according to the release.
There were an estimated 45 passengers onboard the ship before it sank, the organization said.
The 11-year-old girl said she drifted in the water for three days with two improvised life rings made from air-filled inner tubes and a simple life jacket.
She survived without any drinking water or food and despite suffering from hypothermia, she was “responsive and oriented,” according to the release.
The girl told the organization she had been in contact with two other passengers in the water two days after the shipwreck, but that the contact had broken off.
After receiving medical attention, the girl was moved to a migrant holding center in Lampedusa where Italian Red Cross staff were looking after her, according to the organization.
CompassCollective’s Katja Tempel said the rescue signals an ongoing crisis for migrants embarking on dangerous journeys by boat in attempts to get to Europe.
“Even in storms, people are forced to use risky escape routes across the Mediterranean. We need safe passages for refugees and an open Europe that welcomes people and gives them easy access to the asylum system. Drowning in the Mediterranean is not an option,” Tempel said in the release.
According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the migration route between Tunisia, Libya, Italy and Malta is one of the most dangerous passages in the world with over 24,300 people disappearing or dying since 2014.
“The persisting humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is intolerable,” IOM Director General António Vitorino said in 2023. “With more than 20,000 deaths recorded on this route since 2014, I fear that these deaths have been normalized,” he added.
(SEOUL) — South Korean police raided South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office as a part of the ongoing investigation into the martial law declaration on Dec. 3, Yonhap, South Korean state media, reported Wednesday.
The South Korean National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters Emergency Martial Special Consecution Team entered “the seizure and search,” of the President’s office Wednesday morning local time, Yonhap reported.
South Korean Police on Wednesday morning also arrested the South Korean National Police Commissioner Cho Ji Ho and the Seoul Police Chief Kim Bong Sik as a part of the ongoing investigation into the martial law declaration.
The police action followed more than a week of political turmoil in South Korea after Yoon’s brief failed imposition of a police state, a move that the president had at the time claimed necessary to protect the nation from enemies within. Yoon, a member of the conservative People Power Party, backtracked on his declaration within hours. Opposition parties then moved to impeach Yoon, but lawmakers in his party declined to join in the vote, leaving him in power.
Presidential Chief of Staff Jeong Jin Seok and several other staff members resigned soon after the martial law was lifted. Yoon soon after accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who was described as the architect of Yoon’s plan.
The former defense minister, who took full responsibility for the martial law declaration in a statement from his attorney Tuesday, became the first government official to be formally arrested for the series of events late Tuesday evening local time. He was arrested for engaging in essential activities in insurrection and abusing his power during the six hours of martial law in action.
He had attempted suicide while he was in the bathroom before a warrant for his arrest was issued, Shin Yong Hae, the head of the South Korean Ministry of Justice’s correctional headquarters, said during a public judicial committee questioning Wednesday.
“Yesterday afternoon around 11:52 p.m., one of our personnel witnessed a suicide attempt… before a warrant was issued,” Shin said. “He gave up immediately as personnel opened the door. He is currently being held in shelter and is reported to be in good health.”
The two arrested Wednesday — the South Korean National Police Commissioner and the Seoul Police Chief — were arrested under insurrection charges, according to the South Korean Police’s special investigation team. They are suspected of instructing police officers to block lawmakers at the National Assembly who were there to reverse the martial law decree.
The arrests took place just one day since the two have been placed under a travel ban.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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(LONDON) — The U.S. is communicating with rebel groups inside Syria amid the search for missing American journalist Austin Tice, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday, as the prisons of former President Bashar Assad empty and more evidence of alleged atrocities emerges.
Miller told journalists at a Tuesday briefing, “We do continue to believe that he is alive and we continue to make clear in all of our conversations, either with entities on the ground in Syria or with entities that may be in communication with those on the ground in Syria, that we have no higher priority than the safe return of Austin Tice to his family.”
The U.S. has expressed its desire to find Tice to the lead Syrian rebel group now guiding the transition of power in Damascus, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — led by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, real name Ahmed Al-Sharaa — Miller said.
“It is a message that we have sent to HTS,” Miller told reporters. The group has its roots in Al-Qaeda and is a designated terrorist organization in the U.S. and the European Union. Jolani himself is still the subject of a $10 million U.S. bounty.
“We have sent very clearly the message that as they move through Syria liberating prisons, that our top priority is the return of Austin Tice,” Miller continued. “We want anyone who is operating on the ground in Syria to be on the lookout for him and if so — if they do find him, to help return him to us safely and as soon as possible.”
Tice went missing while reporting in Syria in 2012. The journalist is believed to have been kidnapped at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus. His whereabouts and the identity of his abductors is unknown, though U.S. officials have previously said they believe Tice was being held by Syrian government forces.
The collapse of the Assad regime raised hopes that Tice would be found. “We believe he’s alive,” President Joe Biden said on Sunday. “We think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence of that yet.”
On Monday, the State Department increased its reward for information on Tice to $10 million. The State Department also offered relocation for anyone that helps information that helps find and recover Tice.
Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, also traveled to the Middle East to hold talks with regional officials to “get him home as soon as possible,” Miller said on Monday.
Debra and Marc Tice — Austin’s parents — released a statement urging “anyone who can do so to please assist Austin so he can safely return home to our family” following the collapse of the Assad government.
“We are watching the events unfold in Syria and seeing families reunited with their loved ones after years of separation,” said a statement released via the Press Freedom Center at the National Press Club.
“We know this is possible for our family, too,” they added. “Austin Tice is alive, in Syria, and it’s time for him to come home. We are eagerly anticipating seeing Austin walk free.”
Tice is one of the 157,000 people disappeared into the bowels of Assad’s totalitarian state between 2011 and 2024, per an estimate by the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
Rebel fighters surging south from Idlib and north from Daraa emptied government prisons as they advanced on Damascus at the close of an 11-day surprise offensive.
