Mohammad Ghazi Al-Jalali recounts the final hours before the fall of the Assad regime
Mohammad Ghazi Al-Jalali, the former Syrian Prime Minister and the last person to hold the post under Bashar al-Assad, presents an inside account of the moment of collapse, revealing details of the final hours and days that preceded the fall of the Syrian regime.
Al-Jalali offers a candid description of the nature of power during Assad’s rule, explaining that governance was highly authoritarian and centralized in the hands of the president. The role of the prime minister and ministers, he says, was largely limited to service and administrative matters, without real participation in political decision-making or in the meetings of the political committee. He adds that ministers did not even possess the president’s personal phone number, and communication was conducted exclusively through the presidential palace.
Just one day before the fall, Al-Jalali says he had become convinced that the regime had effectively collapsed, amid a complete military breakdown and a sharp decline in the morale of the Syrian army, which had been suffering from severe financial hardship and long-term exhaustion.
He also describes the disintegration of communication channels within state institutions, revealing that he had lost contact with both the defense and foreign ministers, while maintaining direct communication with the interior minister and several provincial governors on the evening of December 7.
Al-Jalali recounts scenes of mass displacement from the city of Homs toward the Syrian coast, along with the departure of officers and officials from the Alawite community. This unfolded alongside the gradual collapse of security institutions, which he says had been structured around sectarian networks and informal channels for exchanging information, before experiencing a complete breakdown on December 7.
On December 7, 2024, he was informed that the Council of Ministers building had been emptied and that his vehicles had been looted. Shortly afterward, the guards stationed at his home left their posts and abandoned their weapons.
Speaking about his final phone call with Bashar al-Assad, Al-Jalali says the president sounded calm, as if preparing for something, at the same time that Syria’s interior minister told him he was ready to fight until the very last moment.
Al-Jalali also reflects on the circumstances of his appointment as prime minister, revealing that he was not the only candidate for the position and that he feared refusing the post, since rejecting such an appointment under the Assad regime could be interpreted as an act of opposition to the authorities.
The twenty-minute episode documents, from the inside, the moment of the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s rule and the hour-by-hour disintegration of his authority.