Syria updates: Rebel leader vows to pursue Assad officials 'involved in war crimes'

The Biden administration is exploring removing the foreign terrorist designation for HTS, the most powerful of the rebel groups that unseated Assad, two current administration officials and a former senior U.S. official told NBC News today.

The aim of the discussions is to “create a pathway for the world to interact with the new government,” the former official said. While two officials said the administration is looking to lift the designation “soon,” another said the discussions were still in the early stages.

Removing the terrorist designation for HTS, which has historic links to Al Qaeda, would include taking the $10 million bounty off Jolani, the officials said.

The top U.S. commander in the Middle East visited American military personnel and partners, including members of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and the Syrian Democratic Forces, at several bases in Syria.

Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla also visited Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani, Iraqi generals and U.S. Maj. Gen. Kevin C. Leahy in Iraq, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

"The leaders discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation and regional security, the rapidly changing situation in Syria, as well as the defeat-ISIS operations in Iraq," the statement said. "The leaders also discussed the continued partnership between Coalition and Iraqi forces."

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said Israel does not intend to stay in Syria permanently but "will not allow the Iranians" to return to their borders.

"We will have to be patient about it. We have no intention to stay in those positions forever, but we have to assure that we don’t see radical Iranian groups on our borders again," Danon told NBC News.

Israel was criticized after it launched a wave of airstrikes and a ground advance into Syrian territory after Assad was overthrown.

Danon also called Jolani “a bad guy,” adding that Jolani “said that he’s changed all of a sudden."

"I’m not sure that is the case, but we would see what are the actions that he’s taking," Danon said, adding that he's not sure Syria will have a central government or whether it will be "a peaceful nation."

Danon said Israel will continue to support Syria's humanitarian needs.

On the edge of the Syrian capital, Damascus, surrounded by barren desert on a rocky hilltop, sits the Saydnaya Prison, known as “the human slaughterhouse” under Assad. 

The huge brutalist building was a no-go zone over the last decade of civil war when it was full of political prisoners, many of whom were never heard from again. 

Today, several thousand people were desperately looking for their loved ones. Some were convinced that secret chambers, hidden facilities and cells were buried under the prison. So they came with crowbars and pickaxes to dig.

Eventually, bulldozers arrived to help, but there were no signs of life. 

Drone video captured landmarks in the Syrian capital, where banks reopened for the first time since the overthrow of Assad, a major step toward restoring normal life.

Turkish-backed mercenaries are attacking regions near the northern Syrian city of Kobani, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said. 

“There are currently fierce clashes between our forces and the Turkish-backed factions,” SDF said in a WhatsApp group. “They are supported by the Turkish warplanes and UCAVs that conducted dozens of airstrikes on the region of Kobani.”

The statement also said there were “large-scale arresting campaigns and lootings against the Kurds and their properties in the city.”

Turkish intelligence destroyed 12 trucks carrying weapons, including missiles and ammunition, which the Kurdish People’s Protection Units seized from the Assad regime in Qamishli, Syria, according to Turkey's state-owned Anatolian News Agency.

Turkey views the Kurdish People's Protection Units, which leads the Syrian Democratic Forces, as a threat to its territorial integrity and an extension of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group.

Jolani has issued comments apparently aimed at reassuring Syrians and the rest of the world about the country's stability.

"The country will be rebuilt," he told Sky News reporter Zein Jaafar in Damascus. "The fear was from the presence of the regime. The country is moving towards development and reconstruction. It’s going towards stability. People are exhausted from war. So the country isn’t ready for another one, and it’s not going to get into another one."

Jolani said the people of Syria are afraid of Iranian militias, including Hezbollah, adding that "their removal is the solution for Syria."

The international community heavily sanctioned the Assad regime, a close ally of Iran and Russia. However, some of the groups that toppled Assad, including HTS, which has historic ties to Al Qaeda and is a designated terrorist group, are also raising eyebrows around the world.

In addition, the chaos and disorder caused by 13 years of civil war and the end of the Assads' rule has increased fears that the country's weapons stocks, including chemical weapons, will fall into the wrong hands.

Russia is providing sanctuary to Assad, having transported him there “in the most secure way possible” after the swift collapse of his regime, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said in an exclusive interview today.    

“He is secured, and it shows that Russia acts as required in such an extraordinary situation,” Sergei Ryabkov said, becoming the first Russian official to confirm Assad’s presence in the country.  

