The lightning overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad left Syrians, countries in the region and world powers nervous on Tuesday (December 10, 2024) about what comes next as the rebel alliance took its first steps in a government transition.
The United Nations Security Council met behind closed doors late on Monday, and diplomats said they were still in shock at how quickly Assad’s overthrow unfolded over 12 days, after a 13-year civil war that was locked in stalemate for years.
Syria’s Islamist rebel leader on Tuesday vowed to pursue former senior government officials responsible for torture and war crimes. “We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people,” rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, said Tuesday in a statement on Telegram.
Israel Strikes Suspected Weapons Sites in Syria
In one of many challenges facing Syria, Israel seized a buffer zone in the country’s south, a move condemned by Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia said the move would “ruin Syria’s chances of restoring security.”
Israel said its airstrikes would carry on for days but told the U.N. Security Council that it was not intervening in Syria’s conflict. It said it had taken “limited and temporary measures” solely to protect its security.
Assad’s Fall in Syria Exposes Limits of China’s Middle East Diplomacy
Just over a year ago, China gave Bashar al-Assad and his wife a warm welcome during their six-day visit to the country, offering the former Syrian leader a rare break from years of international isolation since the start of a civil war in 2011.
As the couple attended the Asian Games, President Xi Jinping vowed to support Assad in “opposing external interference” and in Syria’s rebuilding, while his wife Asma was feted in Chinese media.
But the abrupt end to the rule of the authoritarian leader so explicitly backed by Xi only last year has dealt a blow to China’s diplomatic ambitions in the Middle East and exposed the limits of its strategy in the region, analysts say.
A coalition of rebels seized Syria’s capital Damascus on Sunday after a lightning offensive that toppled Assad’s regime and ended his family’s 50-year dynasty.
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