The United States sees the fall of Bashar al-Assad as an extraordinary chance to rid Syria "once and for all" of chemical weapons that killed or injured thousands of people in its civil war, a senior U.

Bashar Assad instead became a doctor in the 1980s and was studying in London to be an ophthalmologist in the early 1990s. But when Basil Assad died in a car accident in 1994, Bashar Assad was recalled to Syria to replace his brother as heir apparent.

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.