There, the infamous Saydnaya prison — once described as the “Human Slaughterhouse” by Amnesty International — became a rallying point for the hopeful family and friends of the missing.
Rebel fighters and Damascenes rushed through the facility, freeing groups of men, women and children from cells.
The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, said that rumors of hidden underground cells proved unfounded. But rescuers said they found evidence of the regime’s vast torture apparatus as well as the bodies of those who did not live to see its fall.
Among them was famed anti-government activist Mazen Al-Hamada, who had been held in Saydnaya since February 2020.
ABC News’ Dee Carden and Camilla Alcini contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it’s happening right now and affecting what matters most to us. Hurricanes intensified by a warming planet and drought-fueled wildfires are destroying our communities. Rising seas and flooding are swallowing our homes. And record-breaking heat waves are reshaping our way of life.
The good news is we know how to turn the tide and avoid the worst possible outcomes. However, understanding what needs to be done can be confusing due to a constant stream of climate updates, scientific findings, and critical decisions that are shaping our future.
That’s why the ABC News Climate and Weather Unit is cutting through the noise by curating what you need to know to keep the people and places you care about safe. We are dedicated to providing clarity amid the chaos, giving you the facts and insights necessary to navigate the climate realities of today — and tomorrow.
The US just experienced its warmest autumn on record
Another season, another climate milestone. According to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), persistent above-average to record-warm conditions across much of the United States made meteorological autumn, which lasts from September to November, the warmest ever recorded.
The record-warm fall season makes it more likely that 2024 will end up as one of the nation’s warmest, if not the warmest, years on record. As of November 2024, the contiguous U.S. year-to-date temperature was 3.3 degrees Fahrenheit above average.
Despite December’s chilly start for much of the country, with widespread below-average temperatures in many regions, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center says that the cold will ease during the second half of the month with above-average temperatures favored from the West to the Northeast.
The stretch of abnormally warm temperatures was accompanied by extremely dry weather across much of the country, fueling dangerous wildfire conditions in regions like the Northeast. A very dry start to the season brought drought conditions to more than half of the lower 48 states by late October.
Fortunately, several significant rainfall events in November brought notable drought relief to large swaths of the country, reducing overall drought coverage by nearly 10.5% and suppressing the wildfire danger.
-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck
Nearly one-third of the planet’s species risk extinction because of climate change
Nearly one-third of the world’s species could be at risk for extinction because of climate change if the world does nothing to reduce global warming, according to a new analysis from Science.
University of Connecticut researcher and biologist Mark Urban found that while some species are adapting to climate change, 160,000 species are already at risk. Many are now facing declining populations because of changes in our climate.
According to the study, with current global temperatures at 1.3 degrees Celsius above industrial levels, 1.6% of species are projected to become extinct. As the temperatures warm even more, Urban found the extinction rate would also increase, with the most severe scenario included (5.4 degrees Celsius of warming) putting the extinction risk at 29.7%.
“The increased certainty of predicted climate change extinctions compels action,” Urban wrote. “Extinction represents just the final endpoint of a species’ existence; even when extinction is avoided, declining abundances and shrinking ranges can strongly affect many other species, including humans.”
Urban defines the risk of extinction as the probability that any one species will go extinct without mitigation efforts. Urban found that extinction rates could increase dramatically if global temperatures rise over 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to industrial levels.
1.5 degrees Celsius is the warming limit set by the world’s nations under the Paris Agreement after the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that crossing that benchmark would lead to more severe climate change impacts.
Risks varied across geographic areas in the study, with Australia/New Zealand and South America facing the highest risks (15.7% and 12.8%, respectively) and Asia facing lower risks (5.5%).
-ABC News Climate Unit’s Kelly Livingston
Antarctic sea ice hits new low during Earth’s 2nd warmest November on record
Imagine you have a swimming pool with ice cubes filling it. Now, measure the total area of the pool that has ice on the surface, even if the ice cubes don’t cover it completely. Because ice often spreads out unevenly, leaving water between the chunks, scientists count areas where at least 15% of the surface is covered. So, because your pool is loaded with ice cubes, it would be considered ice covered. In the real world, scientists call it sea ice extent.
While you can add ice to your pool, you can’t to the ocean. And according to a new report by Copernicus, the European Union’s Climate Change Service, the sea ice extent in the Antarctic has dipped to its lowest value on record for the month of November. It is 10% below average. This occurred during a stretch of near-record global land and sea surface temperatures.
Last month ranked as the second warmest November on record globally, with an average temperature of 14.10 degrees Celsius, or 57.38 degrees Fahrenheit.
Copernicus noted the new data not only makes it virtually certain that 2024 will surpass 2023 as Earth’s warmest year on record, but it will likely be the first year to be 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) than the pre-industrial average of 1850-1900.
The Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to prevent the worst outcomes of climate change.
As of November 2024, the average global year-to-date temperature was 0.14 degrees Celsius (or 0.25 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than it was in 2023, which is the warmest year ever recorded.
(LONDON) — Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani said late Monday that his forces “will not hesitate to hold accountable” alleged war criminals and torturers that operated as part of President Bashar Assad’s toppled regime.
Jolani — whose real name is Ahmed al-Sharaa — and his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forces are the most prominent of the rebel factions that defeated Assad’s government after 14 years of civil war. HTS and its ally rebel groups — operating under the umbrella Syrian Salvation Government — are now working to assert control of the wartorn nation.
Rebel forces offered a general amnesty for all conscripted Syrian military personnel. But Jolani said in a statement that the new authorities will seek “just punishment” for those accused of involvement in the regime’s alleged human rights abuses.
“We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people,” Jolani said in a statement posted to the rebels’ Military Operations Command Telegram channel.
“We will pursue war criminals and demand them from the countries to which they fled so that they may receive their just punishment,” he added.
Authorities will also prepare a wanted list “that includes the names of the most senior officials involved in torturing the Syrian people,” Jolani said. “We will offer rewards to anyone who provides information about senior army and security officers involved in war crimes.”
