Alsharq Tribune-AFP
Members of the Syrian government under ousted President Bashar al-Assad will gradually transfer power to a new transitional cabinet headed by Mohammed al-Bashir. The departing government met with al-Bashir for the first time since Assad fled Damascus over the weekend. Al-Bashir had previously led the "salvation government" running the opposition stronghold in northwest Syria.
He told reporters after the meeting that the ministers discussed transferring the portfolios to the interim government during the transitional period until the beginning of March.
He said that in the coming days the new government will decide on each ministry. Meanwhile, banks and shops were reopening in Damascus after the chaos and confusion of the first two days following Assad’s ouster.
Sadi Ahmad, manager of Syria Gulf Bank, said life is returning to normal. A customer who came to withdraw money from an ATM was surprised to see it functioning.
At the historic Hamadiyeh market, fighters who seized power were still standing guard but shops had reopened — even an ice cream stand.
Resident Maysoun Al-Qurabi said she was initially "against what happened," referring to the uprising, but changed her mind after seeing footage of rebels releasing inmates from the notorious Saydnaya prison.
"People are at ease and secure now," she said. "Before, people were hungry and scared."
Elsewhere, the United Nations said humanitarian operations in two major areas in northwestern Syria have resumed, deploying food, medical supplies, fuel and other needed services and supplies.
Spokesman Jens Laerke of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that some health facilities were "overwhelmed" – in part due to staff shortages – and many border crossings have been closed, disrupting supply chains.
OCHA said humanitarian operations in some parts of northwestern Syria were put on hold in the early days of the recent escalation and resumed on Monday.
"As of yesterday, all humanitarian organizations in Idlib and northern Aleppo have resumed operations," Laerke told reporters at a UN briefing in Geneva.
He said the three border crossings from Türkiye used by the UN to deliver assistance into Syria remain open and "we are providing assistance in the northwest, including to those who have been newly displaced."
Even before the latest escalation nearly 17 million people in Syria needed humanitarian assistance. More than 1 million have been displaced across Idlib, Aleppo, Hama and Homs since the escalation.
