Syrians poured into the streets, shouting gunfire in celebration on Sunday after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, bringing an end to 50 years of Assad family rule but raising questions about the future of the country and the wider region.
Jubilant crowds gathered in central squares in Damascus, waving the flag of the Syrian revolution in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising, before a brutal crackdown and rise of rebellion plunged the country into a civil war that lasted nearly 14 years.
Others happily ransacked the presidential palace and the Assad family’s residence after President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials disappeared, their whereabouts unknown. Close ally Russia said Assad left the country after negotiations with opposition groups and issued instructions to transfer power peacefully.
Abu Muhammad al-Julani, a former al-Qaeda leader who severed ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance, leads the largest rebel faction and is poised to chart the country’s future direction.
The end of Assad’s rule deals a strong blow to Iran and its allies, who have already been weakened by more than a year of conflict with Israel. Iran, which has strongly supported Assad throughout the civil war, said Syrians should decide their country’s future “without destructive or coercive foreign intervention.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli forces had seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights dating back to 1974, after Syrian forces abandoned their positions in recent unrest.
The rebels now face the daunting task of healing bitter divisions in a war-torn country still divided between different armed factions. Turkish-backed opposition fighters are fighting US-allied Kurdish forces in the north, and ISIS is still active in some remote areas.
Syrian state television broadcast a video statement early Sunday from a group of opposition members saying Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been released. They called on people to preserve the institutions of the “Free Syrian State.” The rebels later announced a curfew in Damascus from 4 p.m. to 5 a.m
The rebels said they released people detained in the notorious Saydnaya prison, where rights groups say thousands were tortured and killed. A video circulated online allegedly shows rebels breaking down cell doors and freeing dozens of female prisoners, many of whom appeared shocked and confused. At least one young child can be seen among them.
Rebel commander Anas Salkhadi, who appeared on state television later in the day, sought to reassure Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, saying: “Syria is for everyone, without exceptions. Syria is for the Druze, Sunnis, Alawites and all sects.”
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He added: “We will not deal with people the way the Assad family dealt.”
Celebrations in various parts of the capital
Residents of Damascus gathered to pray in mosques and celebrate in squares, chanting “God is great.” People also chanted anti-Assad slogans and honked car horns. The teenage boys picked up weapons that appeared to have been discarded by security forces and fired them into the air.
Celebrators filled Umayyad Square in the center of the city, where the Ministry of Defense is located. The men fired gunshots into the air in celebration, and some waved the three-star Syrian flag that preceded the Assad government and was adopted by the revolutionaries.
Bassam Misr said: “I cannot express my happiness.” “But this happiness will not be complete until I see my son outside prison and know where he is. I’ve been looking for him for two hours. He has been detained for 13 years.”
The soldiers and police officers left their posts and fled, and the thieves stormed the Ministry of Defense. Videos from Damascus showed families walking around the presidential palace, and some came out carrying piles of dishes and other household items.
The Syrian newspaper Al-Watan, which has historically been supportive of the government, wrote: “We are facing a new page for Syria. We thank God that no more blood will be shed. We believe and trust that Syria will be for all Syrians.”
The newspaper added that media workers should not be blamed for publishing government statements in the past, saying: “We only carried out the instructions and published the news they sent us.”
A statement issued by the Alawite sect – to which Assad belongs and which formed the core of his base – called on Syrian youth to be “calm, rational, and wise, and not to be drawn into what is tearing apart the unity of our country.”
The rebels come mainly from Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority, which also includes large Druze, Christian and Kurdish communities.
The lion’s whereabouts are unknown
Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Ghazi Jalali said in a video statement that the government is ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its duties to a transitional government. A video clip published by Syrian opposition media showed a group of armed men escorting him out of his office to the Four Seasons Hotel on Sunday.
Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told the Associated Press that Assad boarded a flight on Sunday from Damascus.
A senior diplomat from the United Arab Emirates, which has sought to rehabilitate Assad’s image and has welcomed prominent exiles in recent years, declined to comment on his whereabouts when asked by reporters at a conference in Bahrain.
Anwar Gargash said that Assad’s destination at this stage is “a footnote in history,” comparing it to the long exile of German Kaiser Wilhelm II after World War I.
Assad was accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war, including a 2013 chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of the capital.
There was no immediate comment from Iran, which has been Assad’s strongest supporter. The Iranian embassy in Damascus was looted after apparently being abandoned.
Calls for an orderly transition
The rebel advance since November 27 has been the largest in recent years, and has seen the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs fall within days as the Syrian army melts away. Russia, Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which provided crucial support to Assad throughout the uprising, abandoned him in recent days while reeling from other conflicts.
The rebels are led by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham group, which has its origins in Al Qaeda and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations.
Its leader, Al-Julani, has sought to recast the group as a moderate and tolerant force. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham formed a “rescue government” in 2017 to administer a large area in northwestern Syria under its control.
“Al-Julani made history and sparked hope among millions of Syrians,” said Darine Khalifa, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group and an expert on Syrian groups. But he and the rebels now face a huge challenge ahead. We can only hope they rise to the occasion.”
The United Nations Special Envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.”
The State of Qatar, a major regional mediator, hosted an emergency meeting of foreign ministers and senior officials from eight countries with interests in Syria late on Saturday. Participants included Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey.
Majid Al-Ansari, spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, told reporters that they agreed on the need to “involve all parties on the ground,” including Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, and that the main concern was “stability and safe transition.”
Netanyahu said that the 1974 agreement separating Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights “collapsed,” with Syrian soldiers abandoning their positions, and that Israel seized the buffer zone to protect it.
The army said that the deployment aims to provide security for residents of the Golan Heights, which Israel annexed. Israel occupied the region in the 1967 Middle East War, and the international community, with the exception of the United States, considers it an occupier.
