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UN chief Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned" over "extensive violations" of Syrian sovereignty, and by Israeli strikes on the country, his spokesman said Thursday.

Guterres "is deeply concerned by the recent and extensive violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Secretary-General is particularly concerned over the hundreds of Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Syria," Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

Russia has established direct contacts with the political committee of Syria's Islamist rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying on Thursday.

Interfax reported that Bogdanov, speaking to journalists, also said that Moscow aimed to maintain its military bases in Syria to continue "fighting international terrorism".

Bogdanov said contacts with HTS, the most powerful force in the country after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, were "proceeding in constructive fashion".

Russia, he said, hoped the group would fulfil its pledges to "guard against all excesses", maintain order and ensure the safety of diplomats and other foreigners.

Bogdanov said Russia hoped to maintain its two bases in Syria - a naval base in Tartous and the Khmeimim Air Base near the port city of Latakia - to keep up efforts against international terrorism.

"The bases are still there, where they were on Syrian territory. No other decisions have been made for the moment," he was quoted as saying.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan defended Israel's operations in Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, saying on Thursday it had a right to defend itself from risks to its security.

Since the shock collapse of Assad's government over the weekend, Israel has moved troops into the buffer zone on the Syrian side of the dividing line with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and has conducted hundreds of airstrikes to destroy Syrian army weapons and equipment.

"What Israel is doing is trying to identify potential threats, both conventional and weapons of mass destruction, that could threaten Israel, and, frankly threaten others as well," Sullivan told a press conference in Tel Aviv following a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the aftermath of Assad's flight from Syria, Israeli jets and missile ships hit military targets including fighter jets, helicopters, naval vessels, missile stores and weapons manufacturing sites to stop them from falling into the hands of the rebel forces that toppled Assad.

Hundreds of Syrians on Thursday buried activist Mazen al-Hamada, whose body was found alongside 35 others in a hospital morgue near Damascus following the ousting of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad.

Hamada had been jailed twice under Assad, the first time in 2011 when the Arab Spring protests erupted in the country, before he managed to escape and flee to the Netherlands in 2014, where he sought asylum.

He made a surprise return to Syria in 2020, amid reports that he had been lured back by the authorities, and was swiftly detained upon arrival at Damascus airport never to appear again.

Earlier this week, the bodies of over 30 people were found in a hospital morgue in the Damascus suburb of Harasta, many of them bearing signs of torture.

Among them was the body of Hamada, who was identified by his family through pictures.

On Thursday, outside the Al-Mujtahid hospital in Damascus, hundreds mourned Hamada's death, whose ordeal was emblematic of the atrocities suffered under Assad rule.

"We won't forget your blood Mazen," they called out, raising the three-star flag that was popular among the opposition throughout Syria's civil war and has since been adopted by the country's new rebel leaders.

Many of those present attempted to comfort Hamada's mother, whose cries rang out through the crowd.

Jordan will host a Syria crisis summit over the weekend with participation of foreign ministers from numerous Western and Arab nations, Amman's foreign ministry announced Thursday.

The Saturday summit "to discuss developments in Syria" will include top diplomats from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar, who will also convene with their Turkish and US counterparts, the EU's foreign policy chief and the UN envoy for Syria, the statement said.

Lebanon said an Israeli strike on the border town of Khiam killed one person on Thursday, hours after Washington announced Israel had withdrawn from the area as Lebanon's army deployed under a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.

"The Israeli enemy strike on the town of Khiam killed one person and injured another," the health ministry said in a statement.

Visiting US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared prepared to negotiate a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza and a ceasefire.

"We're now looking to close a hostage release deal and a ceasefire (in Gaza). It's time to finish the job and bring all of the hostages home... I got the sense from the prime minister he's ready to do a deal," Sullivan said at a press conference at the Tel Aviv annex of the US embassy in Jerusalem, after meeting Netanyahu.

Sullivan said that Hamas's approach to the negotiations had changed, attributing it to the overthrow of their ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the ceasefire that went into effect in the war between Israel and another ally, Lebanese group Hezbollah.

"I do believe the ceasefire in Lebanon has generated a different context," said Sullivan, citing "the loss of Iran's client state in Syria".

He added that "Israel's military progress against Hamas's infrastructure formations and senior leaders has contributed to that context" too.

