Syria swears in new transitional government months after Assad's removal
Damascus, Syria
AP —
Syria's new transitional government was sworn on Saturday, March 29 nearly four months after the Assad family was removed from power and as the new authorities in Damascus work to bring back stability to the war-torn country.
The 23-member Cabinet, which is religiously and ethnically mixed, is the first in the country's five-year transitional period and replaces the interim government that was formed shortly after Bashar Assad was removed from power in early December.
The Cabinet does not have a prime minister since according to the temporary constitution signed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa earlier this month, the government will have a secretary general.
The government that was announced ahead of Eid el-Fitr, the feast that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that starts in Syria on Monday, March 31, includes new faces apart from the ministers of foreign affairs and defense. They kept the posts they held in the interim government. Syria's new Interior Minister Anas Khattab was until recently the head of the intelligence department.
'The formation of a new government today is a declaration of our joint will to build a new state,' al-Sharaa said in a speech marking the formation of the government.
Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said his main goal will be to build a professional army 'from the people and for the people.'
The government did not include members of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces or the autonomous civil administration in northeast Syria. Al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi signed a breakthrough deal earlier this month in Damascus on a nationwide ceasefire and the merging of the US-backed force into the Syrian army.
Among the new ministers whose names were announced late Saturday night were Hind Kabawat, a Christian activist who was opposed to Assad since the conflict began in March 2011. Kabawat was named minister of minister of social affairs and labor.
Another minister is Raed Saleh, who for years headed the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as White Helmets, and was named minister for emergency disasters. A Damascus-based Syrian Kurd, Mohammed Terko was named minister of education.
Mohammed al-Bashir, who has headed Syria's interim government since Assad's fall, was named minister of energy whose main mission will be to restore the electricity and oil sectors that were badly damaged during the conflict.
The new government's main mission is to try to end the war and bring stability to the country that witnessed clashes and revenge killings earlier this month in the coastal region that is home to members of the minority Alawite sect. The violence left more than 1,000 people, mostly Alawites, dead. Assad is an Alawite.
Most of Syria's insurgent groups now running the country are Sunnis, but the presence of members of minority sects, including one woman and members of minority sects including an Alawite, is a message from al-Sharaa to Western countries that have been demanding that women and minorities be part of Syria's political process.
The announcement of a religiously mixed government aims to try to convince Western countries to lift crippling economic sanctions that were imposed on Assad more than a decade ago. The UN says that 90% of Syrians are below the poverty line, while millions face cuts in food aid as a result of the war.
Hours before the government was announced, the US State Department cautioned U.S. citizens of the increased possibility of attacks during the Eid el-Fitr holiday, which it said could target embassies, international organizations and Syrian public institutions in Damascus. It added that methods of attack could include, but are not limited to, individual attackers, armed gunmen, or the use of explosive devices.
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Videos capture deadly chaos When GHF announced its distribution plans for Sunday, the instructions were direct: only one aid site would be open starting at 5:00 a.m., and the IDF would be present in the area to secure passage on a designated route. It also warned – albeit after gunfire reportedly already erupted – that the Israeli military would be 'active' in the area ahead of the site's opening. 'Using the passage before 5:00 a.m. is prohibited, as we were informed by the military that it will be active in the area before and after the specified safe hours,' the GHF said in a release on Facebook at 4 a.m. 'We remind all residents to stay on the road — straying from it poses a significant danger.' Having endured an 11-week Israeli blockade of humanitarian aid, thousands of desperate Palestinians began making their way down Al-Rasheed Street in hopes of being among the first to reach the aid site – the only one operating in all of Gaza that day – before the limited supplies ran out. 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The Palestinian health ministry said that more than 200 casualties reached hospitals, including dozens with serious injuries. It added that all of those killed had been shot in the head or chest. The International Committee of the Red Cross said that its nearby field hospital was overwhelmed by patients, describing the carnage as the 'highest number of weapon-wounded in a single incident' since it opened over a year ago. Other dead and wounded were taken to Nasser Hospital. 