Middle East crisis – live: Syria rebel leader vows revenge against Assad henchmen as Israel strikes ports

Jordanian King Abdullah has agreed with German chancellor Olaf Scholz on the importance of an inclusive political process in Syria, a German government spokesperson said on Thursday.

The two leaders held a phone call on Thursday. "Both agreed that an inclusive political process in Syria was now very important and that the transition process needed to be supported. Both attached great importance to the protection of ethnic and religious minorities," the spokesperson said.

They also stressed the importance of Syria’s territorial integrity, he added.

The US foreign policy establishment sees the return of Donald Trump to the White House as an imminent threat to the bipartisan consensus in foreign policy matters.

Joe Biden was understood to be the return to a “normal” foreign policy approach after the turbulence of Trump 1.0.

Biden has been staunchly critical of the Kremlin and four-square behind Israel. He has ramped up pressure on China and not relaxed it on North Korea.

Yet in one area – vital to the security, at least of those who live in it – the Biden administration has broken ranks with a US foreign policy tradition dating back to 1919. He now has less than six weeks left in the White House in which to abandon the Kurds.

Mark Almond writes:

For miles, the bleached ribcages of bombed-out buildings on either side of the main highway north of Damascus flick past as you drive – a grim monument to some of the fiercest battles that took place between Bashar al-Assad’s forces and rebels at the start of the revolution more than a decade ago.

None of the residents of Jobar – once a revolutionary heartland – were able to return to or rebuild their homes as Syria’s civil war rolled on, even after the regime retook control.

Now, after Assad’s stunning defeat, families, some of whom returned from fleeing the country, pick through the dust-choked rubble of what was once their homes. They gather at Jobar’s chewed-up central graveyard to host the first funeral here in 13 years.

Our chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports:

Thousands of Syrians are attempting to flee Syria at the Masnaa border point with Lebanon, the only operational crossing between the two countries.

But many of them remain stuck on the Syrian side of the crossing and remain unable to cross, after the border was overwhelmed by a huge influx of travellers - going in both directions - since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Many are members of Syrian minority groups, are living in fear of what a new Syria led by Islamist factions may mean for minorities, including the Alawites and Christians, many of whom weren’t in favour of the uprising against the Assad regime in 2011.

Seven children were among the 28 killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, Palestinian medical officials say.

It comes hours after the UN General Assembly approved a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and expressing support for Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, which Israel is set to ban.

One strike flattened a house in the Nuseirat refuge camp, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah.

Two other strikes killed 15 men who were among local committees established to secure aid convoys, the Associated Press reported.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has told his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz to remain in close contact over events in Syria, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

Washington is monitoring developments in Syria and supports an inclusive political transition, and will continue its mission to prevent the Islamic State militant group from rebuilding in Syria.

Following the collapse of Assad’s dictatorship, Israel said its jets conducted hundreds of strikes in Syria and destroyed much of Syria’s military infrastructure.

"Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of close consultation between the United States and Israel on events in Syria," the Pentagon said.

Syrian rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who fronted the group responsible for the collapse of the Assad regime, has vowed not to pardon the former dictator’s henchmen.

On Wednesday afternoon, Syria’s state broadcaster posted the commander’s comments.

“We will not pardon those who were involved in the torture and liquidation of detainees and were the cause of this,” the leader of Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) said.

“We will pursue them in our country, and we demand that countries hand over to us those of these criminals who fled to them in order to achieve justice against them.”

Syrian rebels set fire to the tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father in his family’s hometown in Al-Qardahah, near Latakia.

Eyewitness video released on Wednesday, 11 December, showed men gathering around flames inside the mausoleum of Hafez al-Assad.

The date of the footage could not be independently verified, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that gunmen set fire to the tomb on Tuesday.

Hafez Al-Assad took office on March 14 1971, seizing power in a bloodless coup in which Dr Noureddin Al-Atassi was overthrown.

His son Bashar was ousted over the weekend and fled to Russia where he was given political asylum.

The family ruled Syria for more than 50 years with a brutal regime.

Israel has continued its bombardment of Syria as the country looks to build a post-Assad future.

UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Wednesday: “Israeli warplanes continue to destroy what remains of Syria’s military arsenal for the fourth consecutive day since the fall of the former regime.”

Over 352 air strikes have been carried out in 13 Syrian provinces, the monitor said. They have been focussed on “warehouses, aircraft, radar systems and military signal stations, scientific research centres and weapons and ammunitions warehouses in different positions across Syria”.

Israel says it is targeting military infrastructure to guarantee its own security.

Syria’s caretaker prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir has urged all Syrians who fled president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship to return and help “rebuild” the Arab nation.

“My appeal goes out to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has regained its pride and dignity. Come back,” he told Corriere della Sera.

“We need to rebuild, to get our country on its feet again, and we need everyone’s help.”

At least 7.4 million Syrians remained internally displaced and nearly 4.9 million were seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, the UN said in a 2024 report.