Syria updates: Al-Assad denies ‘planned’ departure, says he wanted to fight

Thank you for joining us for updates on Syria after President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster.

You can read more about Syrians returning to the homes they fled here.

And here is an explainer about Israel’s efforts to entrench its occupation of the Golan Heights.

We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a recap of today’s major events in Syria:

• Syria’s toppled leader purportedly issued his first statement since he was deposed, saying the country is “in the hands of terrorism”.
• The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Israeli attacks have targeted military sites in Syria’s coastal Tartous region, calling them “the heaviest strikes” in the area in more than a decade.
• The United Nations special envoy to Syria is in Damascus, where he has met with the country’s new leaders and visited the notorious Sednaya Prison.
• German diplomat Michael Ohnmacht has been tasked with establishing channels of communication between the European Union and Syria’s new caretaker government.
• EU officials said that Russia and Iran should have “no place” in Syria’s future.
• Syria’s new information minister tells Al Jazeera the caretaker government needs to “rebuild the economy from scratch”.
• There has been a flurry of diplomatic activity in Syria along with calls to lift Western sanctions on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group now running the country.
• Multiple countries have criticised Israel’s plan to expand settlements in the occupied Golan Heights.

Activists with the RiseUp4Rojava group placed a banner on top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to demand an end to attacks against Kurdish-led autonomous regions in northern and eastern Syria, also known as Rojava.

The banner reads “For Democracy in Syria – Defend Rojava.”

Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid has interviewed the Syrian information minister about Syria’s rebuilding challenges following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.

The minister highlighted the dire economic situation and the need to start anew with qualified staff to develop a prosperous nation. Addressing fears of restrictions under Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rule, he said that all sects in Syria would have safe, stable, and dignified lives, with special attention paid to their needs.

Furthermore, the minister discussed dealing with external threats, including Israel and Turkiye, through ongoing diplomatic communications and reassurances about the future government’s vision and approach.

German news agency dpa is reporting that German diplomat Michael Ohnmacht has been tasked with establishing channels of communication between the European Union and Syria’s new caretaker government.

Ohnmacht has been head of the EU’s Syria delegation since September. He has, however, been operating out of Beirut, Amman and Brussels, rather than the Syrian capital, Damascus.

He started his career at the German Foreign Office in 1988, and previously served as ambassador to Libya, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, among other posts.

Ohnmacht reportedly speaks Arabic and some Turkish, in addition to French and English.

The European Union’s top foreign policy official said that the bloc’s envoy to Syria has begun high-level talks with the country’s new leaders and that the EU will organise a fundraising conference to aid Syria’s transition.

Kaja Kallas also told reporters after a meeting with European foreign ministers that Iran and Russia should have “no place” in Syria’s future.

“Many foreign ministers emphasised that it should be a condition for the new leadership to eliminate Russian influence [in Syria],” Kallas said.

Jordan has condemned Israel’s approval of a plan to expand illegal settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as a “blatant violation of international law”.

The Israeli government on Sunday unanimously approved a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to double the number of Israeli settlers living in the occupied Golan Heights with a budget exceeding 40 million shekels ($11.2m).

In a statement on Monday, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry called the Israeli move “an entrenchment of the occupation and a blatant violation of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions”.

The ministry emphasised “the necessity of preserving Syria’s unity and territorial integrity”.

“The Golan Heights is occupied Syrian Arab land, and its occupation must come to an end,” it said, calling for international action to condemn the Israeli measures and obligate Israel, the occupying power, to adhere to international law.

Among Israel’s recent violations of Syrian sovereignty, which include hundreds of air attacks, is its further encroachment into the Golan Heights.

Yossi Beilin, a former Israeli justice minister, tells Al Jazeera he does not believe Israel is trying to seize an opportunity to take more land from Syria after Israel’s government approved a plan to double the number of settlers in the illegally occupied Golan Heights.

“What the government is saying, and I think that it is true, is that it wanted to ensure that the demilitarised zones that were agreed upon in 1974 are kept,” he said, speaking from Tel Aviv.

