TEST FOR HTS | Group has a jihadist past and an Islamist present; its leaders have promised that Syria is for all Syrians and they will protect all minorities

A Christmas tree was reportedly burned by a group of hoodie-donning men in a Christian-majority Syrian town, near the city of Hama,  causing widespread protests.  A video posted on social media showed masked gunmen setting fire to the tree on display in the main square of the Suqaylabiyah, a Christian-majority town in central Syria.

Other  videos on X showed hundreds shouting slogans while carrying the cross and Syrian national flags. They claimed they wanted to live in their homeland following the faith they were born into and injustice towards Christians should be seized immediately. The protest at the capital, Damascus,  concluded near the headquarters of the Orthodox Patriarchate, reports said. Demonstrators demanded the new Islamist rulers protect religious minorities.

Representatives of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the rebel group that replaced the fallen Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, were quick to respond, saying that the tree would be replaced ahead of December 25. Reaching out to the Christian community, HTS vowed that it was foreign vandals who committed the act and no Syrian national was involved. Some foreign fighters had been detained. In the Bab Touma neighbourhood of Damascus, protesters carried a cross and Syrian flags, chanting "we will sacrifice our souls for our cross".

"If we're not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don't belong here anymore," a demonstrator named Georges told AFP news agency. Syria is home to many ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawite Shia and Arab Sunnis, the last of whom make up a majority of the Muslim population. Just over two weeks ago, Bashar al-Assad's presidency fell to rebel forces, ending the Assad family's more than 50-year-rule.

How the HTS group will govern Syria remains to be seen. The group has a jihadist past, which it has distanced itself from, and an Islamist present. As fighters marched to Damascus earlier this month, its leaders spoke about building a Syria for all Syrians.

Representatives have also said that the rights and freedoms of religious and ethnic minorities would be protected. HTS remains designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, US, EU and UK, though there are signs that a diplomatic shift may be underway. On Friday, the US scrapped a $10m (£7.9m) bounty on the head of HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, following meetings between senior diplomats and representatives from the group. The US is continuing its military presence in Syria - it said it conducted an airstrike in the northern city of Deir Ezzor that killed two ISIS operatives. The presence of foreign fighters, Islamic extremists like ISIS or even regime supporters who have interest in causing insecurity and attacking minorities to shake the country's stability are the big challenges that the new Islamic leadership will face.