Syrian rebels said they seized control of the southern city of Daraa on Saturday, the birthplace of a 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and the fourth city his forces have lost in a week.

Rebel sources said the military agreed to make an orderly withdrawal from Daraa under a deal giving army officials safe passage to the capital Damascus, about 100 km (60 miles) north, Reuters reported.

Social media videos showed rebels on motorcycles and others mingling with residents on the streets. People fired shots into the air at the city's main square in celebration, according to the videos.

There was no immediate comment from the military or Assad's government, and Reuters could not independently verify the rebels' claim.

With the fall of Daraa, Assad's forces have surrendered four important centres to the insurgents in a week.

Daraa, which had a population of more than 100,000 before the civil war began 13 years ago, holds symbolic importance as the cradle of the uprising. It is the capital of a province of about 1 million people, bordering Jordan.

Daraa's seizure followed the rebels' claim late on Friday that they had advanced to the edge of the central city of Homs, a key crossroads between the capital and the Mediterranean coast.

Capturing Homs would cut off Damascus from the coastal stronghold of Assad's minority Alawite sect, and from a naval base and air base of his Russian allies there.

"Our forces have liberated the last village on the outskirts of the city of Homs and are now on its walls," the Syrian faction leading the sweeping assault said on the Telegram messaging app.

A coalition of rebel factions that include Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) made a last call on forces loyal to Assad's government in Homs to defect.

Ahead of the rebel advance, thousands of people fled Homs towards the coastal regions of Latakia and Tartus, strongholds of the government, residents and witnesses said.

ASSAD REGIME UNDER THREAT

A U.S.-backed alliance led by Syrian Kurdish fighters captured Deir el-Zor, the government's main foothold in the vast eastern desert, on Friday, three Syrian sources told Reuters.

The rebels seized Aleppo and Hama in the northwest and centre earlier in the lightning offensive that began on Nov. 27.

In another ominous sign for Assad in the east, the Syrian Kurdish force said Islamic State - a jihadist group that imposed martial law under its harsh rule before its defeat by a U.S.-led coalition in 2017 - had taken control of some areas in eastern Syria.

Aron Lund, a fellow at think-tank Century Foundation, said Assad's government was "fighting for their lives at this point".

It was possible the government could hold Homs, "but given the speed at which things have moved so far, I wouldn't count on it", he said on Friday.

Syrian state TV reported Russian-Syrian airstrikes targeting rebel headquarters in the countryside of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo killed at least 200 insurgents on Friday, citing the Russian Coordination Centre in Syria.

A Syrian army source said Iran-backed Hezbollah forces were positioned to bolster government defences in and near Homs.

Syrian state media reported dozens of rebels were killed in the Homs countryside on Friday in an operation by Syrian and Russian air forces, artillery, missiles and armoured vehicles.

Capturing Homs would solidify a chain of powerful positions under the rebels' control from Aleppo on the Turkish border in the north to Daraa on the Jordanian border to the south.

Gaining Homs would also increase the rebels' chances of isolating the seat of Assad's regime in Damascus with the ability to block the route northwest from the capital to the sea.

REBELS REENERGISED

As the rebels pressed their offensive, Russia and Jordan on Friday urged their nationals to leave Syria.

After years locked behind frozen front lines, rebel forces have burst out of their northwestern Idlib bastion to achieve the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since a street uprising against Assad mushroomed into civil war 13 years ago.

Syria's conflict killed more than 305,000 people between 2011 and 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Office said in 2022.

Assad regained control of most of Syria after key allies - Russia, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah - came to his rescue. But all have recently been weakened and diverted by other crises, giving Sunni Muslim militants a window to fight back.

Tehran, which has been focussed on tensions with arch-foe Israel since the Gaza war began last year, began to evacuate its military officials and personnel from Syria on Friday, a sign of Iran's inability to keep Assad in power, the New York Times reported, citing regional officials and three Iranian officials.

The head of the main rebel faction HTS, Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, vowed in a separate interview with the New York Times published on Friday that the insurgents could end Assad's rule.

