Syria war updates: Opposition grants soldiers amnesty after al-Assad’s fall

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If you want to know more about how Syrians across the Middle East celebrate the fall of the al-Assad regime, read here.

To read about why Sednaya Prison near Damascus was “hell” for those detained in it, you can read Al Jazeera’s interview with Raed al-Saleh – the director of Syria’s Civil Defence organisation, known as the White Helmets.

And for a recap on how the 24-year rule of President Bashar al-Assad came to an end in 11 days, read here.

We are about to close this live page. But before that let’s get you up to speed with the latest developments:

• At least three civilians were killed during protests in northern Syria, as people there took to the streets to demand the expulsion of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
• Experts on international humanitarian law are warning that mass graves and burial sites in Syria must be preserved to enable future accountability efforts.
• US hostage affairs envoy Roger Carstens is in Beirut as part of “intensive efforts” by the US government to find American journalist Austin Tice and return him from more than a decade in captivity in Syria, US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.
• Reuters news agency, citing two unnamed Syrian security sources, says Israeli planes bombed at least three major Syrian army air bases that housed dozens of helicopters and jets.
• Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations told the UN Security Council that deployments of Israeli troops into Syrian-controlled areas of the Golan Heights were “limited and temporary measures”.
• President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkiye is opening its Yayladagi border gate with Syria to manage the safe and voluntary return of the millions of Syrian refugees it hosts.
• The opposition fighters who overthrew al-Assad have announced a general amnesty for all military personnel conscripted into service under the former ruler.

The family of renowned Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada confirmed that his body was found after opposition forces entered Sednaya Prison in Damascus.

Al-Hamada organised and participated in pro-democracy rallies from the early days of the Syrian revolution. In 2012, government security forces arrested him for trying to smuggle baby formula into a besieged suburb of Damascus, according to the Syrian Emergency Task Force.

He was detained twice and brutally tortured for nearly two years before fleeing to Europe, where he became an outspoken critic of the regime.

Al-Hamada returned to Syria in 2020 after the al-Assad regime declared an amnesty, but he was arrested at Damascus international airport and forcefully disappeared, his whereabouts unknown until today.

In an interview before his return, al-Hamada said that he believed his captors would one day be held accountable.

“I will not rest until I take them to court and get justice,” he said.

“Even if it costs me my life.”

Qatari diplomats spoke with Syria’s leading opposition faction, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as governments across the region are scrambling to forge new links with HTS and other opposition groups involved in the offensive that seized control of much of Syria.

Qatari officials also plan to speak with Mohammed al-Bashir, an HTS leader expected to lead Syria’s transitional administration, the official said, speaking anonymously to Reuters.

“The focus is on the need for HTS and other groups to maintain calm and preserve Syria’s public institutions during the transition period,” the official said.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment about the contacts with HTS.

Mohammed al-Khulaifi, minister of state at Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, said later that the country is communicating with “various parties on the ground” in Syria, without specifying who.

“Qatar has always kept its doors open to everyone, in line with its foreign policy,” al-Khulaifi said.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has condemned increased Israeli strikes on Syria and said it stood by the country’s people, in its first comment since rebels overthrew the group’s ally, former President Bashar al-Assad.

Hezbollah lambasted Israel for “occupying more land in the Golan Heights” where it moved troops into a buffer zone after Assad fell, and for “striking and destroying the defensive capabilities of the Syrian state”.

“While we affirm our support for Syria and its people, we stress the necessity to preserve Syria’s unity,” it added.

The statement makes no mention of al-Assad.

Syria’s rebel forces announced a nighttime curfew in Damascus after they took control of the country. This is the second night the curfew is in effect.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have discussed the possibility of cooperating with Syria’s new leaders, the German chancellery has said.

“Both agreed that they were ready to cooperate with the new leadership on the basis of fundamental human rights and the protection of ethnic and religious minorities,” Berlin said in a statement.

At least three civilians were killed during protests in northern Syria, as people there took to the streets to demand the expulsion of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Colin Clarke, a director of research at The Soufan Center, a global security consultancy, told Al Jazeera the developments were “inevitable”.

“When we start trying to divide up who the winner and who the losers are from the overthrow of the al-Assad regime, one of the big potential losers here is going to be the Kurds and one of the big potential winners is going to be Turkiye. As we know, the Kurds and the Turks have historic animosity, and Erdogan is likely to use the current impasse to push for more leverage to go after the Kurds.”

The Kurds have long been backed by the United States, leading to a situation in which “you have two NATO allies backing different proxy groups in what’s going to be a very complex situation going forward”, Clarke added.

“A lot of analysts want to focus on the joy that Syrians are experiencing with freedom for the first time in five decades, and that’s absolutely heartwarming, but the hard part now begins, which is putting together a cohesive entity to govern the country.”