Paraguay formally opened its new Jerusalem embassy in Israel on Thursday in a ceremony attended by President Santiago Peña and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following a back-and-forth struggle over the diplomatic seat that kicked off in 2018.

The South American nation's embassy had for decades been located in the coastal Israeli city of Tel Aviv, but in 2018 former President Horacio Cartes ordered its move to Jerusalem.

Months later, the facility was moved back to Tel Aviv after an abrupt reversal announced by Cartes' successor, Mario Abdo.

Cartes, a Netanyahu ally, is also a close confidant of Peña, with both men coming from Paraguay's conservative Colorado Party.

Peña took office last year and shortly afterwards announced the embassy's move back to Jerusalem. He traveled to Israel to officially open it on Thursday.

"This step symbolizes our commitment to shared values and the strengthening of the ties that build a future of peace, development and mutual understanding," he said at the new embassy's opening ceremony.

The president did not refer to the war in Gaza, or other recent Israeli military operations in Lebanon or Syria. 

Mohamad al-Hindi, the deputy secretary-general of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, expressed optimism about the potential for a deal on hostages and a ceasefire.

In an interview with Al-Quds News, al-Hindi stated that both the Israelis and Americans have shown a willingness that makes such an agreement feasible.

Obaida Arnaout, the spokesperson for Syria’s new government, announced that a judicial and human rights committee would be formed to review the constitution and propose necessary amendments.

Arnaout told news agency AFP that a meeting would be held on Tuesday between the ministers of the current transitional government and the former ministers of Bashar al-Assad's administration to facilitate the transfer of power.

"This transitional period will last three months," he explained. "Our priority is to preserve and protect institutions."

Speaking from the state television headquarters, which has now been taken over by the new rebel authorities, Arnaout assured that the rule of law would be established.

"All those who committed crimes against the Syrian people will be judged in accordance with the law," he stated.

When questioned about religious and personal freedoms, he emphasised that Syria’s religious and cultural diversity would be respected and remain unchanged.

Syria's new leadership said on Thursday it was searching for abducted US journalist Austin Tice, and that it was ready to cooperate with Washington to look for Americans disappeared under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

In 2022, US President Joe Biden accused Syria of holding Tice, a freelance photojournalist detained near Damascus a decade earlier, and called on the now deposed Assad government to help secure his release.

The transitional government, which took the helm in Syria after Assad's ouster on Sunday, said that "the search for American citizen Austin Tice is ongoing."

"We confirm our readiness to cooperate directly with the US administration to search for American citizens disappeared by the former Assad regime," the government's department of political affairs added in a statement on Telegram.

In recent days, Syrian residents and armed men have broken into government prisons, freeing inmates, some of whom have spent decades behind bars.

The political department's statement said that another US citizen, Travis Timmerman, "has been released and secured".

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that Washington was "working to bring home" US citizen Travis Timmerman, after Syria's new leadership said he had been "released".

"We're working to bring him home," Blinken said on a visit to Jordan to discuss the situation in Syria following Bashar al-Assad's ouster, adding that he "can't give any details on exactly what's going to happen".

Timmerman, 29, told US reporters that he was imprisoned in Syria for seven months after crossing into the country from Lebanon.

He identified himself as a religious "pilgrim" and said he was being "well treated". He had been held in a prison in Dhiyabia, a town south of the capital of Damascus.

Earlier reports suggested that he was in fact Austin Tice, an American journalist who went missing in the country over 12 years ago.

Northern Syria's semi autonomous Kurdish adminstration has announced on Thursday that it will adopt Syria's independence flag that is employed by the opposition.

In a statement, the authority regarded the flag as a "symbol" of a new page turned in Syria's history, adding that it "expresses the aspirations of the Syrian people towards freedom, dignity and national unity."

It said it will raise the flag  "on all councils, institutions, administrations and facilities affiliated with the Autonomous Administration."

Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin was in Damascus on Thursday, just days after a rebel push ousted Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad, Turkish television channels reported.

The footage, which was shown on multiple channels including the private NTV, showed him leaving the Syrian capital's Umayyad mosque surrounded by a tight security detail.

But rumours that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was also in the Syrian capital were denied by the foreign ministry.

"The minister is in Ankara. He did not go to Damascus," a spokesman told AFP, just hours before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to land in the Turkish capital for top level talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his chief diplomat.

