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

Rebel leader Ahmad al-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 - raising concerns over how inclusive Damascus' new rulers intend to be.

Rebel forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said they took control of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria. Israel said its extensive strikes were to prevent a future attack.

Now covered in ashes and empty bullet casings, the grand mausoleum of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's family stood in the eyes of rebels as a symbol of the injustice Syrians endured under their long rule.