Thousands of demonstrators in Damascus and other cities in Syria condemned deadly Israeli attacks on the country's south on Sunday during rallies marking the first anniversary of the start of the battle that led to the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Interim President Ahmad al-Shareh called on Syrians on Thursday evening to mark the start of the offensive by the Islamist coalition he led, which culminated in his seizure of power on December 8 last year.
Ahmad al-Shareh called on Syrians to "express joy" on the first anniversary of Assad's fall and to "show Syrian national unity."
The protests came hours after a bloody Israeli incursion into the village of Beit Jin, in which, according to authorities, 13 people were killed.
In Damascus, as well as in Aleppo, Homs, Hama (central Syria) and Latakia (western Syria), demonstrators chanted Islamist slogans under Syrian flags and in support of Shareh.
"Stop the Israeli aggression," "Beit Jinn makes us proud," read the banners of protesters in Damascus.
"Since we have defeated Bashar al-Assad, we will defeat Israel," Batoul Imadeddin, a 29-year-old protester in Damascus, told AFP.
On November 27, 2024, the rebel coalition launched a lightning offensive from its stronghold in Idlib, capturing major Syrian cities one after another and reaching Damascus, ending decades of Assad's rule.
"I am here to support my country, which represents me and the entire Syrian people without exception," Basel Azizi, a technician who demonstrated in Damascus, told AFP, adding that the demonstrators were paying tribute to "the martyrs of the Israeli attack."
A few days ago, protests against the new government took place in cities with Alawite majorities, the minority group from which Assad comes and which has been the target of attacks since his fall, and President Shareh acknowledged on Thursday that these protesters had "legitimate demands."
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