Syria – live: PM agrees handover of power as Israel bombs Syrian army sites

Former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger joked that Tulsi Gabbard could offer ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad “safe harbor” in her home.

Kinzinger, who made the jibe the day before Assad’s regime fell, has been outspoken about Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence following a 2017 visit to Syria, where she met with the tyrant when she was a Democratic House member.

“Wonder if @TulsiGabbard will offer Assad safe harbor at her house?” the former Illinois representative quipped on X. “They are great friends.”

An Israeli military incursion into southern Syria has reached about 25km southwest of the capital Damascus, Reuters reported citing two regional security sources.

The Syrian security source said Israeli troops reached Qatana, which is 10km into Syrian territory east of a demilitarised zone separating Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria.

The Israeli troops have allegedly carried out more than 100 airstrikes on military sites across Syria since the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based human rights organisation, said.

Israel has not put a number on these airstrikes, but told the UN Security Council that they would be “limited and temporary”.

The Israeli air force launched more than 100 airstrikes targeting military sites in four Syrian cities, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The strikes killed two people and caused extensive damage to key military facilities.

The targeted military sites included research centers, weapons warehouses, airports and aircraft squadrons, the rights group said. The attacks also disabled air defense systems and rendered multiple sites inoperable.

Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar yesterday claimed it had struck suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets in Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile actors.

The US state department said it was not actively reviewing the “foreign terrorist organisation” designation of the main Syrian rebel group that overthrew president Bashar al-Assad’s government this weekend.

However, it said such designations are constantly under review and that even while it is in place, the designation does not bar US officials speaking with members or leaders of the group.

“There is no specific review related to what happened” over the weekend, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.

“That said, we are always reviewing. Based on their actions there could be a change in our sanctions posture, but we have nothing today.”

He said a review could be initiated if HTS takes steps to reverse the reasons for its designation. That would be based entirely on their actions, he said.

Syrian prime minister Mohammed Jalali said he has agreed to hand power to the rebel-led salvation government, an administration based in rebel-held territory in northwest Syria.

Main rebel commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, met with Jalali and vice president Faisal Mekdad to discuss the transitional government, Reuters reported, citing sources.

The prime minister said the handover could take days to carry out.

The power transfer follows 13 years of civil war and the end to more than 50 years of brutal rule by the Assad family, leaving Syrians at home and millions of refugees abroad hopeful yet deeply uncertain about their country’s future.

The armed rebels in Syria who overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s government last weekend say they will not impose a religious dress code on women.

“It is strictly forbidden to interfere with women’s dress or impose any request related to their clothing or appearance, including requests for modesty,” the Islamist rebel coalition said on social media.