[6] On 27 November 2024, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) announced that it had launched an offensive, dubbed "Deterrence of Aggression," against pro-government forces in western Aleppo Governorate.

[16] On 7 December, Southern Operations Room forces advanced into the Rif Dimashq Governorate from the south, reaching within 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) of Damascus.

The capture of Damascus marked the end of the Assad family's rule, which had governed Syria as a hereditary sectarian totalitarian regime since Hafez al-Assad assumed power in 1971 following a coup d'état.

[21] As a rebel coalition moved closer to Damascus, reports indicated that Bashar al-Assad had fled the capital by plane to Russia, where he joined his exiled family and was granted political asylum by the Russian government.

Al-Jalali announced in a social media video that he planned to stay in Damascus and cooperate with the Syrian people while expressing hope that Syria could become "a normal country" and begin to engage in diplomacy with other nations.

[27] Hadi al-Bahra, president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, said that an 18-month transitional period was needed to establish "a safe, neutral, and quiet environment" for free elections.

Registration with the Damascus Chambers of Commerce would be considered sufficient authorization to import goods, and the previously required approvals and permissions from the Central Bank of Syria (CBS) would no longer be needed.

In late January 2025, Basel Abdul Hannan also stated that the Interim Government was planning a shift to a "competitive free-market economy" through the abolition of regulations, mass privatization of state-owned companies and public sector cuts.

[55] The Minister for Oil and Mineral Resources told employees to return to work the same day, with Deutsche Welle stating that the ministry had added "protection would be provided to ensure their safety".

[56] The Minister for Transport said that Syrian airspace would be reopened to air traffic and added that it would announce the resumption of Damascus and Aleppo international airports.

[59] On 18 December the CBS said that ATM and electronic payment services were resumed, and directed banks to monitor withdrawal operations for what it said were temporary measures.

Mohammad Yasser Ghazal, a technocrat from the Syrian Salvation Government, was appointed to oversee the restructuring of the Damascus governorate, with plans to serve as city council president.

[61] The transitional government includes numerous senior officials from Idlib governorate, which Reuters said raised concerns about inclusiveness from among opposition sources.

Policemen from Idlib were brought to Damascus to direct traffic,[62] while on 13 December the transitional government's Military Operations Command declared a curfew in Homs Governorate.

[63] In late January 2025, five interim ministers interviewed by Reuters introduced plans to, among several other measures intended to 'shrink the state', fire a third of all public sector workers while sending others on leave while their employment status is being 're-evaluated'.

All constituent members of the National Progressive Front, a coalition of 11 political parties and various other organizations that supported the previous government, have also been dissolved, and any attempt to reform them has been banned.

[68][69] After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the governments of Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Turkey, Italy and France resumed diplomatic missions in Syria.

[71] The new government met diplomats from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the European Union in the days immediately following the fall of the al-Assad regime.

This was criticized by the former head German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Volker Perthes, according to whom the refusal of handshakes with women is uncommon in Syria's tradition and is typically only seen by very conservative Islamist figures, such as those in Iran and Saudi Arabia.

[89] Previously, the interim authority under HTS was reported by the Institute for the Study of War in mid-December to have joined Turkey in attempting to coerce the SDF to disarm and abandon their autonomy.

According to Reuters, the fighters were generally of Islamist Jihadist leanings, including a member of the Turkistan Islamic Party, a group listed by the UN as a terrorist organization.

Reuters quoted an HTS source, according to which the promotions were a "small token of recognition for the sacrifices Islamic jihadists gave to our struggle for freedom".

[93] In an interview with A Haber, Ahmed al-Sharaa stated that the Kurdish forces are the only side that didn't respond to the new administration's call to disarm and restrict arms to the authority, saying that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) haven't accepted the call to disarm yet, even though they were invited to join the new ministry of defense.

al-Sharaa also added that the People's Defense Units (YPG) didn't respond to the calls to disarm, he also accused the PKK of exploiting the issue of the Islamic State prisons for its gain.

[94] The Minister for Information Mohammad al-Omar was quoted on the first day of 2025 by Agence France-Presse saying: "We are working to consolidate freedoms of the press and expression that were severely restricted".

[95] Immediately following the Fall of Damascus, HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa vowed to "hunt down and punish" senior officials of the previous regime, who he deems to be implicated in "torturing the Syrian people".

The video, shot in 2015, appears to show al-Waisi, then a member of the Al-Nusra Front, organizing and taking part in a public execution in Idlib of two women accused of "corruption and prostitution" under Sharia law.

Leaders of the Southern Operations Room met with al-Sharaa on 11 December and expressed interest in "coordination", a "unified effort", and "cooperation" without stating that they would support the HTS transitional government.

[115] On 29 December 2024, Ahmed al-Sharaa stated in a televised interview that SDF forces would be integrated into Syria's Ministry of Defense and that negotiations were underway.

[122][123] On 12 February, Minister for Foreign Affairs Asaad al-Shaibani announced that a new government would be formed by 1 March, which "will represent the Syrian people as much as possible and take its diversity into account".