Damascus falls to rebels after Syrian troops withdraw and president Bashar al-Assad leaves the country as his government collapses. Israel as a result invaded into the buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Fall of Damascus (2024)

2024 event in the Syrian civil war

On 7 December 2024, the Syrian opposition group known as the Southern Operations Room, in co-ordination with the Military Operations Command, led forces that entered the Rif Dimashq region of Syria from the south, and those forces then came within 20 kilometres (12 mi) of the…

Bashar al-Assad

President of Syria from 2000 to 2024

Bashar al-Assad is a Syrian former politician, military officer and dictator who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until his government was overthrown in 2024 after 13 years of civil war. As president, Assad was commander-in-chief of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces and…

Fall of the Assad regime

2024 end of Ba'athist rule in Syria

On 8 December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed during a major offensive by opposition forces. The offensive was spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported mainly by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army as part of the ongoing Syrian civil war that began with the…

Israeli invasion of Syria (2024–present)

Following the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024, Israel invaded the buffer zone in southwestern Syria and has continued to occupy it. Israel also carried out an aerial bombing campaign to cripple the new Syrian Armed Forces, and demanded that it stay out of southern…

Buffer zone

Intermediate region, typically between belligerent entities

A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types of buffer zones are demilitarized…

Golan Heights

Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967

The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in the north and Wadi Raqqad in the…

December 8

Day of the year

December 8 is the 342nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 23 days remain until the end of the year.