On Dec. 8, the same day the Assad regime fell and rebel forces took Damascus, the US military carried out a series of air-strikes against Islamic State positions across central Syria. The Pentagon's Central Command announced [12] that it "struck over 75 targets using multiple US Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s." The targets included "ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps." (A&SF [13], LWJ [15])
That same day, Israeli warplanes conducted dozens of raids across Syria, including in Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) counted more than 100 Israeli strikes on military and industrial targets, including a research center believed to be linked to chemical weapon production. Israel said it was acting to stop weapons from falling "into the hands of extremists." Israeli strikes have continued since then, now reaching over 300. (BBC News [16], DW [17]) Israel has been carrying out intermittent air-strikes [18] on Syria for years, but these represent a dramatic escalation.
Israel has also seized control of a demilitarized "buffer zone" in the Golan Heights, saying the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria had "collapsed" with the rebel take-over of the country. The Israeli leadership is denying reports that IDF troops have advanced beyond the buffer zone, and are moving toward Damascus. (BBC News [16], DW [17])
Amid scenes of jubilation in Damascus, the White Helmets [19] rescue group are searching liberated Saydnaya [20] prison for clandestine subterranean cells where the regime's "disappeared" may be held. Relatives of the detained and disappeared have gathered by the hundreds at the prison, and are assisting in the search. (TNA [21], BBC News [22])
Unfortunately, fighting continues between the victorious rebel forces and Kurdish militias in the east. The town of Tal Rifaat [23] has fallen from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF [23]) and is now in the hands of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA [24]). The SNA is continuing to advance on Manbij [25], the last Kurdish-held town west of the Euphrates River. The United States, which backs the SDF, has apparently reached an agreement with Turkey to ensure the safe evacuation of Manbij. (EAW [26], K24 [27], Reuters [28])
The Military Operations Administration, overall armed umbrella of the rebel forces, is meanwhile advancing on Deir Ezzor [29], a large Arab-majority town in the east which was taken [24] by the SDF as the regime collapsed. US air power is said to be deterring the MOA from entering the city. (Enab Baladi [30])
The deposed Bashar Assad has reportedly fled to Moscow. Russia is calling on the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Syria. (Jurist [31])
