US aircraft carrier strike group arrives in Middle East

Debra and Marc Tice -- the parents of Austin Tice, a U.S. journalist and prisoner in Syria since 2012 -- released a statement urging "anyone who can do so to please assist Austin so he can safely return home to our family" following the collapse of Bashar Assad's regime.

"We are watching the events unfold in Syria and seeing families reunited with their loved ones after years of separation," said a statement released via the Press Freedom Center at the National Press Club.

"We know this is possible for our family, too," they added. "Austin Tice is alive, in Syria, and it's time for him to come home. We are eagerly anticipating seeing Austin walk free."

Tice went missing while reporting in Syria in 2012. President Joe Biden said Sunday his return remains possible, though acknowledged that "we have no direct evidence" of his status. "Assad should be held accountable," Biden added.

-ABC News' Dee Carden

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told "Good Morning America" on Monday that "it is good for the United States and the world that a murderous dictator whose family has ruled Syria with an iron fist for half a century is gone."

Sullivan did, however, echo President Joe Biden's warning that there is real risk that "terrorists, jihadists and other people who do not have the United States best interests at heart...could take advantage of this."

"We are vigilant about that," Sullivan said in an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. "We are taking action to deal with that, and we're prepared to work with anyone in Syria who wants a stable, inclusive, democratic future for that country.

Sullivan said that the U.S.' top priority is "to protect the United States of America from the resurgence of a terror threat" emanating from Syria.

"That means holding ISIS down," he added. "Don't let them take advantage of this. Then there is the priority of making sure that our friends in the region are secure and stable -- Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon -- that these countries do not suffer from any kind of violent spillover effects from what's happening in Syria."

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Russian President Vladimir Putin will grant political asylum to toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

"Of course, such decisions cannot be made without the head of state," Peskov said, as quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax. "This is his decision,"

"We have nothing to tell you about Mr. Assad's whereabouts right now," Peskov said, adding there was no official meeting between Putin and Assad planned.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters on Monday that Israeli forces "attacked strategic weapons arrays, residual chemical weapons capabilities, missiles and long-range rockets" inside Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of "extremist elements."

Israeli forces have been striking inside Syria and occupying positions on Syrian territory in recent days, as rebel forces -- some with roots in jihadist organizations -- surged into major Syrian cities and precipitated the collapse of President Bashar Assad's regime in Damascus.

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday it had taken up positions in the demilitarized buffer zone between Israel and Syria established by a bilateral 1974 agreement.

Saar said the presence of "armed men" in the zone and their alleged attacks on United Nations positions there prompted the Israeli decision to cross the border.

Saar said Israeli deployments into the buffer zone are "targeted and temporary" and intended to prevent an "Oct. 7 scenario from Syria," referring to last year's devastating Hamas infiltration attack into southern Israel.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Dana Savir