The U.S. military has transported out of Syria an American who had disappeared seven months ago into former President Bashar Assad’s notorious prison system and was among the thousands released this week by rebels, U.S. officials said Friday.

Exuberant Syrians observed the first Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad, gathering in the capital’s historic main mosque, its largest square and around the country to celebrate the end of half a century of authoritarian rule.

An American who disappeared seven months ago into former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s notorious prison system said he was released by the “liberators” who arrived in Damascus a day after the longtime ruler fled the capital. Travis Timmerman said he was not ill-treated in prison, but his release was a “blessing.”

The rebel group that now runs Syria’s government offered on Thursday to “cooperate directly” with the United States to search for missing American journalist Austin Tice, a move that analysts said could hasten efforts to learn his whereabouts, or whether he is living or dead.

The battle plans had been drawn up years ago, and when the Syrian state fell suddenly, Israel wasted no time putting them in motion.

The latest deadly strike hit the urban Nuseirat refugee camp just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters in Jerusalem that the recent ceasefire in Lebanon has helped clear the way for a potential deal to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Travis Timmerman appears to have been among thousands of people released from the country’s notorious prisons after rebels reached Damascus over the weekend, overthrowing President Bashar Assad and ending his family’s 54-year rule.

Kurdish fighters have partnered with the U.S. to rout the Islamic State group and carved out a largely autonomous region in Syria’s east. But the ascendance of Sunni Arab rebels who overthrew Assad — with vital help from Turkey, a longtime foe of the Kurds — could put Kurdish gains at risk.

In a rare move, the OPCW’s executive council called the meeting, hoping that under a new government, some of its 80 inspectors may be allowed to pursue investigations into Syria’s chemical weapons program.

An American who turned up in Syria says he was detained after crossing into the country by foot on a Christian pilgrimage seven months ago.