Russia has been dealt a huge blow by the collapse of a regime it gave its full support to, helping Assad cling to power after Syria descended into civil war and maintain his family’s brutal dynasty, which began in 1971.

Lebanon's Foreign Affairs Ministry said a meeting of Arab ministers is likely later this week to discuss the situation in Syria.

Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib spoke with Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Badr Abdelatty yesterday about "the necessity of Arab action to keep pace with Syria at this critical stage," according to a statement on X.

Footage taken by a witness shows the moment an overnight strike hit a port in the Syrian city of Latakia.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group said that Israel carried out the attacks.

NBC News has not independently verified this footage.

At least 800,000 Syrians had been displaced by the recent fighting in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, the U.N. refugee agency’s representative for the country said today.

“There is a situation of huge humanitarian needs and there is a situation of huge forced displacement,” Vargas Llosa told the BBC's "Newsday," adding that the situation inside the country was already dire with 16 million people in “urgent need of humanitarian aid.”

Vargas Llosa said that the U.N. was trying to resume activities that had been suspended by the fighting.

“Every little space that becomes secure then we immediately move in with our partners to try to fill that humanitarian void,” he said.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said today that he had ordered the military to establish a “sterile defense zone” in southern Syria as Israeli forces moved to seize control of the demilitarized and U.N.-patrolled buffer zone, established under a 1974 cease-fire agreement.

He said the zone would operate "without a permanent Israeli presence, in order to prevent the establishment and organization of terrorism in Syria."

Katz added that the Israeli navy had destroyed Syria’s military fleet in the Mediterranean last night.

Photos showed sunken Syrian naval ships in the port city of Latakia, with smoke billowing from the wreckage after they were laid to waste by Israeli airstrikes.

A number of European nations have paused asylum applications from Syria following the ousting of Assad, a decision that affects tens of thousands of open claims.

A minister from the U.K.'s home office told the BBC this morning that the nation was no longer able to judge applications when Syria "is in such turmoil," and when "the regime they fled from has disappeared."

Germany, which is home to nearly a million Syrians, said yesterday it would not process requests until there was more clarity in Syria. Other countries including Norway, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands also announced suspensions of Syrian requests, according to the Reuters news agency. France said it hoped to announce a similar decision shortly.

Mohamed al-Bashir has been named as the caretaker prime minister of Syria's transition government until March 1, 2025, he said in a televised statement today.

Al-Bashir has close ties to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group responsible for leading the overthrow of the Assad regime. He previously led the Salvation Government, affiliated with HTS, which governed parts of northwestern Syria and Idlib.

HTS is an internationally designated terror group, raising questions about its role in a future Syrian government.

While Syria celebrates overthrowing its longtime dictator, it is also being subjected to a new ground incursion and a wave of airstrikes from its neighbor Israel that drew growing international condemnation and concern Tuesday.

Explosions rocked Damascus overnight, smoke billowed from a research center north of the capital and destroyed naval ships sat in the western port of Latakia — all while Israeli ground forces moved into Syrian territory.Read the full story here.

The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said this morning it found no undiscovered cells or secret tunnels in the notorious Saydnaya Prison, where many of Assad's political opponents were imprisoned after disappearing.

"Specialized teams searched all sections and facilities of the prison, including its basements, courtyards, and external buildings," it said. "No evidence was found to support the existence of secret or undiscovered tunnels," it added.

Five teams participated in the search, it said, including two teams of trained police dogs, medical teams which tracked various ventilation openings, sewers and wirings.

After the collapse of Assad's regime, many had rushed to the prison north of the capital Damascus to find their loved ones. The rebels have demanded information of secret prisons, saying informants will be generously rewarded and protected.

Israel has refuted reports that its tanks were moving towards the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Earlier today, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group, said Israeli tanks were seen in the countryside to southwest of Syria’s capital, Damascus.

The city is nearly 30 miles away from a buffer zone in Golan Heights, which Israel has vowed to fully seize as a temporary but precautionary measure.

“The reports circulating in the media about the alleged advancement of Israeli tanks towards Damascus are false,” the IDF said in a statement, adding, “IDF troops are stationed within the buffer zone, as stated in the past.”

However, Israel’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly said the IDF will move beyond the buffer zone. He said last night that he had ordered the IDF to seize the buffer zone “as well as the controlling positions close to it.”

Men and children gather unexploded ammunition at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted shipments of weapons belonging to Syrian government forces in Qamishli, northeastern Syria this morning.

