Bashar al-Assad's regime falls: rebels in Damascus, Assad in Moscow

Rebel forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) entered Damascus on December 8, and the Syrian army command informed officers that Bashar al-Assad's regime had ended. Russian state media reported in the evening, citing a Kremlin source, that Assad and his family had arrived in Moscow, where they were granted asylum.

The offensive began on November 27 from Idlib province. Rebels took Aleppo by November 30, Hama on December 5 and Homs on the night of December 7–8, after which government forces withdrew from the capital. Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali offered to cooperate in a handover of power.

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HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, spoke at the Umayyad Mosque and called the victory "a victory for the whole Islamic nation". Prisoners were released from Sednaya prison. Israel said its forces had entered the buffer zone in the Golan Heights, citing the collapse of the 1974 agreement.