"This operation broke the enemy," he said of the rebels’ lightning offensive.

Muhammad was the most popular name given to baby boys in England and Wales in 2023, ousting Noah to take the top spot, official figures showed on Thursday.

Muhammad had been among the 10 most popular names since 2016 and had been in second place in 2022, according to the annual list produced by the Office for National Statistics.

Oliver replaced George as the third most popular.

For baby girls, the top three most popular names in 2023 - Olivia, Amelia and Isla - were unchanged from the previous year.

The ONS said that the world of celebrity appeared to have influenced the increased popularity of some names, citing babies named Reign and Saint after those from the Kardashian-Jenner family and a rise in those sharing the names of pop musicians such as Billie Eilish.

However, it said names shared with members of the royal family, such as Charles, George, and Harry, were becoming less popular.

(Reuters)

Donald Trump's Middle East envoy has traveled to Qatar and Israel to kickstart the U.S. president-elect's diplomatic push to help reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal before he takes office on Jan. 20, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters.

Steve Witkoff, who will officially take up the position under Trump's administration, met separately in late November with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the source said.

Witkoff’s conversations appear aimed at building on nearly 14 months of unsuccessful diplomacy by the Biden administration, Qatar and Egypt aimed at a lasting ceasefire between Israel and militant group Hamas in Gaza and the release of dozens of Israeli hostages held in the enclave.

The meetings also signal that the Gulf state of Qatar has resumed as a key mediator after suspending its role last month, the source said.

The source added that Hamas negotiators would likely return to the Qatari capital Doha for more talks soon.

Biden's aides have been aware of Witkoff's contacts with Israeli, Qatari and other Middle East officials and understand that Trump's envoy supports a Gaza deal along the lines the administration has been pursuing, a U.S. official said.

The Biden administration, rather than Witkoff, retains the U.S. lead in efforts to revive negotiations towards a ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian security officials in Cairo on Sunday.

President Joe Biden's team has kept the Trump camp updated, but the two sides have not worked together directly, the U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Biden administration does not see a need to coordinate with Witkoff because it regards his discussions with regional players as largely an effort to learn the issues rather than negotiations, the official said.

Trump's transition team and representatives for Witkoff did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the meetings.

Trump warned on Monday there would be "hell to pay" in the Middle East if hostages held in the Gaza Strip were not released prior to his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Witkoff is a real estate investor and Trump campaign donor with business ties to Qatar and other Gulf states, but he has no prior diplomatic experience.

He met Sheikh Mohammed, who also serves as foreign minister, in Doha on Nov 22.

"Both agreed a Gaza ceasefire is needed before Trump's inauguration so that once the Trump administration takes office it can move onto other issues, like stabilizing Gaza and the region," said the source, who was briefed on Witkoff's meetings and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Witkoff met Netanyahu in Israel on Nov 23.

Qatar's foreign ministry and the Israeli prime minister's office did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Witkoff also met families of Israeli hostages, an Israeli official told Reuters.

He "spoke with them about Team Trump's efforts to try and broker the deal before inauguration," the official said.

Sheikh Mohammed traveled to Vienna on Nov. 24 to meet the director of Israel's Mossad spy agency David Barnea, who has led Israel's talks with Qatar over the last 14 months.

"There are plans for a subsequent round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas to take place potentially in Doha soon, but no specific date has been set," the source said.

Hamas' negotiating team left Doha in recent weeks, Qatari officials said, after Washington objected to their presence. That followed Hamas' rejection of a short-term ceasefire proposal after talks in mid-October.

The source said the Hamas' negotiators were likely to return to Doha for new talks.

Speaking about Trump's warning on Monday there would be "hell to pay" if hostages in Gaza were not released by his inauguration, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Reuters on Wednesday his comment was a "powerful reflection" of the urgency for a ceasefire and hostage deal among both Trump's Republicans and Biden's Democrats.

"We're going to pursue every avenue we can in the time that we have left to try to get the hostages back and to get a ceasefire. And I think the president-elect's statement reinforces that," Blinken said.