Joyous celebrations across Syria after al-Assad’s fallJoyous celebrations in Syria.. Video

Syrians poured out into the streets across Syria and around the world, jubilant at the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

A number of European countries, including the UK, have suspended the processing of asylum applications for Syrians, after the downfall of former president Bashar al-Assad.

Austria’s caretaker government has stopped all asylum claims from Syrians and says it is making plans to to repatriate or deport people back to their homeland, arguing that the situation in the country has changed fundamentally.

Germany (home to a million Syrians), the United Kingdom, France, and Greece have all said they will halt asylum decisions for now.

The moves leave many in the Syrian diaspora in limbo, following the collapse of the Assad regime after 50 years of brutal rule.

Since 2011, the UN says more than 14 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety.

Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer, a conservative who is a hardliner on immigration, said in a post on X that the government would « support all Syrians who have found refuge in Austria and want to return to their home country ».

He added that the « security situation in Syria must also be reassessed in order to make deportations possible again in the future ».

In a statement, Austria’s Interior Ministry said « the political situation in Syria has changed fundamentally and, above all, rapidly in recent days ».

Around 95,000 Syrians live in Austria, many of whom arrived during the migrant crisis of 2015 and 2016. A backlash against them has fuelled support for the far right and conservatives in Austria.

We will not dispense with the old regime, says al-Jolanipublished at 20:1120:11

The leader of the main Islamist rebel group in Syria has met the former prime minister to co-ordinate the transfer of power.

Footage released by the rebel’s military operations command shows Abu Mohammed al-Jolani saying the transition would benefit from the experience of the old government.

“The young men have gained a lot of experience, » al-Jolani says. « They started working from nothing.

« Idlib is small and has no resources, but thank God, we were able to achieve something big during the past period. You will see experience, it’s not zero. In certain areas, they had varying high levels of success.

« However, we will not dispense the old status, it is essential that we take advantage of its existence.”

Hamas ‘more isolated than ever’ after al-Assad’s fall: Netanyahu

Netanyahu tells reporters that Israel is using “all the tools it has” to ensure its security after the change in leadership in Syria and says the fall of al-Assad is the “direct result of the heavy blows [Israel] landed on Hamas, on Hezbollah and on Iran”.

The Israeli prime minister also said Hamas is “more isolated than ever” after the fall of al-Assad.

“It expected help from Hezbollah – we took that away. It expected help from Iran – we took that as well,” Netanyahu said. “It expected help from the Assad regime – OK, that won’t happen anymore.”

Netanyahu added that Hamas’s growing isolation would potentially “open doors” for a captive release deal although he added that it is “too early” to say whether a deal will succeed.

Netanyahu reiterated that he will not stop the war now.

World Opinions + Agencies