Christians in Syria mark country's transformation with tears as UN envoy urges an end to sanctions

DAMASCUS, Syria — In churches across long-stifled Syria, Christians marked the first Sunday services since the collapse of Bashar Assad 's government in an air of transformation. Some were in tears. Others clasped their hands in prayer.

''They are promising us that government will be formed soon and, God willing, things will become better because we got rid of the tyrant,'' said one worshiper, Jihad Raffoul, as the small Christian population hoped that new messages of inclusion would ring true.

''Today, our prayers are for a new page in Syria's future,'' said another, Suzan Barakat.

To help those efforts, the U.N. envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called for a quick end to Western sanctions as the rebel alliance that ousted Assad and sent him into exile in Russia a week ago considers the way forward.

Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the United States, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad's brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.

In another sign of yearning for normalcy, schools in Damascus reopened for the first time since Assad's ouster. At the Nahla Zaidan school in the Mezzah neighborhood, teachers hoisted the three-starred revolutionary flag.

''God willing, there will be more development, more security and more construction in this beloved country,'' said school director Maysoun Al-Ali.

Officials in Washington have indicated that the Biden administration is considering removing the terror designation from the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which was once an al-Qaida affiliate.

The interim government is set to rule until March. Arab foreign ministers have called for U.N.-supervised elections based on a new constitution.

''We need to get the political process underway that is inclusive of all Syrians,'' Pedersen said. He also called for justice and accountability for crimes committed during the war, as some families continued to search for the tens of thousands of people that Assad's government placed in prisons and detention facilities.

An emergency meeting this weekend with foreign ministers from the U.S., Arab League and Turkey and top officials from the European Union and U.N. agreed the new government in Syria should prevent terror groups — like remnants of the Islamic State group — from taking hold and secure and destroy any remaining Assad-era chemical weapons.

The meeting also urged all parties to cease hostilities in Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement released Sunday that ''we have no interest in conflict with Syria" and Israel's policy will follow "the emerging reality on the ground." He described Israeli military actions in the past week, including hundreds of airstrikes, as aimed at thwarting potential threats. Israel also has sent in ground troops, calling the incursion temporary but signaling the presence is open-ended.

For his part, HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa has said they don't intend to enter any conflict "because there is general exhaustion in Syria.''

Israel's government also approved Netanyahu's plan to encourage population growth in the Golan Heights, which Qatar quickly called ''a new episode in a series of Israeli aggressions on Syrian territories and a blatant violation of international law.''

Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it, though the international community except for the U.S. regards it as occupied. Israeli figures show the remote territory is home to about 50,000 people, about half of them Jewish Israelis and the other half Arab Druze, many of whom still consider themselves Syrians.

‘More respect' for Syria's minority groups

Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria's civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of Islamist insurgents. Last Sunday's church services were canceled.

''We were scared of the events taking place,'' said Ibrahim Shahin, a Catholic church supervisor.

But this Sunday, doors reopened and bells rang out.

''Now we see that for the minorities, on the contrary, they are showing us more respect, and they are taking care of us,'' said Agop Bardakijian, a Christian resident of Aleppo at a bustling cafe. Children posed for photos in front of Christmas trees.

Residents had been warned of slaughter as the rebels closed in, but nothing like that has happened, said another Aleppo resident who gave his name as Raed, adding, ''The revolution should have happened long ago.''

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Associated Press writers Abdulrahman Shaheen and Sally Abou AlJoud in Damascus, Syria; Omar Sandiki in Husseiniyeh, Syria; and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, contributed to this report.

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