Syrian rebels say they have reached the city limits of Homs, taken over Daraa

Syrian rebels reached the city limits of Homs, making a last call for Syrian forces to defect, rebels said on Telegram.

In a parallel setback for Assad, a US-backed alliance led by Syrian Kurdish fighters took Deir el-Zor, the government's main foothold in the vast desert in the east of the country, three Syrian sources told Reuters on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Assad was still in Syria on Friday. His children and his wife went to Russia last week, and other members of his family left for the United Arab Emirates, Syrian and Arab officials told the WSJ.

The sources said that Egyptian and Jordanian officials are imploring Assad to form a government in exile. 

If Islamist insurgents captured Homs in their lightning new offensive, it would cut off the capital Damascus from the coast, a longtime redoubt of Assad's minority Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval base and air base.

Syrian rebel factions said on Saturday that they took over the southern city of Daraa after they reached a deal with the army to secure its orderly withdrawal, rebel sources said.

They said senior security and army officials serving in the city were given safe passage to Damascus.

Middle east in a flux state

In a further setback for Assad, a US-backed alliance led by Syrian Kurdish fighters has taken Deri el-Zor, the government's main foothold in the vast desert east of the country, three Syrian sources told Reuters on Friday.

After years locked behind frozen front lines, rebel forces have burst out of their northwestern Idlib bastion to achieve the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since a street uprising against Assad mushroomed into civil war 13 years ago.

The head of the Syrian faction leading the sweeping assault told CNN that his group - a former Al-Qaeda affiliate now known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - aimed to "build Syria" and bring Syrian refugees back home from Lebanon and Europe.

It was Abu Mohammed Al-Golani's first interview since his group began seizing territory from Assad's forces on Nov. 27. 

HTS broke from Al-Qaeda in 2016, says it poses no threat to the West and has spent years trying to moderate its image, presenting itself as a viable alternative to the Assad family's 54-year authoritarian rule.

Saudi news channel Al Hadath reported that the rebels' advance came without any significant resistance, meaning they had successfully entered the towns of Talbiseh and Rastan in the Homs countryside and captured them.

The rebels' sweep has taken the region by surprise and emboldened other opponents of Assad. Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghany urged top military officers to defect, in a video statement aired on Friday.

Piling on the pressure, two Syrian army sources said the alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had swept through the nearby Albu Kamal border crossing with Iraq.

In southern Deraa province, Syrian local fighters and former rebels overran one of the main army bases, known as Liwa 52, near Herak town as fighting spread to the southern border with Jordan, two rebel sources told Reuters on Friday.

They also seized parts of the Nassib border crossing with Jordan near the customs section, where dozens of trailers and passenger cars were stranded, sources added.

A senior Iranian official meanwhile said Tehran, which has been focused on tensions with arch-foe Israel since the Gaza war began, would send missiles, drones, and more advisers to Syria.

"It is likely that Tehran will need to send military equipment, missiles and drones to Syria...Tehran has taken all necessary steps to increase the number of its military advisers in Syria and deploy forces," the senior Iranian official said on condition of anonymity.

"Now, Tehran is providing intelligence and satellite support to Syria."

Hezbollah sent a small number of "supervising forces" from Lebanon to Syria overnight to help prevent anti-government fighters from seizing Homs, two senior Lebanese security sources told Reuters. However, Hezbollah has been notably weakened in the past several months after extensive IDF operations in southern Lebanon. 

Concerns in Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened a discussion on the situation in Syria, following discussions between Defense Minister Israel Katz, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and senior IDF General Staff officials.

According to KAN, there is concern in Israel's security establishment that the rebels will reach southern Syria, before arriving at the Israeli border in the Golan Heights. 

Israel is also concerned that it does not see any significant resistance from Assad's army, leading to fears that Syrian military weapons will fall into the hands of the rebels, which could also fall into the hands of Hezbollah. 

The Israeli military said it was reinforcing aerial and ground forces in the Golan Heights in southwest Syria and was prepared for all scenarios, Reuters reported. 

On Thursday night, the IAF conducted strikes on Hezbollah's weapon-smuggling routes near the Syrian regime’s crossings at the Syrian-Lebanese border. The IDF said it will not tolerate threats near the Lebanon-Syria border and will thwart any threat against the State of Israel.

Arab world 

Arab social media on Friday morning circulated footage of the rebels in Syria approaching Homs, the country's third-largest city. 

Good morning from a free Talbisah, just 10km north of Homs city!Yesterday, Talbisah and Al-Rastan were freed from within. Brave locals armed themselves and ousted Assad’s forces, reclaiming their towns. We are now in a hardcore anti-Assad territories. Homs battle will be easier. pic.twitter.com/PCD1tGKZJI

— Mazen Hassoun (@HassounMazen) December 6, 2024

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday he hoped Syrian rebels will continue their advances against President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria.

Speaking to reporters after Friday prayers, Erdogan said he had still not received a positive response from Assad to a call he made earlier this year to meet and normalize ties.

"The advances of the opposition are continuing as of now... Our hope is that this walk in Syria continues without any issues," he said

HTS rebels said they had also taken over the towns of Talbisa and Rastan, bringing them within miles (km) of Homs.

The Syrian military said there was no truth to reports it had withdrawn from Homs, saying in a statement it was deployed along "steady and solid defense lines" there.

A resident of Homs earlier said the offices of Syria's main security branches there had emptied, with members exiting the city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said thousands of people had begun fleeing from Homs on Thursday night towards the Mediterranean coastal regions of Latakia and Tartus, strongholds of the government.

A coastal resident said thousands of people had begun arriving there from Homs, fearing the rebels' rapid advance.

Wasim Marouh, a Homs resident who decided not to leave, said most of its main commercial streets were largely desertedwhile pro-government militia groups patrolled the area.

Rebels led by HTS have sought to capitalize on their swift takeover of Aleppo in the north and Hama in west-central Syria by pressing onwards to Homs, another 40 km (24 miles) south.

A rebel operations room urged Homs residents in an online post to rise up, saying: "Your time has come."

Russian bombing overnight destroyed the Rastan bridge along the M5 highway, the main route to Homs, to prevent rebels using it to advance, a Syrian army officer told Reuters.

Government forces were bringing reinforcements to positions around Homs, he added.