“The world failed to stop the crime—now it must help.” That was the message from Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, in which he promised to legally pursue ousted dictator Bashar Assad, accused Israel of declaring war following an airstrike near the presidential palace in Damascus, and responded playfully to compliments from U.S. President Donald Trump: “I’m handsome. Was there ever any doubt?”
Ten months after the fall of the Assad regime, al-Sharaa said his government “will take every legal measure to bring the former president to justice.” Assad fled to Moscow during the uprising and has since built a new life there. Still, the new Syrian leader acknowledged that “entering into confrontation with Russia at this stage would be costly for Syria and not in the country’s interest.”
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa
(Video: CBS 60 Minutes)
After 14 years of civil war and mass atrocities under Assad, al-Sharaa described walking into the presidential palace for the first time as “not a pleasant experience.” “Much evil came from that palace toward the Syrian people since its construction,” he said.
Al-Sharaa revealed that Israel struck the area around the Damascus presidential palace twice, saying that during the second strike, he was inside the compound. “Attacking the palace to ‘send a message,’ as Israel claimed, is not a message—it’s a declaration of war,” he said. “But Syria does not want war and does not seek to threaten Israel or anyone else.”
In May, amid deadly violence against the Druze community in southern Syria and mass protests in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Israel had carried out the strike as “a clear message to the Syrian regime—we will not allow hostile forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze minority.”
Addressing that statement, al-Sharaa said the issue was “an internal matter” requiring a “legal solution by Syrian authorities.” On the prospect of a future security agreement with Israel, he insisted that Israel must withdraw from all “positions it occupied” after Assad’s fall and maintained that his government “has not provoked its southern neighbor since arriving in Damascus.”
Rebuilding Syria after nearly 15 years of war, he said, would cost between $600 billion and $900 billion, requiring international assistance. “The world watched this tragedy unfold for 14 years and did nothing to stop the crimes,” al-Sharaa said. “Therefore, the world must support Syria today. Anyone obstructing the lifting of sanctions is complicit with those who committed the crimes.”
Al-Sharaa also reflected on his historic May meeting with President Trump in Saudi Arabia, where the two leaders shook hands. Trump described him as “a young and attractive guy—a tough guy with a strong past.” When asked by the interviewer about the compliment, al-Sharaa smiled and replied: “Was there ever any doubt?”