UN investigators say they have compiled secret lists of 4,000 perpetrators of serious crimes in Syria and hope the fall of Bashar al-Assad will help ensure accountability up to the highest level.

"It is very important that the top level perpetrators are brought to justice," said Linnea Arvidsson, who coordinates the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria (COI).

The COI has been gathering evidence of crimes committed in Syria since the early days of the civil war in 2011, and has compiled lists of alleged perpetrators.

"Up to now, we have about 4,000 names on these lists," Arvidsson said.

The lists have never been made public, but the investigators have shared details with prosecutors in jurisdictions that have investigated and brought cases against suspected Syrian war criminals.

Arvidsson said the team had "cooperated with 170 such criminal investigations", leading so far to 50 convictions for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria.

But so far, "they haven't touched the higher level perpetrators", she said.

"Now there is an opportunity opening up potentially for them also to be held accountable."

°®Âþµº's Arabic-language sister site Al Araby al-Jadeed has reported that Damascus International Airport, which has been closed since last Sunday, is set to resume flights on Wednesday.

Sources that spoke to the publication confirmed that the airport will reopen on 18 December.

The closure occurred following advances by Syrian opposition factions, which ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, forcing the withdrawal of the former regime’s army and security forces from the airport.
 

Syrian media outlets have reported an Israeli airstrike targeting an area near the capital, Damascus, shortly ago.

The Israeli military has yet to issue a statement regarding the alleged strike.

Some European Union countries on Thursday doubled down on their decision to rapidly halt asylum procedures for Syrian migrants in Europe, but said that it was too early to consider sending any of the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled since 2011 back home.

Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and non-EU country Norway suspended asylum applications from Syrians in the wake of Bashar Assad’s fall.

France is weighing whether to take similar action, at least until Syria’s new leadership and security conditions become clearer.

The decisions do not mean that Syrian asylum-seekers will be deported.

The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, has said that currently "the conditions are not met for safe, voluntary, dignified returns to Syria."

"We need to wait a few more days to see where Syria is heading now," German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

"What is the situation? What about the protection of minorities? What about the protection of the people? And then, of course, there could be repatriation."

Hamas said on Thursday it welcomed a UN General Assembly vote for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, a symbolic gesture rejected by the United States and Israel.

Hamas said in a statement it "welcomes the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution, supported by 158 countries, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, enabling civilians in the (Gaza) Strip to have immediate access to essential services and humanitarian aid."

The General Assembly adopted the resolution on Wednesday by 158 votes to nine with 13 abstentions.

It calls for "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire," and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" -- wording similar to a text vetoed by Washington in the Security Council last month.

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) powers said Thursday they were ready to support the transition to an "inclusive and non-sectarian" government in Syria after Bashar al-Assad's brutal rule.

In a statement, they called for the protection of human rights, including those of women and minorities, while emphasising "the importance of holding the Assad regime accountable for its crimes".

Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies, which brought a sudden end to five decades of abuses by the Assad clan.

"After decades of atrocities committed by the Assad regime, we stand with the people of Syria," said the G7, which comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United States and Italy.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has met with the Syrian Negotiations Commission leader, Bader Jamous, and representatives of Syrian civil society.

In a statement, the French Foreign Ministry commended their commitment to a "free, democratic, and pluralistic Syria."

The discussions highlighted the need to pursue accountability and justice after the fall of the Syrian regime, with a focus on fighting impunity through legal means.

Both sides reaffirmed their dedication to supporting a peaceful, inclusive political transition aligned with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

Syrian journalist Samer Daboul has released a video on X documenting the funeral for activist Mazen al-Hamada commencing.

The funeral procession of Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada is taking place in the city of Damascus.

— Samer Daboul (@samerdaboul6)

The United States was pushing Thursday for an "inclusive" transition in Syria from president Bashar al-Assad's brutal rule, after the country's new leaders pledged to protect minority rights.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Jordan on Thursday to kick off a crisis tour to address the aftermath of Assad's overthrow, heading straight to a meeting in the Red Sea city of Aqaba with King Abdullah II.

Blinken has called for an "inclusive" process to form Syria's next government that includes protections for minorities.

The State Department also said he would call for a Syria that is not "a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbours".

Blinken's visit to Jordan is his first stop on a regional tour that will see him offer US support for "an inclusive, Syrian-led transition to an accountable and representative government," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Jordan on Thursday at the start of a crisis tour to address the aftermath of the overthrow of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, news agency AFP reports.

