Syria updates: Rebel leader vows to pursue Assad officials 'involved in war crimes'

• Israel faced condemnation after it launched a wave of airstrikes and a ground advance into Syrian territory, which it said were temporary and defensive, in the wake of President Bashar al-Assad being overthrown.
• Syria’s main rebel leader has vowed to hold Assad regime officials involved in torture accountable, saying they would be named and that rewards would be offered for those “involved in war crimes.”
• Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, head of the globally designated terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), made the statement as a close ally was named the country’s caretaker prime minister for a transition government until March.
• The Biden administration says it is considering removing HTS from its list of terrorist organizations.
• Jolani’s extremist past raises questions about his future role in Syria after his fighters led the rapid offensive that toppled Assad and sent him fleeing to Moscow.
• Families and rescue teams rushed to a notorious Damascus prison where civil defense workers said they found no evidence of detainees held underground. Many Syrians who disappeared under Assad emerged to reunite with their loved ones, while others still remain missing.

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