Sharaa's Islamist group is stamping its authority on Syria's state with the same lightning speed that it seized the country, deploying police, installing an interim government and meeting foreign envoys.

Images show the fighters standing next to the burning gravesite of Hafez al-Assad in the former president's hometown.

Syria's brutal civil war rekindled suddenly after 13 years, with rebels staging a shock offensive that forced long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia.

Israeli ships destroyed the Syrian military fleet Monday night in a campaign to eliminate strategic threats, the defence minister said.

While Syria celebrates overthrowing its longtime dictator, it is also being subjected to a new ground incursion and a wave of airstrikes from its neighbor Israel that drew growing international condemnation and concern Tuesday.