UN peacekeepers in Syria have told Israeli forces that their seizure of land in Syria constitutes a violation of an agreement established in 1974.

Back then, Syria and Israel signed the Agreement on Disengagement, which ended the Yom Kippur War. A UN peacekeeping force was also established, UNDOF, tasked with maintaining the ceasefire between the two countries.

After the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, Israel considered the deal null and therefore occupied Syrian land near the already-occupied Golan Heights.

“The peacekeepers at UNDOF informed the Israeli counterparts that these actions do constitute a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement that there should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation, and Israel and Syria must continue to uphold the terms of that 1974 agreement and preserve stability in the Golan,” UN secretary-general’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has said.

General Michael Kurilla, chief of the US army’s Central Command (CENTCOM), met with Major General Yousef al-Huneiti, chairman of the Jordanian joint chiefs of staff, in Amman, a statement from CENTCOM says.

The pair “discussed efforts to enhance regional cooperation and security, strengthening US-Jordanian military cooperation, as well as the rapidly changing situation on the ground in Syria”, the statement reads.

The US reiterated its commitment to Jordan’s security, saying that it would aid the country should any new threats arise during this period of “transition” in Syria.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned Israel’s land grab in the Syrian-controlled areas of the Golan Heights.

In a statement posted on X, Saudi officials wrote that “the attacks carried out by the Israeli occupation government through seizing the buffer zone in the Golan Heights, and the targeting of Syrian territories by the Israeli occupation forces, confirm Israel’s continued violation of the rules of international law, and its determination to sabotage Syria’s chances of restoring its security, stability, and territorial integrity.”

Since al-Assad’s government has fallen, Israel has seized more territory in Syria’s Golan Heights.

That tears up a 50-year-old agreement.

But Israeli far-right ministers say their country’s borders should extend farther – to Damascus.

So what are Israel’s plans in Syria?

Watch Al Jazeera’s Inside Story to hear the debate:

Experts on international humanitarian law are warning that mass graves and burial sites in Syria must be preserved to enable future accountability efforts.

The Syria Regional Desk at the Diakonia International Humanitarian Law Centre, a group of independent experts, has issued a statement emphasising the urgent need to protect such sites as they are discovered after the collapse of the government of Bashar al-Assad.

“This includes ensuring the security and protection of these sites and preventing any unauthorised and unprofessional interference that could compromise the integrity of the evidence,” the group wrote in a statement.

“Protecting these sites is paramount, as they may hold crucial information and evidence that will support accountability and contribute to safeguarding the right to truth, effective remedies, and reparations for the families of the missing and deceased.”

Iran condemns Israel’s “repeated violations of Syrian infrastructure” and seizure of Syrian land, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Ismail Baghaei.

His comments came after Israeli troops took up positions in Syria near the occupied Golan Heights to create a so-called buffer zone and after a fresh wave of Israeli air strikes on military infrastructure in the country.

Baghaei said he considered Israel’s actions a violation of international law and called for an “immediate response” by the UN Security Council to “stop the aggression”.

At least two explosions were seen in the area of Barzeh, north of Damascus, where the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) has an office, video verified by Al Jazeera shows.

Israel has repeatedly struck the SSRC’s facilities over its links to chemical weapons production under toppled President Bashar al-Assad.

US hostage affairs envoy Roger Carstens is in Beirut as part of “intensive efforts” by the US government to find American journalist Austin Tice and return him from more than a decade in captivity in Syria, US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.

Tice, a former US Marine and a freelance journalist, was 31 when he was abducted in August 2012 while reporting in Damascus on the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

US officials had earlier said that finding Tice was their “top priority“.

President Joe Biden had previously pushed for Tice’s release, with the Department of State saying it was “directly engaged” with Syrian officials on the matter.

The al-Assad government had repeatedly denied it was holding Tice.

We’ve been replaying reports from the ground that air strikes had targeted bases near Damascus, Syria.

Now, Reuters news agency, citing two unnamed Syrian security sources, says Israeli planes bombed at least three major Syrian army air bases that housed dozens of helicopters and jets.

This is the biggest such wave of strikes on air bases since Bashar al-Assad was toppled, the security sources told Reuters.

Qamishli air base in northeast Syria, Shinshar base in the countryside of Homs and Aqaba airport southwest of the capital Damascus were all hit, the sources said.

Israel has also launched several strikes on a research centre on the outskirts of Damascus and a centre for electronic warfare near the Sayeda Zainab area of the capital.

Israel has just told the United Nations that it is involved in “limited” actions in Syria after the fall of al-Assad.

Since yesterday, Israel has taken over a buffer zone next to its occupied land in the Golan Heights and carried out dozens of strikes against Syrian territory.