The outgoing top US diplomat headed straight to a meeting in the Red Sea city of Aqaba with King Abdullah II and will travel later in the day to Turkey.

Blinken has called for an "inclusive" process to form Syria's next government that includes protections for minorities after Islamist rebels ended the iron-fisted rule of Assad, a member of the Alawite community.

Announcing his trip, the State Department said he would also call for a Syria that is not "a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbours" -- a nod to the concerns of Turkey and Israel, which has ramped up strikes on its historic adversary since Assad's fall.

It is Blinken's 12th visit to the Middle East since October 7, 2023, which Israel has conducted a relentless military campaign in Gaza.

The health ministry in Gaza said Thursday that at least 44,835 people have been killed in more than 14 months of war.

The toll includes 30 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 106,356 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.

American journalist Austin Tice was reportedly seen in the Az-Zyabeyeh district, south of Damascus, according to Al Arabiya on Thursday.

It is not confirmed where Tice is after his disappearance in August 2012 at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus.

°®Âþµº has also not yet been able to independently verify these claims.

A suspected Palestinian shooting attack on an Israeli bus in the occupied West Bank killed a child overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, Israeli emergency services said.

The Israeli military said its forces were in pursuit of the gunman and had set up roadblocks and encircled an area near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

At least four people were wounded, among them a child of around the age of 12, who was critically hurt and died later in a Jerusalem hospital, medics and the hospital said.

Violence in the West Bank was already on the rise before the war in Gaza erupted on October 7 last year and has surged since, with frequent Israeli military raids, violence by Jewish settlers and Palestinian street attacks on Israelis.

Gaza's civil defence agency reported that Israeli air strikes on Thursday killed at least 33 people, including 12 guards securing aid trucks in southern parts of the Palestinian territory.

Seven guards were killed in a strike in Rafah, while another attack left five guards dead in Khan Yunis, agency spokesman Mahmud Basal said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to enquiries about the two strikes.

"The occupation once again targeted those securing the aid trucks," Basal told news agency AFP, adding that around 30 people, most of them children, were also wounded in the strikes.

"The trucks carrying flour were on their way to UNRWA warehouses," Basal noted, referring to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.

"The occupation aims to destroy all services for citizens across the Gaza Strip."

Tens of thousands are anticipated to gather in Damascus later today to mourn prominent activist Mazen al-Hamada.

Al-Hamada became a symbol of resistance against Bashar al-Assad’s regime, highlighting its oppressive practices and human rights abuses.

After fleeing Syria’s civil war in 2014, he travelled internationally, recounting the torture he endured in Syrian prisons.

In 2020, al-Hamada returned to Syria following the regime’s announcement of a general amnesty, but he was arrested upon his arrival at Damascus airport.

For years, his whereabouts remained unknown until Monday, when his body, wrapped in bloodied sheets, was identified in the morgue of Harasta Military Hospital near Damascus.

Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, who worked closely with al-Hamada, stated that the condition of his body indicated he had been killed shortly before being discovered.

Fifty-four journalists were killed worldwide while carrying out their work or because of their profession in 2024, a third of them by the Israeli army, according to an annual report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published Thursday.

According to the press freedom NGO, Israeli armed forces were responsible for the deaths of 18 journalists this year -- 16 in Gaza and two in Lebanon.

"Palestine is the most dangerous country for journalists, recording a higher death toll than any other country over the past five years," RSF said in its annual report, which covers data up to December 1.

The organization has filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for "war crimes committed against journalists by the Israeli army."

It said that in total "more than 145" journalists had been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since the start of the war there in October 2023, with 35 of them working at the time of their deaths, RSF said.

It described the number of killings as "an unprecedented bloodbath."

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Thursday morning killed 12 Palestinian guards securing aid trucks in southern parts of the territory.

Seven guards were killed in a strike in Rafah, while another attack left five guards dead in Khan Younis, agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told news agency AFP.

The military did not give an immediate response when asked about the two strikes.

"The occupation once again targeted those securing the aid trucks," Basal said. He said about 30 people, most of them children, were also wounded in the strikes.

"The trucks carrying flour were on their way to UNRWA warehouses," Basal said, referring to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.

"The occupation aims to destroy all services for citizens across the Gaza Strip."