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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 588

Syrian rebels

Syria's then-de facto leader, now interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, walks in the presidential palace in Damascus, December 28, 2024. Mosa'ab Elshamy/ AP)
January 29, 2025, 10:54 pm
Rebel chief Sharaa, who toppled Assad, named Syria’s interim president
New leader authorized to form temporary legislative council until new constitution is drafted; armed factions in country dissolved, will be absorbed by state institutions
By AP and ToI Staff
Mia Shalom, mother of IDF soldier Almog Shalom who was killed in battle, lights the first Hanukkah candle on his grave at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on December 25, 2024. (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
December 26, 2024, 2:01 pm
Daily Briefing Dec. 26: Day 447 – Israel and Hamas offer recriminations, but no deal
ToI founding editor David Horovitz weighs in on the latest in hostage talks, persistent Houthi missile attacks and a new sense of IDF preparedness
By Jessica Steinberg and David Horovitz
Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani, speaks at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, December 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam, File)
December 24, 2024, 4:36 pm
Syria’s new leadership to consolidate all armed rebel factions into defense ministry
Ahmed al-Sharaa says no weapons to be allowed in Syria outside of state control, including among Kurdish groups in north; US said encouraging Israel to develop ties with new leaders
By Agencies and ToI Staff
Palestinians carry UN-donated flour in Khan Younis, central Gaza Strip, Saturday December 14, 2024.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
December 18, 2024, 2:10 pm
Daily Briefing Dec. 18: Day 439 – How Palestinians envision ruling Gaza the day after
Arab affairs reporter Gianluca Pacchiani on hostage talks and Syria’s Christian minority; archaeology reporter Gavriel Fiske on the ‘first’ alphabetic writing and an early Christian amulet
By Amanda Borschel-Dan, Gianluca Pacchiani and Gavriel Fiske
Hostage family members and supporters protest outside the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv, December 17, 2024. (Photo by Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
December 17, 2024, 2:23 pm
Daily Briefing Dec. 17: Day 438 – Is Hamas softening stance on hostage-ceasefire deal?
ToI founding editor David Horovitz reviews the latest in the advanced negotiations for a Gaza deal, dissent in Netanyahu’s coalition, and remarks made by Syria’s rebel leader
By Jessica Steinberg and David Horovitz
Troops of the IDF's 91st Division operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on December 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
December 16, 2024, 2:27 pm
Daily Briefing Dec. 16: Day 437 – How is the ceasefire holding? ToI reports from Lebanon
Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman updates us on renewed optimism for a Gaza hostage release deal and why Israel is shuttering its embassy in Ireland
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Lazar Berman
Students drag a toppled statue of late president Hafez al-Assad on the street during a rally near the campus of the Damascus University in the Syrian capital on December 15, 2024. (Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
December 16, 2024, 10:12 am
Damascus students celebrate after Assad’s ouster; Christians remain wary
Three-starred symbol of 2011 uprising begins to be seen in public; local Christian communities hold first services since overthrow, but worry about future under new Islamist rulers
By Agencies and ToI Staff
A convoy of IDF vehicles approach a United Nations position on the border between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights on December 11, 2024. The Syrian Army Tel Kwdana post can be seen in the background. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)
December 15, 2024, 2:27 pm
Daily Briefing Dec. 15: Day 436 – ToI reports from Syria as Israel weighs striking Iran
Military reporter Emanuel Fabian was embedded with the IDF beyond the buffer zone; we hear what he saw as well as updates on operations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Emanuel Fabian
Syrian schoolchildren attend class at a school in the capital Damascus's Dweilaa neighborhood on December 15, 2024 (LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
December 15, 2024, 2:19 pm
A week after Assad’s fall, Syria begins to come to terms with his brutal legacy
Residents and rebel leaders aim for return to normalcy; pubs and bars reopening, reportedly with blessing of Islamist regime
By AFP and ToI Staff
A woman holding a rifle borrowed from a Syrian opposition fighter poses for a picture, next to a government forces tank that was left on a street, at the Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria, December 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
December 14, 2024, 4:22 pm
Daily Briefing Dec. 14: Day 435 – How women are the canary in the Mideast coal mine
As the rebel factions in Syria fight to wrest control, the world looks at their treatment of women. Middle East analyst Ksenia Svetlova, a former MK, ranks Israel and its neighbors
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Ksenia Svetlova
A Syrian holds up a weapon during a celebratory demonstration following the first Friday prayers since Bashar Assad's ouster, in Damascus' central square, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
December 14, 2024, 12:22 pm
Rebel leader says insurgents began planning assault on Assad a year ago
In interview with The Guardian, HTS’s Abu Hassan al-Hamwi says group unified factions, overhauled military forces and developed modern doctrine when planning devastating offensive
By ToI Staff
Israeli soldiers stand guard on a security fence gate near the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Golan Heights from Syria, in the town of Majdal Shams, December 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
December 13, 2024, 12:01 pm
Daily Briefing Dec. 13, Day 434: Israel’s Syria problem – and Israel’s Syria solution
Until the Syrian civil war, Israel held back-channel talks for a truce with Syria. Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman charts Israel’s evolving strategy with its neighbor to the north
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Lazar Berman
Hostage family members speak to the media after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, December 8, 2024. (Photo by Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
December 12, 2024, 1:32 pm
Daily Briefing Dec. 12: Day 433 – US security adviser arrives for renewed hostage talks
US bureau chief Jacob Magid and political correspondent Tal Schneider discuss the latest round of negotiations, Israel in the Syrian buffer zone, and the PM’s second day on the stand
By Jessica Steinberg, Jacob Magid and Tal Schneider
Residents in the Israeli Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights celebrate on December 9, 2024, after Islamist-led rebels declared that they had taken the Syrian capital in a lightning offensive, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. (Menahem Kahana / AFP)
December 11, 2024, 1:37 pm
Daily Briefing Dec. 11: Day 432 – ToI reports from a Druze village on Syria’s border
Reporter Diana Bletter on the complicated identities of Israeli-born Druze as they hope to see loved ones in Syria soon; legal reporter Jeremy Sharon on the PM’s first day at court
By Amanda Borschel-Dan, Jeremy Sharon and Diana Bletter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, arrives to begin his testimony at the district court in his long-running corruption trial, in Tel Aviv, December 10, 2024. (Menahem Kahana / POOL / AFP)
December 10, 2024, 2:29 pm
Daily Briefing Dec. 10: Day 431 – Decrying ‘witch hunt,’ PM begins to testify in trial
Editor David Horovitz on the allegations Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing and his goals in taking the stand; how the PM frames the IDF’s defensive actions in Syria
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and David Horovitz
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