Crowds of rebel fighters and civilians descended on Assadist prisons as the regime collapsed during a 10-day surprise offensive. Rebel forces freed prisoners in every major city they passed through on the road to Damascus.
The most infamous facility was the Sednaya prison in the capital, which is believed to have held thousands of people. The prison has previously been described as the “Human Slaughterhouse” by Amnesty International.
Footage from inside showed rebels and local residents surging through its corridors to free groups of men, women and children from cells.
A former prisoner at Sednaya — Omar Alshogre — told ABC News that the prison “is known to have women” and that detainees there have been subjected to sexual abuse.
“Some women give birth and the children born and grew up in prison,” Alshogre said. “They don’t see anything but the walls of the cell. They do not know what a ball is or a bird is or a tree. This is not knew but it’s always shocking to see the pictures of it.”
The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, appealed for information on suspected secret areas of the prison where it feared detainees were still being held. The group said it concluded its search on Monday having failed to find any “unopened or hidden areas.”
“Specialized teams conducted a thorough search of all sections, facilities, basements, courtyards, and surrounding areas of the prison,” the White Helmets said in a statement.
“These operations were carried out with the assistance of individuals familiar with the prison and its layout,” it added. However, no evidence of undiscovered secret cells or basements was found.”
The White Helmets said there are “thousands who remain missing and whose fates are unknown.”
Assad fled to Russia as the rebels closed in on the capital. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin will grant his Syrian ally political asylum.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told journalists on Monday that “the people of Syria are probably going to want him to return home and stand judgment for his crimes in Syria.”
Asked whether Assad might stand trial at the International Criminal Court, Miller responded, “If he’s not going to return home from Russia, I doubt he’s going to transfer himself to The Hague, leaving Russian protection either.”
ABC News’ William Gretsky and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.
(DAMASCUS, SYRIA) — Rebel forces in Syria captured the capital Damascus and toppled the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.
Meanwhile, the ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group. The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza.
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides.
Israel launches 480 strikes in Syria in 48 hours
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday evening that it conducted about 480 strikes across Syria within the previous 48 hours, hitting most of the country’s strategic weapon stockpiles.
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the navy destroyed the Syrian fleet at anchor overnight. Dozens of sea-to-sea missiles were also destroyed in strikes on naval facilities in the Mediterranean port city of Latakia, Katz said.
Israel has also deployed ground troops both into and beyond a demilitarized buffer zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria for the first time in 50 years.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Syria rebels will not succeed, Khamenei says
In his first public comments since the fall of Bashar Assad’s government, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran and its regional allies will continue fighting against the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East despite setbacks for Iran in the region.
In a Wednesday morning speech in Tehran, Khamenei said the collapse of Bashar Assad’s government — of which Iran was a major patron — was the product of a “joint” American and Israeli plan. “We have evidence — this evidence leaves no room for doubt,” he added.
Without naming Turkey, Khamenei said that one “neighboring state of Syria” also played an obvious role in the developments, but “the main conspirator, the main planner and the main command room are in America and the Zionist regime.”
Iranian leaders have previously described the Syrian opposition forces that toppled Assad as “terrorists” or “rebels,” but Khamenei on Wednesday did not use such words.
“Each of these fighters has a purpose,” he said of the armed groups. “Their goals are different, some are seeking to seize territory from northern Syria or southern Syria.”
The U.S., he added, “is seeking to strengthen its foothold in the region.”
“Time will show that, God willing, none of them will achieve these goals,” the ayatollah continued. “The occupied areas of Syria will be liberated by the zealous Syrian youth; do not doubt that this will happen.”
Khamenei said that the Iranian-led “Resistance Front,” meanwhile, will grow stronger despite its recent setbacks in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
“The more pressure you put on it, the stronger it becomes,” he said of the grouping. “The more you fight them, the wider it becomes, and I tell you, with the power of god, the scope of resistance will encompass the entire region more than ever before,” he said.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
UN warns of skyrocketing food prices in Syria
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs published a new report Wednesday warning that food prices in some parts of Syria have increased by 900% amid the collapse of former President Bashar Assad’s regime.
“Food shortages were reported in Deir el-Zour, Damascus and Hama; bread prices Idlib and Aleppo rose by 900% from Nov. 27 to Dec. 9,” the UNOCHA wrote, referring to the period between the start of the surprise rebel offensive in the northwest and the fall of Damascus.
“Around 100,000 individuals have been displaced to northeast Syria,” the report continued. “Hospitals are overwhelmed with trauma and injury cases and there is significant psychological distress, especially among children,” it added.
The “fluid displacements” of large numbers of people are particularly concerning given the many areas of continued fighting and minefields across the country, the UNOCHA said. Those include 52 minefields identified in the past 10 days, it said.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
Syrian rebels claim Deir el-Zour from Kurdish forces
Syrian rebel forces said late Tuesday they had taken control of the eastern city of Deir el-Zour on the banks of the Euphrates River and close to U.S. military positions in the region.
The city was occupied by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on Dec. 6 as former president Bashar Assad’s forces withdrew. The SDF subsequenty faced protests from residents and local officials.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Military Operations Department said in a post to Telegram that the city and its military airport were “completely liberated” as of the early hours of Wednesday.
Geolocated videos showed rebel fighters in the city center, joined by residents waving the Syrian revolutionary flag.
Rebel forces continued to advance into the countryside to the west and east of the city, Lt. Col. Hassan Abdul Ghani said in a statement posted to Telegram.
Deir el-Zour is the largest city in eastern Syria and the closest to U.S. troop concentrations along the Euphrates River running to the Iraqi border.
-ABC News’ Helena Skinner
Iran’s Khamenei says Syrian collapse ‘planned’ by US, Israel
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei alleged on Wednesday that the U.S. and Israel orchestrated the rapid collapse of the Syrian government led by former President Bashar Assad.
Damascus’ defeat, Khamenei wrote on X, “was planned in the U.S.-Israeli control room.”
