_________UPDATE_________
RT.com reports two items:
Assad in Moscow – Russian media
Netanyahu claims credit for overthrowing Assad
The second item states -
”This is a historic day in the history of the Middle East,” he said in a video statement. “The Assad regime is a central link in Iran’s axis of evil: this regime has fallen.”
“This is a direct result of the blows we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, the main supporters of the Assad regime,” he continued, claiming that Israel’s strikes on Iran and military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon hampered their ability to reinforce Assad’s troops against the terrorist advance.
”This has created a chain reaction throughout the Middle East of all those who want to be free from this oppressive and tyrannical regime,” he added.
HTS forces launched a surprise offensive against the Syrian Army in the northern Idlib and Aleppo provinces late last month, and quickly seized a number of key cities along the road south to Damascus. From the outset, Assad’s government maintained that the jihadists’ ranks were swelled by large numbers of foreign fighters, while the Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that the terrorists had received training from Ukrainian military intelligence.
While it is unclear whether al-Jolani coordinated with the US and Israel prior to the assault, former US Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey described HTS in 2021 as “an asset” of Washington, while Jolani himself has insisted that his fight is not with the West, but with Assad and Iran.