A lightning rebel offensive early this month caught Syria’s ruling clan off guard. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia on December 8, leaving behind many of his collaborators, some of whom sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

Israel is celebrating the fall of Assad because it breaks the noose that Iran had been patiently tightening around Israel’s borders in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. Tehran’s pincer is now broken and rendered useless. From the point of view of Israel’s wider conflict with the Islamic Republic, the collapse of Assad’s regime is a strategic victory.

Inside a stunning week across Syria following the overthrow of the Assad regime - FIRST PERSON: Bel Trew spent days travelling across Syria – from Aleppo in the north, to the capital Damascus and Deraa in the south – charting a nation coming to terms with the end of decades of brutal rule by the Assads.