“We have evidence for this” which leaves “no room for doubt,” Khamenei said.
Iran and Russia were the key backers of Assad’s government through more than a decade of civil war.
Tehran’s support for the regime in Damascus enabled Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to establish a major presence inside Syria alongside a range of Iran-backed militias, including Lebanese Hezbollah.
Famous Syrian activist found dead in Saydnaya
After dedicating his life to fighting the Assad regime, Mazen Al-Hamada did not live to see it fall.
A symbol of resilience and courage, the famous Syrian activist was found dead in the “slaughterhouse” prison of Saydnaya in Damascus, where he had been held since he returned to Syria in February 2020.
An unverified photo circulating online shows his disfigured face and suggests he was killed just before the rebels reached the prison, according to independent observers.
Al-Hamada was first arrested in 2011, when he protested against the regime, and remained in prison for two years. He left Syria in 2013 and was granted asylum in the Netherlands a year later.
That’s when the world got to know the horrors he endured, which he bravely described as he spoke to huge crowds, policymakers and the press, voicing the struggle of thousands who like him were detained by Assad’s regime — at least 157,000 between 2011 and August 2024, according to a report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
“I will not rest until I take them to court and get justice,” Al-Hamada said in an interview for a 2017 documentary, ‘Syria’s Disappeared,’ his sunken eyes in tears unable to hide the pain behind his words. “Justice for me and my friends who they killed. Even if it costs my life. Bring them to justice, no matter what.”
-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini
White Helmets search 2nd prison
The White Helmets said they have searched a second prison in Damascus within a training center for the Assad regime’s State Security Branch.
“Our teams conducted searches and inspections inside the prison and the basement, which contains collective and solitary confinement cells, where innocent people were detained and brutally tortured. The teams found papers with numbers of soldiers who worked in the branch. The teams contacted them and they confirmed that the cells were only within the basement and that there were no hidden detention centers in the place,” the White Helmets said in a statement.
White Helmets demand Assad hand over maps of secret prisons
After searching Monday for secret prisons and cells, the White Helmets are now demanding Bashar Assad hand over the locations of the regime’s secret prisons along with a list of detainees being held.
Many believe there are still prisons that have yet to be discovered.
“The defunct Assad regime has practiced indescribable brutality and criminality in killing, arresting, and torturing Syrians, prolonging the period of oppression and pain in the hearts of mothers. Justice for all victims and holding accountable the perpetrators of crimes against Syrians is the first step in healing wounds and supporting peace-building efforts,” the White Helmets said in a statement Tuesday.
The White Helmets said they sent a request to the United Nations through an international mediator to demand that Russia pressure Assad to release the information so the prisoners can be reached.
Israel will act ‘to ensure security,’ but won’t interfere in Syria, Netanyahu says
Israel will act decisively against positions in Syria if Hezbollah reemerges, but it has “no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of Syria,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in remarks Tuesday.
“I authorized the Air Force to bomb strategic military capabilities left behind by the Syrian army, so that they would not fall into the hands of the jihadists,” Netanyahu said.
“We want relations with the new regime in Syria. But if this regime allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us — we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from him,” Netanyahu said.
IDF says they’ve destroyed almost all Assad regime capability
The Israel Defense Forces said it has hit about 320 targets, destroying almost all of the Assad regime army’s capability throughout Syria, from Damascus to Tartus.
“The operation destroyed dozens of fighter jets, combat helicopters, radars, surface-to-air missile batteries, ships, surface-to-surface missiles, rockets, weapons production sites, weapons depots, Scud missiles, cruise missiles, coastal missiles, sea-to-sea missiles, UAVs, and more,” the IDF said in a statement Tuesday.
“The operation is still ongoing on the ground, with the IDF ground forces operating in the buffer zone. There, too, the IDF is working to establish a grip on the area, destroy weapons, and ensure that they do not fall into unwanted hands,” the IDF said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Fighting escalates between Kurds, Turkey-supported group in northeast Syria
With focus still on the collapse of Bashar Assad’s government, there are signs fighting is dramatically escalating in northeast Syria. The area is held by U.S.-backed Kurds, while Turkey-supported rebel groups have gone on the offensive there, aided by Turkish airpower.
The Turkish rebels have attacked the territory controlled by the Kurds, who helped the U.S. defeat the Islamic State in eastern Syria. There are fears that Turkey — which has waged a long war against the Kurds and considers the U.S.-backed group to be a terrorist group — will use the chaos in Syria to now force them back.
There are reports the Turkish-backed rebels are now advancing on Kobani, an important Kurdish-majority town on Turkey’s border. It comes a day after the rebels successfully drove the Kurds from the key town of Manbij in northern Syria.
There are concerns that if Turkey and its rebel proxies press on against the Kurds it could endanger the containment efforts against the Islamic State. The Kurds currently guard 50,000 Islamic State prisoners in camps and are also essential to prevent the group regaining a foothold.
There are calls from some for the U.S. to warn Turkey to pull the rebels back.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
US will recognize, fully support a future Syria government
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the U.S.’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,” Blinken said in a statement Tuesday.
“The Syrian people will decide the future of Syria. All nations should pledge to support an inclusive and transparent process and refrain from external interference. The United States will recognize and fully support a future Syria government that results from this process. We stand prepared to lend all appropriate support to all of Syria’s diverse communities and constituencies,” Blinken said in a statement.
Blinken added that it must also “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.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
New Syrian government begins to form
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels have begun to form a new government as they seize power in Damascus, Syria. The group has appointed Mohammed al-Bashir as the new prime minister, according to state media outlet SANA.
Al-Bashir has previously held leadership roles and he will run the new government until March.
Israel destroys Syrian navy fleet
Israel destroyed the Syrian navy’s fleet overnight in a “large-scale operation,” according to the Israel Ministry of Defense.
“The IDF has been operating in Syria in recent days To harm and destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel. The Navy operated last night to destroy the Syrian fleet with great success,” Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Tuesday.
