US aircraft carrier strike group arrives in Middle East
The move was planned before the fall of the Assad regime, an official said.
Rebel forces in Syria captured the capital Damascus and toppled the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.
Meanwhile, the ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group. The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza.
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides.
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Blinken addresses US response to fall of Assad regime
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said senior officials from his department are "fanning out through the region as we speak" to work with their counterparts on how the U.S. can "help support the Syrian people as they decide their own path for the future."
"We have a strong interest in preventing the reemergence of ISIS, given the death and destruction that it has wrought for so long,” he said during remarks at an unrelated event on Monday.
Blinken noted that ISIS would seek to exploit the moment, and that U.S. strikes on ISIS sites over the weekend demonstrate that the U.S. is "determined not to let that happen."
"We have a clear interest in doing what we can to avoid the fragmentation of Syria, mass migrations from Syria and, of course, the export of terrorism and extremism," he said. "The region and the world have a responsibility to support the Syrian people as they begin to rebuild their country and charge a new direction."
Blinken also said that with every party they engage with, he and other U.S. officials will continue to seek information on American freelance journalist and Marine Corps veteran Austin Tice, who went missing while covering the civil war in August 2012, "so that we can find him and bring him home to his family and loved ones."
-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston
Top US hostage negotiator in Lebanon, official says
The special presidential envoy for hostage affairs is in Lebanon as the Biden administration tries to capitalize on the fall of the Assad regime to uncover information on the whereabouts of missing American freelance journalist and Marine Corps veteran Austin Tice, according to a U.S. official.
The envoy, Roger Carstens, was in Doha last week but traveled to Beirut when the Assad regime fell, the official said. The Biden administration is working through multiple partners in the Middle East -- most notably Lebanon and Turkey -- to track people coming out of Syrian jails.
However, U.S. officials say they still have very little intelligence on Tice's whereabouts and can't say with certainty that he is even in Syria.
Tice went missing while covering the civil war in August 2012.
-ABC News' Shannon K. Kingston
White Helmets offering reward for info on 'secret' Syrian prisons
The Syria Civil Defence, aka the White Helmets, announced Monday it is offering a $3,000 reward for any direct information that will lead them to Assad's "secret" Syrian prisons.
The organization addressed former security officers and those working in the security branches for help in accessing the prisons, adding they will maintain the confidentiality of sources.
Turkey opening border gate with Syria for return of migrants
Turkish President Erdogan said Monday that Turkey is opening the border gate with Syria for the return of migrants.
Erdogan said they are opening the Yayladağı border gate to crossings "in order to prevent congestion and ease traffic."
There were long lines at the border earlier awaiting this decision.