The Russian Foreign Ministry announced today noon that President Bashar al-Assad had left the country and ordered the peaceful transfer of power. Israeli sources stated that a plane took off from the Russian military base in Latakia shortly before the announcement and that Bashar al-Assad might be on board.

HTS forces took full control of Damascus city centre and made the first broadcast on state television. A curfew was declared in the city from 4 pm to 5 am. Abu Muhammad al-Julani, the head of HTS, is also reported to have arrived in Damascus.

HTS-affiliated forces organised an attack on the Italian Embassy in the city, breaking into the residence and seizing three vehicles. The Italian authorities announced that the Embassy staff were not harmed in the attack.

A large number of HTS members gathered in Umayyad Square and celebrated the fall of Damascus by opening fire in the air. The groups formed convoys in the city and celebrated with the new Syrian flag.

It is reported that Bashar al-Assad's residence in the city was looted. While HTS made a statement for the looting to stop, reports are coming through of looting in state institutions in many parts of Damascus.

Serious developments are also taking place on the southern borders of the country. While the intense mobilisation of Israeli troops in the Golan Heights region attracts attention, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly ordered the capture of the buffer zone.

The Israeli Prime Minister said he had ordered the army to ‘seize’ the UN-supervised buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied and Syrian-controlled Golan Heights. Netanyahu said that the separation agreement signed with Syria in 1974 had ‘collapsed’ and that he had therefore ‘ordered the army to seize the buffer zone and nearby command posts yesterday’. “We will not allow any enemy force to settle on our border,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army is reported to have conducted airstrikes on airports and military facilities in Mezzeh and Kassun.

Latakia and Tartus and the surroundings, where the Alawite population in the country is densely populated, also came under the control of HTS and affiliated groups. Only some forces loyal to Assad and the Russian military base in Jablah and its surroundings are not under the control of HTS.

According to reports, heavy transport planes landed at the Russian military base there on Saturday night and took off on Sunday afternoon.