“I hereby warn the rebel leaders in Syria: Whoever follows Assad’s path will end up like Assad – we will not allow an extremist Islamic terrorist entity to act against Israel across its border and at the risk of its citizens, we will do everything necessary to remove the threat,” Katz said.
Israel focused on ‘Iran’s movements and interests’ in Syria, IDF says
Israel is focused on Iranian forces and interests in Syria as it continues strikes across the country, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said during a Tuesday briefing.
Israeli warplanes have launched hundreds of strikes all over Syria since Bashar Assad’s regime was toppled on Sunday, according to local reports. Israeli troops have also crossed into the demilitarized buffer zone between the two countries established in 1974.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani refused to go into details on “the nature of what we are doing and long-term plan of these operations,” which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said included strikes on naval assets and port facilities in the Mediterranean city of Latakia.
“This is something we’ve been committed to for years,” Shoshani said during the briefing. Israel is committed to preventing “lethal strategic weapons from reaching the wrong hands,” he added.
“The primary focus is observing Iran’s movements and interests and our secondary focus is on local factions who are taking control of the area, assessing their actions, behavior and deterrence level and ensuring they do not mistakenly direct their actions toward us,” Shoshani continued.
Shoshani repeated the IDF’s earlier denial of local reports that Israeli tanks were operating on the outskirts of Damascus. Israeli forces, he said, have been operating in the “Area of Separation” buffer zone between Israel and Syria and “in a few additional points.”
-ABC News’ Bruno Nota and Joe Simonetti
Assad made ‘personal decision’ to resign, Kremlin says
Syrian President Bashar Assad made a personal decision to resign and leave the country as rebel forces closed in on the capital Damascus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.
“It was a personal decision of Assad to withdraw from the process of service as the head of state,” Peskov said when asked if Russia played any role in Assad’s decision.
Peskov said Monday that President Vladimir Putin will grant Assad political asylum in Russia.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Israeli operation against Syria ‘needs to stop,’ UN says
The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told reporters on Tuesday Israeli attacks and operations inside Syria are unacceptable.
“We are continuing to see Israeli movements and bombardments into Syrian territory,” Pederson said in Geneva, Switzerland. “This needs to stop. This is extremely important.”
Israeli leaders say the operations are intended to deny “extremist” groups access to weapons or territory that could be used for cross-border attacks into Israel.
Pedersen also said that the conflict in Syria is not yet over, pointing to continued clashes in the northeast of the country between the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and the mainly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, which are partnered with the U.S. in operations against ISIS remnants.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Netanyahu in court for corruption trial
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in court in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to give evidence in his corruption trial, making him the first sitting Israeli prime minister to take the stand as a defendant.
Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denies all charges, calling the trial a “witch hunt.”
“This is the opportunity to dispel the allegations against me,” Netanyahu told the court on Tuesday morning. “There is a great absurdity in the charges and great injustice.”
Netanyahu had long sought to delay or avoid appearing in front of the court. If found guilty, he could face 10 years in prison.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Morgan Winsor
IDF denies reports of Israeli tanks near Damascus
The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday denied reports that Israeli tanks had been spotted on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, amid the nascent Israeli operation inside a border buffer zone separating the two nations.
Lebanese news network Al Mayadeen reported that Israeli armor advanced into the Damascus countryside, while other unverified reports suggested that Israeli forces occupied several villages south of the capital.
The IDF rejected the reports. “The reports circulating in the media about the alleged advancement of Israeli tanks towards Damascus are false,” an IDF official told ABC News.
“IDF troops are stationed within the buffer zone, as stated in the past,” the official added.
Israeli forces entered the border buffer zone over the weekend amid the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime in Damascus. The area was demilitarized per a 1974 agreement between the two neighbors.
Israeli leaders say the deployment — and the ongoing nationwide airstrike campaign — is intended to prevent “extremist” groups using the country as a springboard for cross-border attacks.
Israel still occupies the Golan Heights plateau, which overlooks Damascus from the southwest. Israeli forces seized the strategic region during the 1967 war. Israel unilaterally annexed the area in 1981, a move recognized by the U.S. in 2019.
The vast majority of the international community still recognizes the Golan Heights as Syrian territory.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
US can engage with Syrian rebels despite terror designation, official says
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told journalists at a Monday briefing it is “obvious” that the U.S. wants to engage with Syrian rebel leaders including the head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which is designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S.
Miller said the U.S. has “the ability to engage” with proscribed terror groups like HTS and is also speaking with the foreign backers of such groups and intermediaries within Syria.
HTS has roots in al-Qaeda and its leader — Abu Mohammed al-Jolani — fought with al-Qaeda against American occupation forces in Iraq. Jolani is still subject to a U.S. $10 million bounty.
Miller declined to say whether the U.S. will engage directly with Jolani, but said: “We want to have conversations with the key groups inside Syria, either directly or indirectly. It’s obvious that HTS is one of them.”
“I’m not ruling anything in or out either way,” Miller added.
Jolani has sought to distance himself from his jihadist background in recent media and public appearances. The rebel leader said he is committed to a pluralist transition to a new government of national unity.
Israel conducts 310 airstrikes in Syria since Assad’s fall, watchdog says
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said Tuesday that Israel has conducted around 310 airstrikes across Syria since the fall of former President Bashar Assad’s regime on Sunday.
The group — which documents war crimes and human rights abuses related to the Syrian Civil War and has generally been described as pro-opposition and anti-Assad — said the targets included Syrian airports, aircraft, radars, air defense systems, scientific institutions and weapons and ammunition depots.
SOHR said Israeli strikes have been reported all across the country, from Deir Ez Zor in the east to the coastal province of Latakia in the west. Israeli strikes have reportedly hit targets in major cities including the capital Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Daraa, SOHR said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar confirmed Monday that Israeli forces “attacked strategic weapons arrays, residual chemical weapons capabilities, missiles and long-range rockets” inside Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of “extremist elements.”
