A group of Syrian Jews recently visited Damascus for the first time in over 30 years, Reuters reported.

Rabbi Joseph Hamra, 77, and his son Henry, 48, visited a synagogue in the Syrian capital and read from a Torah scroll in the synagogue. This was the first time they had returned to Syria since the 1990s when then-President Hafez al-Assad allowed Jews to leave the country.

They met with the Syrian deputy foreign minister at the foreign ministry in Damascus, which is currently run by interim authorities appointed after the fall of the Assad regime late last year.

Rabbi Hamra said, "Weren't we in a prison? So we wanted to see what was on the outside." He added, "Everyone else who left with us is dead."

Henry said that the new Syrian government has pledged to protect Jewish heritage sites in the country. "We need the government's help, we need the government's security and it's going to happen," he said.

The pair also met old neighbors during their tour of the old city of Damascus, including Palestinian Arabs.

Only about seven Jews remain in Syria, which was once home to tens of thousands of Jews.