• New leader was in charge of a small pocket in northwest wrested from the army during uprising against Assad
• Israeli strikes target Syria’s military bases

DAMASCUS: Syria’s interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar Al Assad three days ago.

In a brief address on state television, Mohammed Al Bashir, a figure little known across most of Syria who previously ran an administration in a small pocket of the northwest, said he would lead the interim authority until March 1.

The steps towards normalisation came despite intense air strikes from Israel targeting bases of the Syrian army, which melted away in the face of the lightning advance that ousted Bashar Al Assad.

Israel, which has sent forces across the border into a demilitarised zone inside Syria, acknowledged on Tuesday that troops had also taken up some positions beyond the buffer zone, though it denied they were advancing towards Damascus. It mounted air strikes on bases of the now-dissolved Syrian army.

Israel’s defence minister said he had ordered a “sterile defensive zone” to be created in southern Syria “to protect Israel”.

Three security sources said on Tuesday the Israelis had advanced beyond the demilitarised zone. And one Syrian source said the Israelis had reached the town of Qatana, several kilometres to the east of the buffer zone and a short drive from Damascus airport.

In his speech, Mohammed Al Bashir said: “Today we held a cabinet meeting that included a team from the Salvation government that was working in Idlib and its vicinity, and the government of the ousted regime.

“The meeting was under the headline of transferring the files and institutions to the caretaker government.” Behind him were two flags: the green, black and white flown by opponents of Bashar Al Assad throughout the civil war, and a white flag with the Islamic oath of faith (Kalma) in black writing.

A Facebook page says Bashir was trained as an electrical engineer, later received a degree in Sharia and law, and had held various posts over areas including education.

In the Syrian capital, banks reopened for the first time since Assad’s overthrow. Shops also reopened, traffic returned to the roads, construction workers were back fixing a roundabout in the Damascus city centre and street cleaners were out sweeping the streets.

There was a notable decrease in the number of armed men on the streets. Two sources close to the anti-Assad fighters said their command had ordered them to withdraw from cities, and for police and internal security forces affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) group to deploy there.

The HTS is a former Al Qaeda affiliate that led the anti-Assad revolt.

Israeli action

Israel’s incursion in Syria’s southwest and its air strikes on bases of the former army create an additional security problem for the new administration, although Tel Aviv insists its intervention is temporary.

Military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said Israeli troops were in the buffer zone and “a few additional points” in the vicinity, the first apparent official Israeli acknowledgement that they had moved beyond it. He said, however, that there had been no significant push into Syria.

“We are not involved in what’s happening in Syria internally, we are not a side in this conflict and we do not have any interest other than protecting our borders and the security of our citizens,” Shoshani said.

Israel Katz, the defence minister, claimed Israel’s navy had destroyed Syria’s fleet.

Regional security sources and officers within the defunct Syrian army described Tuesday morning’s Israeli air strikes as the heaviest yet, hitting military installations and air bases across Syria and destroying dozens of helicopters and jets.

Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Egypt and Qatar have condemned the Israeli incursion.

The mood in Damascus remained celebratory, with refugees beginning to return to a homeland they had not seen in years. Anas Idrees, 42, a refugee since the beginning of the civil war in 2011, raced from Lebanon to Syria to cheer the fall of the Assad regime.

After making arrangements for his family to follow, he ventured into the grand Hamidiyeh Souk, in old Damascus, to a popular ice cream parlour, where he ordered a large scoop of the outlet’s signature mastic-infused Arabic gelato. A generous heap costs $1 per bowl, served coated in pistachios. “I swear to God, it tastes different now,” he said after eating a spoonful. “It was good before, but it’s changed because now we are happy inside.”

Regular customers at the shop, known as Bakdash, agreed that something felt new. “It’s delicious and has gotten even better,” said Eman Ghazal, a business student in her 20s.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2024