Syrian Civil Defence did not find detainees, hidden facilities in Sednaya Prison
The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, said it had concluded its search for detainees within Sednaya Prison on Monday after failing to uncover any “unopened or hidden areas” within the facility.
The prison previously held thousands of people detained by the former regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. Families of the missing and survivors believed that some detainees might have been unable to leave over the past two days, potentially due to being held in tightly sealed and secured areas, those close to the situation told the White Helmets, prompting the search.
“Specialized teams conducted a thorough search of all sections, facilities, basements, courtyards, and surrounding areas of the prison,” the White Helmets said in a statement. “These operations were carried out with the assistance of individuals familiar with the prison and its layout. However, no evidence of undiscovered secret cells or basements was found.”
The statement also called on international organizations and local authorities to support the efforts of the Syrian Civil Defence in uncovering the fate of the detainees and returning them to their loved ones.
“We share the profound disappointment of the families of the thousands who remain missing and whose fates remain unknown,” the statement continued. “We stand in solidarity with the victims’ families, fully understanding their anguish and their longing for answers about their loved ones.”
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
Blinken addresses US response to fall of Assad regime
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said senior officials from his department are “fanning out through the region as we speak” to work with their counterparts on how the U.S. can “help support the Syrian people as they decide their own path for the future.”
“We have a strong interest in preventing the reemergence of ISIS, given the death and destruction that it has wrought for so long,” he said during remarks at an unrelated event on Monday.
Blinken noted that ISIS would seek to exploit the moment, and that U.S. strikes on ISIS sites over the weekend demonstrate that the U.S. is “determined not to let that happen.”
“We have a clear interest in doing what we can to avoid the fragmentation of Syria, mass migrations from Syria and, of course, the export of terrorism and extremism,” he said. “The region and the world have a responsibility to support the Syrian people as they begin to rebuild their country and charge a new direction.”
Blinken also said that with every party they engage with, he and other U.S. officials will continue to seek information on American freelance journalist and Marine Corps veteran Austin Tice, who went missing while covering the civil war in August 2012, “so that we can find him and bring him home to his family and loved ones.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
Top US hostage negotiator in Lebanon, official says
The special presidential envoy for hostage affairs is in Lebanon as the Biden administration tries to capitalize on the fall of the Assad regime to uncover information on the whereabouts of missing American freelance journalist and Marine Corps veteran Austin Tice, according to a U.S. official.
The envoy, Roger Carstens, was in Doha last week but traveled to Beirut when the Assad regime fell, the official said. The Biden administration is working through multiple partners in the Middle East — most notably Lebanon and Turkey — to track people coming out of Syrian jails.
However, U.S. officials say they still have very little intelligence on Tice’s whereabouts and can’t say with certainty that he is even in Syria.
Tice went missing while covering the civil war in August 2012.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
White Helmets offering reward for info on ‘secret’ Syrian prisons
The Syria Civil Defence, aka the White Helmets, announced Monday it is offering a $3,000 reward for any direct information that will lead them to Assad’s “secret” Syrian prisons.
The organization addressed former security officers and those working in the security branches for help in accessing the prisons, adding they will maintain the confidentiality of sources.
Turkey opening border gate with Syria for return of migrants
Turkish President Erdogan said Monday that Turkey is opening the border gate with Syria for the return of migrants.
Erdogan said they are opening the Yayladağı border gate to crossings “in order to prevent congestion and ease traffic.”
There were long lines at the border earlier awaiting this decision.
Germany and Austria pause Syrian asylum
Germany and Austria have paused asylum for Syrian refugees after Assad’s regime was toppled.
The German interior minister called the situation in Syria “very confusing” and that due to the unclear situation, they have “imposed a freeze on decisions for asylum procedures that are still ongoing until the situation is clearer.”
Nearly 1 million Syrian refugees live in Germany.
Austria’s interior minister has also instructed the ministry to “prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation program to Syria.”
Nearly 100,000 Syrian refugees live in Austria.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Parents of journalist missing in Syria hoping for positive news
Debra and Marc Tice — the parents of Austin Tice, a U.S. journalist and prisoner in Syria since 2012 — released a statement urging “anyone who can do so to please assist Austin so he can safely return home to our family” following the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime.
“We are watching the events unfold in Syria and seeing families reunited with their loved ones after years of separation,” said a statement released via the Press Freedom Center at the National Press Club.
“We know this is possible for our family, too,” they added. “Austin Tice is alive, in Syria, and it’s time for him to come home. We are eagerly anticipating seeing Austin walk free.”
Tice went missing while reporting in Syria in 2012. President Joe Biden said Sunday his return remains possible, though acknowledged that “we have no direct evidence” of his status. “Assad should be held accountable,” Biden added.
-ABC News’ Dee Carden
Assad’s fall ‘good for the United States,’ Sullivan says
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told “Good Morning America” on Monday that “it is good for the United States and the world that a murderous dictator whose family has ruled Syria with an iron fist for half a century is gone.”
Sullivan did, however, echo President Joe Biden’s warning that there is real risk that “terrorists, jihadists and other people who do not have the United States best interests at heart…could take advantage of this.”
“We are vigilant about that,” Sullivan said in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. “We are taking action to deal with that, and we’re prepared to work with anyone in Syria who wants a stable, inclusive, democratic future for that country.
Sullivan said that the U.S.’ top priority is “to protect the United States of America from the resurgence of a terror threat” emanating from Syria.
“That means holding ISIS down,” he added. “Don’t let them take advantage of this. Then there is the priority of making sure that our friends in the region are secure and stable — Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon — that these countries do not suffer from any kind of violent spillover effects from what’s happening in Syria.”
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Putin to grant Assad asylum in Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin will grant political asylum to toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.
