Hundreds of students at Damascus University trampled on a statue of one of Syria’s former rulers on Sunday, expressing jubilation as they returned to class a week after rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad.
“The atmosphere is extraordinary. Everyone is happy – look at how joyful people are,” said medical student Rinad Abdallah, 18.
Ali Allaham, dean of the arts faculty, told AFP that courses resumed Sunday with around 80 percent of staff and “a large number” of students.
In the courtyard, hundreds of students gathered, chanting revolutionary slogans and brandishing the three-starred independence flag, a symbol of the uprising that began in 2011.
“We’ve waited a really long time for this moment,” said Yasmine Shehab, 29, an English literature student.
Now, “there is no longer this statue that was oppressing us with its presence”, she said.
“We finally feel free! We can finally say what we think without fear,” added Shehab, expressing confidence in Syria’s future.
“There will be a place for all the communities who will go forward, hand in hand,” she said.
Meanwhile, Israel has carried out at least 61 strikes across Syria on Saturday and throughout Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
The UK-based monitor said military warehouses in Homs, Deraa, Suweida and the Qalamoun mountains near Damascus were struck, while air defences at the Hama airport were also targeted.
The invasion came amid the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which saw the surrender of Syrian army positions after the rebel offensive swept through swathes of the country.
This comes after Israeli forces wreaked havoc in the town of Quneitra, close to the Israeli border, reportedly destroying its streets and cutting off water supply works and electricity poles. The Israeli army ordered also residents out of the area on Sunday.
In Gaza, Israeli troops killed at least 20 Palestinians, most of them in the north, after airstrikes and other attacks on targets that included a school sheltering displaced Gazans.
They said at least 11 of the dead were killed in three separate Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City houses. The others were killed in the towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia camp.
Residents said clusters of houses were bombed and some set ablaze in the three towns. The Israeli army has been operating in the towns for over two months.
