The Syrian rebel group, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), announced on Wednesday that it has strengthened its control over eastern Syria as it works to create a new political system in the country.

Former HTS-backed governor of Syria's Idlib province, Mohammed al-Bashir, announced he will be the country's interim prime minister until March with the support of the rebel coalition. "Stability and calm" are needed, Bashir told Al Jazeera. Rebel forces claimed on Wednesday that they have taken control of Deir al-Zour, the largest city in eastern Syria. The Washington Post has not been able to confirm this claim yet. Since Sunday, rebels have controlled the capital, Damascus, where they are now working to bring stability to the anxious residents.

Following the overthrow of Assad, Israel increased its aerial assaults throughout Syria, claiming on Tuesday that it has carried out 350 airstrikes since Sunday, damaging missile and weaponry installations and essentially destroying the Syrian navy. Rather than reacting to an immediate threat, Israeli officials have characterised the strikes as a step to keep Syrian weaponry out of the wrong hands and to defend Israel against an assault in the future.

US-backed Kurdish forces said early Wednesday that they agreed to withdraw from the northern Syrian city of Manbij following a US mediation effort, after fighting Turkish-backed forces for control of the city. The Post could not immediately verify the claims. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington backs a “Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition” that results in an inclusive and nonsectarian government that supports minorities’ rights, in the first remarks indicating the Biden administration’s hopes to influence discussion over Syria’s future.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “dismantling Iran’s axis of evil” in a Wednesday speech at the Knesset. Israel’s expanded airstrikes across Syria have added another dimension to the fast-moving situation in the country.

Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada, 47, who escaped to Europe during the civil war before returning in 2020, was confirmed dead. Relatives identified his body among around 40 corpses wrapped in bloodied sheets and dumped in a Damascus suburb. Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, visited Syria and Iraq on Tuesday. He met with some of the 800 US troops stationed in Syria and with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Iraq.