Rebel forces in Syria captured the capital Damascus and toppled the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.
As Assad resigned and fled Syria, rebel forces moved into Damascus as citizens celebrated there and in the streets of Aleppo, where the rebel offensive began 11 days ago.
Meanwhile, the ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group.
The Israel Defense Forces continued its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the devastated Palestinian territory.
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides.
Rebel forces in Syria said they were advancing into the capital Damascus after capturing four other cities in the past 24 hours as a lightning advance by insurgents continued, threatening President Bashar al-Assad's grip on power.
In the early hours of Sunday morning local time, the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, said on the Telegram messaging app, that rebel forces had entered Damascus and reached Sednaya prison, a government facility dubbed the "human slaughterhouse" by the human rights group Amnesty International.
Overall, the insurgent group claimed credit for taking control of four other Syrian cities over the past day -- Homs, Daraa, Queinetra and Sweida -- in a series of rapid advances.
Dec 07, 2024, 2:05 PM EST
Hamas releases video of hostage
Hamas has released a propaganda Saturday video featuring an Israeli hostage, Matan Zangauker, speaking to the camera.
The video was similar to the one released last week featuring American Israeli hostage Edan Alexander.
In this April 18, 2024, file photo, a woman holds a sign identifying Matan Zangauker (24), one of the hostages taken captive by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip during the October 7 attacks, during a demonstration by hostages' relatives and supporters outside the Kirya base which houses the Israeli defence ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Zangauker, was taken captive from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, along with his partner Ilana Gritzewsky Camhi, according to the advocacy group Hostage Families Forum. Camhi was released last year as part of a hostage deal, Hostage Families Forum said.
"The release of Matan's video, coming just one week after Edan Alexander's, provides further evidence that after more than 420 days in captivity, there are hostages still alive and enduring severe suffering. Through these 420 days of ongoing abuse, malnutrition, and confinement in darkness, the critical need to secure the return of all 100 remaining hostages becomes more urgent with each passing hour," the group said in a statement.
Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan Zangauer, an Israeli hostage taken by Palestinian militants in the October 7 attack, takes part in a demonstration with friends and supporters calling for his release and that of other hostages in Tel Aviv, on Dec. 7, 2024.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
Zangauker's mother, Einav, echoed this request in a statement.
"Any deal that does not return everyone is a death sentence for the rest. Netanyahu: End the war, bring everyone back!!!" she said.
-ABC News' Savir Zyara and Victoria Beaulé
Dec 05, 2024, 7:40 AM EST
Israel kills 48 Palestinians in Gaza in 24 hours, officials say
The Israel Defense Forces conducted five strikes across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours that killed 48 Palestinians and injured 201 more, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which oversees the territory run by Hamas.
Palestinian men cry as bodies of victims of an Israeli strike in Gaza City's Daraj neighborhood are brought to a hospital, on Dec. 5, 2024.
Omar Al-qattaa/AFP via Getty Images
-ABC News' Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti
Dec 05, 2024, 4:15 AM EST
Amnesty accuses Israel of 'genocide' in Gaza
Amnesty International released a new report Thursday accusing Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip amid its ongoing war with Hamas.
Israel, Amnesty alleged, has sought to intentionally destroy Palestinians via direct attacks, the destruction of vital infrastructure and the prevention of food, medicine and other aid deliveries.
A boy stands on the rubble of a building after an Israeli strike in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Dec. 5, 2024.
Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images
Israeli conduct, the report suggested, cannot be justified by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, or the presence of Palestinian militants among civilians in Gaza.
"Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now," Agnes Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, said.
Israel's Foreign Ministry rejected the report as "fabricated," "entirely false and based on lies." In a statement to X, the ministry said Amnesty was a "deplorable and fanatical organization."
"The genocidal massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, was carried out by the Hamas terrorist organization against Israeli citizens," the ministry wrote. "Since then, Israeli citizens have been subjected to daily attacks from seven different fronts."
"Israel is defending itself against these attacks acting fully in accordance with international law," it added.
The ministry also shared an image of a bloodied room which it said was a photo of a child's bedroom immediately after Oct. 7. The image, the ministry said, "tells you everything you need to know about Amnesty's report."
