An Israeli airstrike hits an area in central Beirut near the Lebanese government headquarters and several embassies
BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike hits an area in central Beirut near the Lebanese government headquarters and several embassies.
Latest stories
CNNWatching with trepidation and glee, Netanyahu orders military to seize Syria buffer zone
Israeli leaders are watching events across the border in Syria with trepidation, as 50 years of detente were upended in a matter of hours.
- CNN
What the Syrian rebellion could mean for the balance of power in the Middle East
Western and Arab states, as well as Israel, would like to see Iran’s influence in Syria curtailed, but none wish for a radical Islamist regime to replace Assad.
- BBC
Israel seizes Golan buffer zone after Syrian troops leave positions
PM Netanyahu said the 1974 disengagement agreement had "collapsed" with the rebel takeover of Syria.
- BBC
Footage shows people emerging from Assad's notorious prisons
Rebels have freed thousands of detainees from jails as they swept across the country.
- Sky News
Assad has left Damascus, says Russia, as Syrian army declares end of his rule
The Syrian government has fallen after a lightning offensive by anti-regime forces across the country - ending President Bashar al Assad's 24-year rule. Mr Assad has left office and the country after giving orders for there to be a peaceful transfer of power, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. Russia was not involved in the talks surrounding his departure, the ministry said, but has been in touch with opposition groups - and urged all sides to refrain from violence.
- CNN
Two wars changed Syria’s fortune. What comes next is impossible to know
The swiftly changing fate of Bashar al-Assad was not really made in Syria, but in southern Beirut and Donetsk.
- Euronews
Former al-Qaeda member al-Golani rebrands as a pluralist amid doubts over Syria’s democratic future
Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly Abu Mohammed al-Golani, has evolved from an al-Qaida affiliate leader to a rebranded figure promoting pluralism as Syria’s insurgency topples Assad. Despite his attempts at moderation, doubts remain about his democratic intentions.View on euronews
- France 24
Live: Syria's Assad and his family in Moscow after Russia granted them asylum, says Kremlin source
Syria's ousted president Bashar al-Assad and his family are in Moscow, Russian news agencies announced Sunday evening citing a Kremlin source, hours after he fled the country as Islamist-led rebels entered Damascus. "Assad and members of his family have arrived in Moscow," the source told the TASS and Ria Novosti news agencies. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments. Yesterday's key developments: A leading commander of Syria's Islamist-led rebel coalition said its forces had entered the
- The Independent
Voices: The House of Assad has finally fallen – but chaotic Syria could still be torn apart
COMMENT: Syrians have welcomed the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad but the celebrations may not last long as the war-torn country still faces a troubled future, writes The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley
- The Independent
Biden promises to bring US journalist Austin Tice home as he calls fall of Assad ‘a moment of historic opportunity for Syria’
‘At long last, the Assad regime has fallen,’ declares US president
- Sky News
Syria hit by US and Israeli airstrikes as war bloggers fret about 'threat' to Russian bases from rebels
Syria's new rebel leaders are facing the daunting task of healing a divided nation - and the toppling of the Assad regime has not put an end to fighting in the country. In northern Syria, Turkey-backed opposition fighters are still battling US-allied Kurdish forces, while both Israel and the US launched airstrikes on Syria on Sunday. President Bashar al Assad fled Damascus with his family on Sunday morning and their whereabouts were unknown until Russian state media confirmed they had been given asylum in Moscow "on humanitarian grounds".
- Sky video
Who are the Syrian rebels claiming control of Damascus?
Rebel forces claim to have taken control of the Syrian capital after storming through the country in less than two weeks.
- BBC
Where is Bashar? Rumours swirl in Syria despite official denials
Rumours surround the whereabouts of the Syrian president, as rebels make advances near the capital's suburbs.
- Sky News
The fall of Assad: Putin must be in crisis mode - while Trump may have little choice but to get involved
The lightning collapse of Bashar al Assad's regime in Syria exposes the brittleness of even the most brutal dictatorship when under pressure, but it also creates a security vacuum that carries great risk. Once the scenes of rebel euphoria subside on the streets, much will rest on the powerful group, Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), which led the charge into Damascus overnight. Previously linked to al Qaeda, this Sunni Islamist militant faction is viewed as a terrorist organisation by many Western powers, including the UK.
- NewsWire
Vigil held at firebombed synagogue
Supporters have gathered with conservative Jewish Australians after their synagogue was violently attacked and burned.
- Australian Associated Press
US troops in Syria to prevent Islamic State resurgence
Joe Biden says the collapse of the Syrian government is a 'fundamental act of justice' after decades of repression but also 'a moment of risk and uncertainty'.
- Australian Associated Press
Mix of quiet sorrow and anger over synagogue attack
A member of a Jewish community targeted in a firebomb attack says the damage to the Adass Israel Synagogue is a cause of great anguish.
- Sky News
As Assad falls, the power dynamics of this troubled, volatile region will utterly change
Not when it comes to events currently under way in Syria, a country straddling the fault lines of the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime will be the most significant event yet in the upheaval that's followed the 7 October attacks by Hamas in Israel last year. It will be the end of a brutal reign of terror that has lasted since the Assad family, under patriarch Hafez Assad, seized power in the early 1970s.
- Australian Associated Press
Blackened shell a reminder of Holocaust devastation
Members of the Jewish community have gathered in solidarity after a synagogue was firebombed by two men who are on the run from police.
- France 24 Videos
What did life look like in Syria under Bashar al-Assad's regime?
Syrian rebels declared they had ousted President Bashar al-Assad after seizing control of Damascus on Sunday, forcing him to flee and ending his family's decades of autocratic rule after more than 13 years of civil war. What did life look like under Assad's regime? FRANCE 24's Erin Ogunkeye asked Radwan Ziadeh, executive director at the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies.