A truck waits to be loaded with a container at the mediterranean port of Latakia in western Syria on December 30, 2024. Rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions who had pressed a lightning offensive since November 27, seizing swathes of the country from government hands, including major cities Aleppo, Hama and Homs, entered the capital Damascus on December 8, 2024, ousting president Bashar al-Assad and ending five decades of brutal rule by his clan. (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP)