Syria – live: Israel hits Syrian ‘chemical weapon depots’ after Assad overthrown as Damascus prison searched

Former Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Jalali told Al Arabiya TV on Monday that he had agreed to hand over power to the rebel “Salvation Government”.

Rebel opposition fighters stormed the presidential palace in the capital Damascus on Sunday (8 December) after the fall of Syria’s government.

Footage shows the deserted palace with armed men inside. It also shows people walking out with appliances allegedly taken from the palace.

David Lammy has described the collapse of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government as a “humiliation for Russia and Iran”.

He added: “Iran’s so-called axis of resistance is crumbling before our eyes.

“Vladimir Putin’s attempts to prop-up Assad for more than a decade, and all he’s got for this is a fallen dictator filing for asylum in Moscow.”

David Lammy has described ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as the “rat of Damascus” in comments delivered to the House of Commons.

“There were those who used to call Assad the lion of Damascus,” Mr Lammy told the Commons.

“Now we see the reality: Assad is the rat of Damascus, fleeing to Moscow with his tails between his legs. How fitting he should end up there.

“We see streets of Syrians cheering his demise, tearing down his statues, reuniting with loved ones who have been disappeared.

“We have long hoped to see him gone, and welcome the opportunity this brings for the people of Syria.”

Thousands of desperate family members of people believed to be held in Syria’s notorious Saydnaya prison are waiting outside as search efforts continue.

Rumours circulated on Sunday and Monday that there were many people still trapped in hidden areas of the prison. The Syrian White Helmets have found “no evidence” of this, with one representative telling The Independent that there are “no prisoners left in Saydnaya”.

Search teams led by Syrian rebels and the White Helmets would occasionally reach a breakthrough – such as a hidden hallway – at which point gunshots would ring out, alerting the thousands waiting.

A crowd surged forward each time, with people hopeful that their loved ones may be discovered in the prison.

“My son, I’m coming, I’m coming,” screamed one woman according to Reuters news agency. “God, please don’t disappoint me,” said another.

US officials are communicating with Syria to seek information about an American journalist captured 12 years ago, a senior official said on Monday.

“This is a top priority for us – to find Austin Tice, to locate the prison where he may be held, get him out, get him home safely to his family,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC.

“We are talking through the Turks and others to people on the ground in Syria to say, ‘Help us with this. Help us get Austin Tice home.’”

Mr Tice was 31 when he was abducted in August 2012, while reporting in Damascus on the uprising against ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Joe Biden said on Sunday the US government believes Mr Tice is alive. “We think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence to that yet. And Assad should be held accountable. We have to identify where he is,” he said.

Mr Tice’s parents, Marc and Debra Tice, said in a statement: “Austin Tice is alive, in Syria, and it’s time for him to come home. We are eagerly anticipating seeing Austin walk free and we are asking anyone who can do so to please assist Austin so he can safely return home to our family.”

Our correspondent in the region, Bel Trew, has been speaking to Ibrahim Olabi, a native of Aleppo who has family there and is on the board of the Syrian British Consortium

“The entire world and Syrians alike see how historic this is… It is also extraordinary as it was really Syrian led.

“No one can come and claim foreign leadership – there is definitely foreign backing but it felt like a Syrian victory. it is a rare moment we have closed the 54 year chapter of oppression and opened a new one .

“There will be challenges of course but we will deal with it. In fact what you’re seeing is a political maturity because of the the last ten years, because they’ve seen what the fighting does, because they’ve seen that they cannot fully govern on their own, because they’ve seen what a proxy war does to you.They seen what the foreign interference does to you”.

Huge crowds have gathered at Saydnaya prison, the notorious Damascus prison known as a “human slaughterhouse” during the dictatorship of former president Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian civil defense group known as the White Helmets have been searching on Monday for possible hidden basements at the jail, where prisoners were said to be trapped.

But the group has as-yet found “no evidence” of the hidden basements during these searches, it said in an update on Monday afternoon. A representative of the group told The Independent that there are “no prisoners left in Saydnaya”.

One woman, Intsar al-Jaber, sat outside to wait for news during the search. Her brother and cousin had been imprisoned in Saydnaya, but she ws not permitted to see them since 2014. “They told me then that my brother was dead and not to come back. [They said] ‘Your brother is a terrorist, and he died, so there’s nothing for you here. Don’t come’,” she told Reuters news agency.