section_path: Reactions/Domestic/Public reactions
section_name: Public reactions
paragraph_text: Public reactions
  
  Damascus witnessed public celebrations, particularly in the symbolic Umayyad Square, traditionally a centre of government authority housing the by-then evacuated Ministry of Defence and Syrian Armed Forces headquarters. Civilians gathered around abandoned military equipment, with social media footage documenting celebrations including music and public demonstrations.
  
  In Lebanon, hundreds of people celebrated in Tripoli and Akkar, in the north of the country, and in Bar Elias, which are mostly populated by Sunni Muslims who oppose Hezbollah and the Assad government, after the fall of Damascus. The Syrian Ba'ath party office in Halba was stormed.