KUWAIT CITY, Dec 10, (Agencies): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has voiced Kuwait’s strong condemnation and denunciation of Israeli forces’ occupation of the buffer zone on the Syrian border. In a statement, the Ministry said the move is a flagrant violation of international laws and the UN Security Council resolutions that stress the necessity of respecting Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. In addition, the Ministry underlined the need for the international community to assume its responsibilities to put an end to the series of Israeli occupation forces’ attacks on the region’s countries, and to hold the perpetrators accountable, in the preservation of regional and international security and peace, the statement concluded.

In the latest development, the new Syrian administration has named Mohammad Al-Bashir as the country’s caretaker prime minister for a transitional period lasting until March of next year, local media reported on Tuesday. The appointment comes after extensive talks between Syrian rebel groups, who seized the capital Damascus on Sunday, to discuss the “transfer of power,” it added. Syrian rebels stormed Damascus after taking over several key Syrian cities, declaring the capital “liberated” in a statement carried on state television, subsequently ousting President Bashar al-Assad, who was granted asylum in Russia on humanitarian grounds, Moscow said.

Meanwhile, Israel carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes across Syria as its troops advanced deeper into the country, a Syrian opposition war monitor said Tuesday. Israel denied its forces were advancing toward Damascus after they pushed into a buffer zone inside Syria following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad. Associated Press reporters in the capital heard heavy airstrikes overnight and into Tuesday on the city and its suburbs. Photographs circulating online showed destroyed missile launchers, helicopters and warplanes. There was no immediate comment from the insurgent groups - led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS - that have taken control of much of the country. Their lightning advance brought an end to the Assad family’s half-century rule after nearly 14 years of civil war.

There are concerns over what comes next. Life in the capital is slowly returning to normal after the overthrow of Assad, who fled the country over the weekend and has been granted political asylum in Russia. Private banks reopened on instructions from the Central Bank, said Sadi Ahmad, who runs a branch in the upscale Abu Rummaneh neighborhood. He said all his employees returned to work. Shops also reopened in the city’s ancient Hamidiyeh market, where armed men and civilians could be seen buying things like perfume and ice cream. A clothing shop owner, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said he hoped vendors would no longer have to pay bribes to security officials. At Bakdash, a famous ice cream shop, a poster outside read: “Welcome to the rebels of free Syria. Long live free Syria.”