Benjamin Netanyahu can claim many firsts. The first Israeli prime minister born after the foundation of the state. The first to hold the office for more than 15 years. 

And today he sets another precedent: the first sitting prime minister to take the stand as a defendant in their own criminal trial. 

As Syria convulses in revolutionary chaos and Gaza’s humanitarian crisis deepens, Netanyahu is in a stuffy Tel Aviv courtroom testifying in a criminal corruption trial. He stands accused of accepting nearly $200,000 in lavish gifts from businessmen in exchange for political favors and of offering to skew regulations for media moguls in exchange for favorable press coverage.  

Netanyahu denies wrongdoing. There are no juries in Israel and the case is being heard in front a three-judge panel. The prime minister could face 10 years in prison if convicted. 

Outside the courthouse, small groups of pro- and anti-Netanyahu demonstrators are chanting from opposite sides of a police barrier. “Hurting the prime minister helps the enemy,” read one placard from a Netanyahu supporter.

Israel is in “violation of the disengagement agreement from 1974,” which established a buffer zone between the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and Syria, the United Nations envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen said today.

The U.N. will “follow this extremely closely in the hours and days ahead,” Pedersen told a media briefing in Geneva.

His comments came after Israel carried out airstrikes and sent ground troops into Syria after rebels ousted the country's long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad.

The Israeli government says this is a temporary action to stop chemical and biological weapons from falling into the wrong hands.

Netanyahu arrived in the court in a dark suit and blue tie and took the stand after being sworn in by one of the judges.

The prime minister instantly gave voice to his frustration that he was sitting in court and not dealing with national security issues — specifically the chaos unfolding in Syria, which he described as one of the most important developments in the Middle East in a hundred years. 

“The only thing in front of me is the future of the state, not my own future,” he told the court. He proceeded to describe how he works 17 hours a day in the service of Israel, rarely seeing his family. He added that it was “absurd” to believe he had time to enjoy a lavish lifestyle. 

His testimony strayed far from the criminal matter at hand — describing in detail how he argued with President Obama in the Oval Office about settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Two former high-ranking Syrian military figures who played key roles in the now-deposed Assad regime have been indicted on war crimes charges in the United States and accused of torturing American citizens.

Jamil Hassan, 72, and Abdul Salam Mahmoud, 65, both former Syrian Air Force intelligence officers, were charged in connection with their roles at the Mezzeh Military Airport near Damascus.

Read the full story here.

Russia is continuing its dialogue with all countries in the region, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said today when asked his his country feared losing military influence in the Middle East following the departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“We have intersecting interests with many countries, coinciding interests,” Peskov, adding that Moscow cooperated with a number of countries in the region “and we intend to continue all these processes.”

“Now is certainly the time for a deep analysis of the events taking place,” he said, adding, “It is difficult to predict the final forms that will follow after this period of uncertainty,” Peskov said.

After Syrian rebels took control of Damascus and forced out President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Israel carried out strikes and launched a ground incursion into Syria.

The move has been criticized by several countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations, but Israeli officials said it was a temporary measure to prevent chemical and biological weapons from getting into the wrong hands.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended his country's incursion into Syria after his forces began seizing the buffer zone in Golan Heights.

“The Golan Heights will be an inseparable part of the State of Israel forever,” he said yesterday.

On a visit to the Golan Heights Netanyahu said he was briefed on the military’s deployment there. “I instructed the army to take the actions necessary to prevent harm to our security,” he added.

The move has been criticized by several countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations has called the seizure a breach of its 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria that established the demilitarized buffer zone.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has started taken the stand in his corruption trial that began nearly five years ago.

Netanyahu will answer during his appearances to charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases.

He is accused of promoting advantageous regulation for media moguls in exchange for favorable coverage of himself and his family.

He is also accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of cigars and champagne from a billionaire Hollywood producer in exchange for assisting him with personal and business interests.

Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing, saying the charges are a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media and a biased legal system that is out to topple his lengthy rule.

Smoke from airstrikes billowed over Syria's capital this morning.

There have been more than 300 Israeli strikes since Islamist-led rebels toppled the country’s longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad over the weekend, according to the U.K. based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, said the group will issue a “list number 1” which would include the name of senior individuals involved in the torture of Syrians.

“We will pursue war criminals and seek their extradition from the countries they have fled to, so they may receive their just punishment,” he said in a statement released by the HTS general command.

Amnesty will be granted to those conscripted in the military, he said, adding HTS was seeking information on other military officers implicated in war crimes.

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