Just one day after the Assad regime had claimed that it'd retaken control over Damascus, the Arab League has called for Assad to step down.

Assad, who, according to Israeli sources, still remains in the capital, has so far stated no intentions of accepting the Arab League’s invitation to leave.

The Arab League says that in return for stepping down and leaving the country, they pledge assistance for him and security for his family.

This announcement came at the end of a two-day meeting that began on Sunday. This call to Assad is quite different from the agreements that were reached in Geneva on the 30th of last month, that had decided on the approach to bring both sides to the negotiating table and excluding no one from the settlement process.

The Arab League has also pledged $100 million, this money is to be used for aid for refugees in Syria.

Prior to the retaking of Damascus, the international community had thought that Assad’s regime was on the brink of falling. Many expected a cascade of defections, an increase in popular demonstrations, and further surges by the rebels attempting to bring down the government.

Prompted by the heavy fighting in Dyouamascus, Israel said yesterday that military action would be used if there was any risk whatsoever of chemical weapons falling into the hands of the Hezbollah or any other militant faction.

In a statement today, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said, “No chemical or biological weapons will ever be used, and I repeat, will never be used … no matter what the developments inside Syria.” Makdissi added, “All of these types of weapons are in storage and under security and the direct supervision of the Syrian armed forces and will never be used unless Syria is exposed to external aggression.”

The United States has long believed that Syria has possessed chemical weapons. Last week the US disclosed intelligence that suggested that the Syrian government was moving stockpiles of the weapons from areas where fighting was the heaviest. This prompted concerns that the stockpiles were not as secure as they needed to be and could be prone to falling into the hands of, or being handed over militant factions such as Hezbollah.

Before this, Syria has never publicly aknowledged that they indeed did have such an arsenal.