'It's difficult to describe what we saw with the young and the old, there was severe injuries to the head, severe injuries to the lung,' recalled Dr. Ahmad Abou-Sweid, an Australian working at the Nasser medical complex. 'There was a heavy proportion of head-targeted injuries from bullet wounds.' Doctors working at Nasser Hospital shared photos with CNN of the bullets retrieved from patients injured and killed in the attack, which weapons experts say appear to match the type of ammunition used in the Israeli military's machine guns. 'This bullet is consistent with the NATO standard 7.62mm M80, which would be fired by IDF 7.62x51mm weapons, including the Negev 7.62 and FN MAG,' Ball said of one of the images. A bullet pulled by doctors from a patient at Nasser Hospital in Sunday's shooting near the GHF aid site. A weapons expert said it was consistent with ammunition used in the Israeli military's machine guns. Obtained by CNN GHF, which runs the site, insisted: 'There was no gunfire in the (distribution) center and also not in the surrounding area.' 'All aid was distributed today without incident. We have heard that these fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas. They are untrue and fabricated.' The IDF said allegations that Israeli soldiers fired on Gazans near or within the aid distribution site were 'false reports.' It added: 'Findings from an initial inquiry indicate that the IDF did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false.' An Israeli military source told CNN that IDF troops did fire warning shots towards suspects approaching their position approximately a kilometer (1,100 yards) away from the aid distribution site in an incident that happened several hours before the site opened. Ihab Musleh told CNN he had taken his two young sons along to the aid distribution center. When he told them to stay put at a nearby hill as he went inside the site, he heard more gunfire and rushed back out. Yazeed, 13, was shot in the stomach by gunfire from an Israeli tank and survived his injuries, according to his dad. 'He was waving his hands towards the tank and within seconds, he was hit with gunfire and fell to the ground,' Musleh said, speaking to CNN from the hospital where his son was being treated. Other witnesses told CNN they were either injured or saw intense gunfire in the area after the aid site opened. Mohammad Abu Rezeq was shot in the stomach upon arriving at Al-Alam where he said Israeli forces were deliberately targeting the crowd. 'I have seen a lot of soldiers in this war. When they want to clear an area or warn you, they shoot around you. But yesterday, they were shooting to kill us,' Abu Rezeq said. CNN asked the IDF about the claim from witnesses that its troops were firing directly at crowds, shooting to kill, but it gave no further comment beyond its published statement. Not an isolated incident The chaos in the early hours of Sunday morning was not an isolated incident. In consecutive days since, Palestinians attempting to reach the GHF's aid distribution sites have come under fire by the Israeli military. After the intense gunfire near the Al-Alam roundabout on Sunday, GHF's Facebook posts included updated maps of the safe route for the following days. The new maps included a large, red stop sign at Al-Alam. On Tuesday, nearly 30 people were killed and dozens wounded while making their way to the aid sites in Tel al-Sultan in Rafah, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and Nasser Hospital. The Israeli military said that its forces opened fire multiple times after identifying 'several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated access routes.' 'The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops,' the IDF said in a statement, adding they were looking into reports of casualties. While the Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots in the area three days in a row, posts from GHF's Facebook page show the organization works in close coordination with the IDF to establish safe, defined routes. A Palestinian man carries an empty box of relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation near the group's distribution point in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Sunday, June 1, 2025. AFP/Getty Images GHF was set up amid Israeli accusations that Hamas is stealing aid in Gaza and profiting from sales, though Israel hasn't presented any evidence publicly to back up the claim. UN aid groups, such as UNRWA, typically check identification and rely on a database of registered families when distributing aid. But GHF is not screening Palestinians at aid distribution sites, despite Israeli officials saying that additional security measures were a core reason for the creation of the new program. UN aid agencies have criticized GHF's aid mechanism, saying it violates humanitarian principles and raises the risks for Palestinians. Criticism has been mounting against both Israel and GHF after chaos broke out last week when tens of thousands of starving Palestinians arrived at two new food distribution sites. The UN's humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, was scathing in his assessment to the UN Security Council late last month. 'It restricts aid to only one part of Gaza, while leaving other dire needs unmet,' he said. 'It makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip. It is cynical sideshow. A deliberate distraction. A fig leaf for further violence and displacement.' Video edited by Oscar Featherstone in London. Tareq Al Hilou in Gaza contributed to this report.