“The main aim [of other Israeli attacks across Syria] is to destroy chemical weapons in Syria so that they do not fall into other hands.”

When pressed on criticism of Israel from allies such as Germany who suggested Israel is violating Syria’s sovereignty and international law, he said the issue of sovereignty is unclear in this situation.

“I cannot speak on behalf of the government of Israel, of course, but I can say that I am talking to people, and there is no temptation to take any part of Syria beyond what was agreed upon in 1974,” he said.

“And more and more people [in Israel] are talking about talks with the current Syrian leadership – whether [HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa] or other groups. That will take time but not a matter of years.”

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, has ordered the reopening of the Lebanese embassy in Syria, his office says in a post on X.

Here are the latest developments from Syria, eight days after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad:

• Syria’s toppled leader purportedly issues his first statement since he was deposed, saying the country is “in the hands of terrorism”.
• The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Israeli attacks have targeted military sites in Syria’s coastal Tartous region, calling them “the heaviest strikes” in the area in more than a decade.
• The UN special envoy to Syria is in Damascus, where he has met with the country’s new leaders and visited the notorious Sednaya Prison.
• There’s been a flurry of diplomatic activity in Syria and calls to lift western sanctions on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group now running the country.
• Multiple countries have criticised Israel’s plan to expand settlements in the occupied Golan Heights.

Jordan and Iraq have agreed to back efforts aimed at supporting Syria’s security and stability during a meeting held in Amman between Jordanian Parliament Speaker Ahmad Safadi and his Iraqi counterpart Mahmoud al-Mashhadani.

The two sides underlined the importance of enhancing coordination between Jordan and Iraq “to confront the challenges imposed by the circumstances of the region, and to exert maximum efforts to prevent the region from slipping into chaos”, according to a statement released by the Jordanian parliament.

They also called on the international community to respect the will of the Syrian people and to help bolster efforts to end Israel’s ongoing onslaught on Gaza.

It remains unknown how big Bashar al-Assad’s assets in Russia are, but it has been reported that several years ago he managed to physically transfer at least $250m in cash to Moscow.

According to many analysts, Russia had been a haven for the al-Assad regime’s finances for years, and Moscow became a hub to bypass Western sanctions imposed on Bashar al-Assad and his regime.

It is interesting that the cash flows to Russia coincided with Syria’s reliance on the Kremlin for military support, including from the Wagner Group of mercenary fighters.

Not all the money was transferred in one go: in total, from March 2018 to September 2019, 21 flights were made in order to bring $250m to Russia.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria met with commander of the new administration Ahmed al-Sharaa and caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir in Damascus, according to a statement on Monday.

The envoy, Geir Pedersen, stressed the need for a “credible and inclusive Syrian-owned and led political transition” based on the principles of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, his office said in a statement.

Pedersen stressed the intention of the UN to render “all assistance” to the Syrian people.

The envoy was briefed on challenges and priorities. He also visited the former regime prison at Sednaya.

The statement said that Pedersen has numerous engagements scheduled in Syria in the coming days.

Syria’s new information minister has told Al Jazeera that al-Assad’s government left the “country almost completely destroyed” and that it will take time to recover.

“The economic reality in Syria is very dire. It’s a legacy that needs a lot of work – to rebuild a new economy from scratch,” Muhammad Yaquob al-Omar told Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid in an exclusive interview.

“The criminal regime dedicated Syria’s economic resources to the occupying countries, which were invited to participate in the war against the Syrian people.”

Al-Omar said he was hopeful that the new administration will succeed in rebuilding the country, even with meagre resources at its disposal.

“We believe that appointing qualified staff in the right places within the upcoming government will ensure turning a new page in Syria’s history to build and develop, making Syria equal to the most developed civilisations and [building] a nation that lives up to the aspirations of the Syrian people and maintains its social fabric,” he said.

Geir Pedersen, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, has visited Sednaya Prison, which was known as a slaughterhouse under the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.