DAMASCUS, Syria: A week after an alliance of opposition groups toppled Syria’s former president, Bashar al-Assad, the United Nations special envoy on Sunday called for justice to prevail, not revenge.
“We need to see of course justice and accountability for crimes,” UN envoy Geir Pedersen said after arriving in Damascus.
“And we need to make sure that that goes through a credible justice system, and that we don’t see any revenge.”
Pedersen also called for “increased, immediate” aid to Syria, saying it had been through “an enormous… humanitarian crisis”.
“We need to make sure that Syria receives increased, immediate humanitarian assistance,” he said.
Assad fled Syria last Sunday following an 11-day offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), bringing to a dramatic end more than 50 years of Assad family rule.
Back to School
Calm is slowly returning to the streets of Damascus, with dozens of children streaming back to school Sunday for the first time since Assad’s ouster.
An official at one school said “no more than 30 percent” were back on Sunday, but “these numbers will rise gradually”.
On the diplomatic front, US State Secretary Antony Blinken said Saturday that Washington had “been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” without specifying how.
After meeting in Jordan, Western and Arab states along with Turkey called for a united peaceful Syria.
In a joint statement, diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union and Arab countries called for a Syrian-led transition to “produce an inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government formed through a transparent process”, with respect for human rights.
France said a four-strong diplomatic team would arrive on Tuesday to “retake possession of our real estate” as well as “establishing initial contact” with the new authorities and “evaluating the urgent needs of the population”, acting Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.
A Qatari delegation was due in Syria Sunday to meet transitional government officials for talks on aid and reopening its embassy.
Turkey was ready to provide military support to Syria’s new government set up by the HTS-led alliance if it requests it, Defence Minister Yasar Guler said on Sunday.
Guler said the new leadership should be given “a chance” and that Ankara was “ready to provide the necessary support” if needed, in remarks reported by Turkish media.
The interim government insists that the rights of all Syrians will be protected, as will the rule of law.
On Sunday, Syrian Christians attended their first church service since Assad’s fall.
Israeli Strikes on Syria
The alliance’s offensive began on November 27, the day a ceasefire took effect in the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem admitted Saturday that with Assad gone, his group could no longer be supplied militarily through Syria.
He also said he hoped Syria’s new rulers saw Israel “as an enemy” and do not normalise ties with the country.
Israel has carried out military strikes inside Syria since Assad’s fall.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday reported new Israeli strikes near Damascus, after 60 strikes across Syria on Saturday.
The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, reported attacks on Syrian army tunnels and arms depots in the Damir area.
Israel has also ordered troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, a move the UN said violated a 1974 armistice.
HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said Israel’s move “threatens a new unjustified escalation in the region”.
But “the general exhaustion in Syria after years of war and conflict does not allow us to enter new conflicts”, he said in an online statement.