“Of course, such decisions cannot be made without the head of state,” Peskov said, as quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax. “This is his decision,”
“We have nothing to tell you about Mr. Assad’s whereabouts right now,” Peskov said, adding there was no official meeting between Putin and Assad planned.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Israel bombed Syrian chemical weapons sites, foreign minister says
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters on Monday that Israeli forces “attacked strategic weapons arrays, residual chemical weapons capabilities, missiles and long-range rockets” inside Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of “extremist elements.”
Israeli forces have been striking inside Syria and occupying positions on Syrian territory in recent days, as rebel forces — some with roots in jihadist organizations — surged into major Syrian cities and precipitated the collapse of President Bashar Assad’s regime in Damascus.
The Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday it had taken up positions in the demilitarized buffer zone between Israel and Syria established by a bilateral 1974 agreement.
Saar said the presence of “armed men” in the zone and their alleged attacks on United Nations positions there prompted the Israeli decision to cross the border.
Saar said Israeli deployments into the buffer zone are “targeted and temporary” and intended to prevent an “Oct. 7 scenario from Syria,” referring to last year’s devastating Hamas infiltration attack into southern Israel.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Dana Savir
Israeli forces cross into buffer zone separating occupied Golan Heights from Syria
Israel Defense Forces tanks and armored vehicles have entered the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria on Sunday night.
The move puts IDF troops in operations on four fronts in the Middle East, Israeli military chief of staff Herzi Halevi said on Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
The advancement into Syria comes after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to Islamist rebels.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision was made to “protect Israeli residents after Syrian troops abandoned positions,” according to AP.
The IDF has reportedly warned Syrian residents in five southern communities to stay home for their safety.
Israeli forces on Sunday also took over the Syrian side of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights, according to AP.
Iranian foreign minister says he fears ‘renewed civil war’ in Syria
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi commented on the fall of Syria’s government during an interview on Iranian state TV on Sunday.
He said Syria’s ousted president, Bashar al-Assad, was “surprised” and “complained about the way his own army was performing.”
Araghchi also said Iran was fully aware of the situation in Syria through “the intelligence and security system of our country.”
Iran is monitoring the developments in Syria and is concerned about the “possibility of a renewed civil war or a sectarian war between different sects or the division of Syria and the collapse of Syria and its transformation into a haven for terrorists,” Araghchi said.
-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi and Ellie Kaufman
US strikes 75 ISIS targets in Syria
The United States launched dozens of against ISIS targets in central Syria on Sunday in an attempt to “disrupt, degrade and defeat” the terrorist group, according to the head of the U.S. Central Command.
CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement that 75 ISIS targets were hit in precision airstrikes Sunday in Syria. He said the mission was carried out by U.S. Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s and A-10s.
“There should be no doubt — we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria. All organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way,” Kurilla said.
Kurilla said the strikes hit known ISIS camps and operatives in central Syria.
During a speech at the White House on Sunday, President Joe Biden mentioned the U.S. strikes on ISIS targets in Syria. He said U.S. forces are also bolstering security at detention facilities in Syria where ISIS fighters are being held.
“We’re clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try to take advantage of any vacuum to reestablish its capability and to create a safe haven,” Biden said. “We will not let that happen.”
(SEOUL and NEW YORK) — South Korean police will consider imposing a travel ban on President Yoon Suk Yeol, a senior officer said at a press conference on Monday, local time.
Additionally, they had not ruled out questioning Yoon as part of their ongoing investigation into the illegality of last week’s martial law declaration, the officer said.’
“There are no human or physical restrictions to the subject of an investigation,” Woo Jong-soo, a senior police officer in charge of the inquiry into the martial law declaration, said, before outlining the scope of the current investigation.
He explained that there were originally 120 members of the Security Investigation Division assigned to look into five reports related to Yoon’s implementation of martial law on Dec. 3.
As of Sunday, there were about 150 people working on the investigative team that he’s leading, he said.
So far, the team has “conducted searches and seizures of the office, official residence, and home of former Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, a key suspect in this case,” Woo said, adding that investigators were also questioning key witnesses, including the National Election Commission and the Ministry of National Defense.
“Going forward, we plan to closely investigate the decision-making process related to the declaration of martial law, the damage to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, and the police measures,” Woo said.
“In addition, we will focus on proving the charges through forensic analysis of seized items and analysis of call records,” he added.
Woo also explained that his team, which he referred to as “the main investigator of the crime of sedition,” feels a heavy sense of responsibility, and therefore, he promised the public: “We will thoroughly investigate, without any doubts.”
He stated that they would do so by “mobilizing all available resources in accordance with the law and principles.”
(LONDON) — The stunning collapse of President Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria presents “a moment of historic opportunity,” President Joe Biden wrote on X on Sunday, as rebel fighters and Damascenes celebrated the end of their 14-year war against the authoritarian government.
But, the president added, “It is also a moment of risk and uncertainty.”
The uprising that began with a protest march in the southern city of Daraa in 2011 ended with celebratory gunfire in Damascus in 2024.
The surprise rebel offensive that surged out of northwestern Idlib province last month showed the regime in Damascus to be hollow. Its backers in Moscow, Tehran and Beirut were unable or unwilling to respond, perhaps because their attention and resources having been sapped by wars in Ukraine, Lebanon, Gaza and elsewhere.
The story of the fall of Damascus was — arguably — written in Donetsk and Dahiya. The coup de grâce, though, was inherently Syrian.
The offensive that toppled Assad was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist group with roots in al-Qaeda. The group is listed as a terrorist organization in the U.S. and European Union.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said over the weekend that the group’s background “is a concern,” noting that elements of the group are affiliated with organizations “that have American blood on their hands.”
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has become the most recognizable face of the Syrian opposition. Speaking at Damascus’ 8th-century Umayyad Mosque on Sunday, Jolani said the opposition victory is “historic for the region” and that “Syria is being purified.”
It remains unclear whether and how Jolani — who is increasingly using his real name of Ahmed al-Sharaa, rather than his nom de guerre — will be able to exert control over the disparate groupings of rebel forces drawn from around the country.
What does the US think?
