Israel said Tuesday its army will remain in demilitarized zone in occupied Golan Heights ‘indefinitely’ - Anadolu Ajansı

New Damascus leadership says it's ready to cooperate with UN force, deploy troops to Golan to adhere to 1974 agreement that created a demilitarized zone Israel has now seized

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Almost 30% of the millions of Syrian refugees living in Middle Eastern countries want to return home in the next year, following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, up from almost none last year, the head of the U.N.'s refugee agency said.

A United Nations official called for all parties in Syria to cooperate without “unhelpful rhetoric” as talks continue between the Kurds in northeast Syria (Rojava) and the new leadership in Damascus.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), on Friday welcomed recent remarks from the United Nations envoy to Syria supporting talks between the SDF and the new administration in Damascus.

Syria's defence minister said Wednesday that Damascus was open to talks with Kurdish-led forces on their integration into the national army but stood ready to use force should negotiations fail."The door to negotiation with the (Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces) is currently open,

Syria’s Civil Defense has uncovered over two dozen charred bodies in two basements in rural Damascus, adding to the growing tally of mass graves discovered since the ousting of Bashar Assad.

Chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court Karim Khan met Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday, state media reported, as last month's ouster of Bashar al-Assad sparks hopes for justice.

Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria's new strongman since December 8, has been appointed as the country's interim president. He has been tasked with forming a "temporary" legislative council, whose mandate will last throughout the "transition period." This phase's duration was not specified.

Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani told the World Economic Forum in Davos that his country offered

In a pre-recorded speech, Sharaa vowed to "pursue the criminals who shed Syrian blood and committed massacres and crimes", whether they were in Syria or abroad, and to establish "real transitional justice" after Assad's fall.