Monday Briefing

A toppled statue of Syria’s late president, Hafez al-Assad, in Damascus yesterday.Credit…Louai Beshara/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Rebels claimed power in Syria

In a stunning fall, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has fled to Russia, state media there and two Iranian officials said yesterday, after he lost his hold on power to a lightning fast offensive by rebels. Here’s the latest.

Earlier in the day, the main group in the rebel coalition, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, announced that its fighters had taken the capital. “The city of Damascus has been liberated; the tyrant Bashar al-Assad has been toppled,” a rebel said in a state television broadcast, adding, “Long live a free and independent Syria for all Syrians of all sects.”

The al-Assad family had ruled Syria with an iron fist since the early 1970s, and many citizens greeted the president’s fall with hope after long living in fear of their oppressive government. But deep uncertainty over who will rule Syria next raised worries of a possible power vacuum, even as celebratory gunfire crackled around Damascus and prisoners were freed. Here’s our analysis of what may lie ahead.

Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the Islamist rebel leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who spearheaded the rebel offensive, declared the group’s achievement “a victory for the whole Islamic nation.” Once linked to Al Qaeda, his group has tried to gain legitimacy by eschewing jihadist ambitions and by focusing on organized governance. Read more about the rebels.

First person: “Our hearts are dancing with joy,” one Damascus resident said. “We can’t predict the future and anything is possible, but the most important thing is we got rid of this oppressive regime.”

In other news:

• President Biden announced that the U.S. had conducted extensive airstrikes in Syria to stop the Islamic State from reasserting itself after the fall of Assad.

• Iran’s “axis of resistance” has largely unraveled in a breathtakingly short period, our correspondent writes.

• Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, Syria’s prime minister, said that he would stay in the country and was ready to work with whomever Syrians choose as their leader.

• Israel’s military said it had entered a demilitarized buffer zone in territory it controls in the Golan Heights, abutting Syria. The Israeli military, which is concerned about the sudden surge in instability near its borders, said it was acting to protect Israeli civilians.