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Syria’s Golani Vows to Punish Those Responsible for Torture Under Assad

Top rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani speaks to a crowd at Ummayad Mosque in Damascus, after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, Syria, Dec. 8, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Hassano
The main commander of the fighters who toppled Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that anyone involved in the torture or killing of detainees during the ousted Syrian president’s rule would be hunted down, and pardons were out of the question.
“We will pursue them in Syria, and we ask countries to hand over those who fled so we can achieve justice,” Abu Mohammed al-Golani said in a statement published on the Syrian state TV’s Telegram channel.
The world is carefully watching to see if Syria’s new rulers can stabilize the country and avoid unleashing violent revenge, after a 13-year civil war fought along sectarian and ethnic lines destroyed the country.
Syria ran one of the most oppressive police states in the Middle East during five decades of Assad family rule. Golani, whose former al Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is now the country’s most powerful force, must balance demands for justice from victims with the need to prevent violent reprisals and secure international aid.
Mohammad al-Bashir, the man installed by Golani‘s fighters to lead an interim administration, said he aimed to bring back millions of refugees, create unity, and provide basic services. But rebuilding would be daunting with little funding on hand.
“In the coffers there are only Syrian pounds worth little or nothing. One US dollar buys 35,000 of our coins,” Bashir told Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.
“We have no foreign currency and as for loans and bonds we are still collecting data. So yes, financially we are very bad,” said Bashir, who previously ran a small rebel-led administration in a pocket of northwestern Syria.
Rebuilding Syria is a colossal task following a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people, reduced cities to ruins, depopulated the countryside, and left the economy gutted by international sanctions. Millions of refugees still live in camps after one of the biggest displacements of modern times.
Since Assad‘s fall, Hayat al-Turki has been searching the abandoned cells of Syria’s most notorious prison, the vast Sednaya complex, for any sign of her missing relatives, including her brother who vanished 14 years ago.
“Are these for my brother for example? Do I smell him in them? Or these? Or is this his blanket?” she said, combing through belongings left behind in a cell.
“I was hopeful and optimistic to find someone from my missing prisoners — a brother, an uncle, or a cousin — but I did not find. I did not find. I searched the whole prison,” she said. “I go into a cell, not even for five minutes, and I suffocate.”
ENGAGING WARILY
Foreign officials are warily engaging with the former rebels, although HTS remains designated a terrorist organization by Washington, the United Nations, EU, and others.
The new government must “uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance to all in need, prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “It’s our duty to do everything to support different Syrian leaders in order to make sure that they come together, they are able to guarantee a smooth transition.”
In addition to terrorism bans in place against the former rebels, Syria also remains under US, European, and other financial sanctions imposed against Damascus under Assad.
Two senior US congressmen, a Republican and a Democrat, wrote a letter calling for Washington to suspend some sanctions. The most punishing war-time US sanctions are up for renewal this month, and the former rebels have told Reuters they are in touch with Washington about potentially easing them.
HAFEZ ASSAD MAUSOLEUM TORCHED
A resident of Assad‘s family hometown of Qardaha said Sunni Islamist fighters had torched the mausoleum of Assad‘s father Hafez over the past two days, instilling fear among villagers from Assad‘s Alawite sect who had pledged cooperation with the new rulers.
For refugees, the prospect of returning home has brought a mixture of joy and grief over hardship in exile. Syrians lined up at the Turkish border on Wednesday to head home, speaking of their expectations for a better life following what was for many a decade of hardship in Turkey.
“We have no one here. We are going back to Latakia, where we have family,” said Mustafa as he prepared to enter Syria with his wife and three sons at the Cilvegozu border gate in southern Turkey. Dozens more Syrians were waiting to cross.
US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told Reuters Washington was still working out how it will engage with the former rebels. Washington remains cautious.
“We have seen over the years any number of militant groups who have seized power, who have promised that they would respect minorities, who have promised that they would respect religious freedom, promised that they would govern in an inclusive way, and then see them fail to meet those promises,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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