American officials are concerned that the power vacuum will allow ISIS to reconstitute. The U.S. launched 75 strikes against ISIS targets in central Syria on Sunday in a move that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said was designed “to keep the pressure on ISIS.”
“As this unfolds, there’s a potential that elements in the area, such as ISIS, could try to take advantage of this opportunity and regain capability,” Austin warned.
The future shape of U.S.-Syrian relations will depend on the composition and direction of the next government in Damascus.
The White House may be somewhat pleased by Jolani’s speech at the Umayyad Mosque on Sunday, in which he lamented how Syria became “a playground for Iranian ambitions.”
“We will remain vigilant,” Biden said on Sunday after Damascus fell. “Make no mistake, some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human rights abuses.” The president, however, added that the groups are “saying the right things now.”
“But as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words, but their actions,” Biden added.
Thomas S. Warrick — a former deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism policy in the Department of Homeland Security — said the U.S. “has a huge stake in what comes next,” even if it was not directly involved in Assad’s ousting.
A more stable Syria “that frees itself from Iranian and Russian dependence” could, Warrick wrote, allow millions of refugees to return home, end its role as a Hezbollah conduit to threaten Israel and perhaps even join the Abraham Accords at some point in the future.
“All these unthinkable things are now possible,” Warrick — now a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative — wrote. “But this will not happen spontaneously, without outside help and support. Postwar planning for Syria needs to go into high gear.”
The incoming Trump administration will need to chart a policy approach to Syria. Some will be skeptical of success, but others — Warrick wrote — will note that “weakening Iranian influence, supporting Israel’s security, and peace in Lebanon are, collectively, one of the biggest wins that a Trump administration could hope to achieve.”
A Syrian power struggle
In a recent interview with CNN, Jolani said that Syrians should not fear HTS’s brand of Islamism. “People who fear Islamic governance either have seen incorrect implementations of it or do not understand it properly,” he said.
As the rebels reached Damascus, Assadist Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali said the outgoing regime would “extend its hand” to the opposition and assist with the transition of power. Jolani said on Sunday that Jalali will remain in his post to supervise state bodies during the transition.
Jolani and his HTS will have competition for influence in the new Syria.
The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army also took part in the offensive, with fighting still ongoing between the SNA and the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces — who are supported by the U.S. — in the northeast of the country. Ankara enjoys significant control over the SNA and other groups and can be expected to seek influence over the future direction of its neighbor.
“The opposition is not a homogenous movement and there is a risk that internal fractures within the HTS-led umbrella movement — which may become more salient in the weeks and months to come — may lead to discord and threaten Syrian stability,” Burcu Ozcelik of the Royal United Services Institute think tank in the U.K. told ABC News.
“A new transitional Syrian administration will soon need to take on the task of state-building, including the rebuilding of a national Syrian security force and a constitution-building process, as the Syrian state has been painfully hallowed out by the Assad regime,” Ozcelik said.
The next government will also need to address the question of Russian presence in Syria. Russian forces retain control of Khmeimim Air Base and Tartus naval base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, two key strategic facilities from which Moscow helped keep Assad in power.
“It is in Russia’s interest to seek to maintain access, but its ability to project power in and through Syria is now severely debilitated,” Ozcelik said.
“It will take time and negotiations with the new Syrian administration, a yet to be determined entity, before it is clear what Russia’s stakes in Syria will be,” Ozcelik added. “But this is now a radically transformed Syria, and Russia has no good options.”
Moscow is in touch with the opposition factions, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a Sunday statement. “All necessary measures are being taken to ensure the safety of our citizens in Syria,” it said. “Russian military bases in Syria are on high alert. There is currently no serious threat to their security.”
For Tehran, “there is no doubt that the fall of the Assad regime is a highly consequential defeat for Iran,” Ozcelik said. “Syria was the conduit for Iran’s systematic support for Hezbollah in Lebanon, this supply chain has now been cut off.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is concerned about the “possibility of a renewed civil war or a sectarian war between different sects or the division of Syria and the collapse of Syria and its transformation into a haven for terrorists.”
Meanwhile, rebel-liberated territory is already being bombed by Israeli warplanes and occupied by Israeli soldiers. Israeli officials have said they intend to deny “extremist” elements access to the Assad regime’s advanced military capabilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the regime’s collapse “is a direct result of the blows we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, the main supporters of the Assad regime.”
“The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers,” he added.
Assad’s legacy
Assad fled the country for Russia in the early hours of Sunday, state-owned Russian media said, having resigned the presidency following negotiations with opposition factions, per a Russian Foreign Ministry statement.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced Monday that President Vladimir Putin would grant his longtime ally political asylum in the country.
Assad’s departure ended 24 years of his rule — and 50 years of Assad family rule. Posters and statues of Assad, his brothers and his father, Hafez Assad, were being torn down by jubilant crowds around the country.
More than a decade of civil war left at least 307,000 people dead by the end of 2022, per United Nations figures. The fighting forced around 12 million Syrians — more than half of the country’s 2011 population of around 22 million — from their homes, around 5.4 million of whom were still living abroad as of late 2022.
Assad’s regime fought bitterly to retain control of much of the country during the hot phase of the civil war. But his victory proved a pyrrhic one.
The northern city of Aleppo fell to the Idlib rebels on Nov. 29 — a shocking development that helped spark renewed rebel uprisings all across the country.
In Daraa — known as the “Cradle of the Syrian Revolution” for its role in the 2011 unrest — opposition groups rose anew and began their march on the capital.
“Damascus has been liberated and the tyrant Bashar Assad has been overthrown, and oppressed prisoners in regime prisons have been released,” a rebel spokesperson said at the state television headquarters in Damascus after opposition forces seized the building.
“We ask people and fighters to protect all property in Free Syria,” the spokesperson added. “Long live Syria free for all Syrians of all sects.”
ABC News’ Hami Hamedi, Ellie Kaufman, Luis Martinez and Lauren Minore contributed to this report.
