Syrian opposition fighters and officials, as well as activists and aid workers, say they have mixed feelings about the US airstrikes on a regime airbase, expressing happiness that Bashar al-Assad has been punished for this week’s chemical attack as well as regret that Washington had not acted sooner and ended the war.

Many were sceptical that the Trump administration had the interests of the Syrian people in mind. Some drew a contrast with the Obama administration, saying that as a minimum Donald Trump’s instability would change the status quo.

“Trump is better for Syria than Hillary [Clinton] because he’s honest and insane,” said one rebel fighter in Syria. “Any loss for the regime in whatever shape is a win for us, but of course Trump acted based on the interests of America and not because he loves us.”

Another rebel commander in Idlib province said further crippling of the government’s air force would be needed to quell attacks on civilians and limit the displacement of Syrians fleeing the fighting in the country.

“The matter needs to be followed up because one attack won’t stop the massacres and the displacement,” he said. “America is the most powerful country in the world and it can think and act faster than others and we look forward to the day when this bloodbath ends.”

An aid worker in Hatay in Turkey said: “We Syrians have developed schizophrenia and we don’t know how to express our feelings anymore because they’re always so mixed.

“You find people happy because the regime is being hit but at the same time sadness because you know these are the Americans who let down the Syrian people for more than six years. These feelings are not just directed at America, but at the whole world.”

Adham Sahloul, a Syrian American aid worker in Turkey, said he believed the US airstrikes would help save lives by deterring Assad and making a political solution more likely.

“Assad would have never stopped bombing civilian areas and using unconventional weapons without accountability and enforcement of international law,” he said.

“Red lines are drawn for a reason, and these laws and standards are papier-mache without the threat of force to back them up. We may have re-established deterrence and military credibility overnight.”

The opposition Free Syrian Army welcomed the US airstrikes, saying it ought to be a first step in the international community taking up its responsibility to protect civilian lives and to combat impunity.

“We see this strike as the correct starting point in confronting terrorism, violence and criminality and finding a just political solution that satisfies all Syrians,” it said in a statement.

“We urge the United States and the friends of the Syrian people to stand clearly against the war criminals in the Syrian regime, to put an end to their violations and to then bring them to justice for their crimes against Syrians and humanity.”

The political opposition bloc, the Syrian National Coalition, said: “The American strike is a clear message to the regime and its supporters that impunity is over and the international community can overcome the Russian attitude of disabling the [UN] security council as an institution responsible for international peace.”

Russia has repeated vetoed security council resolutions that condemn the Syrian regime.

Trump’s popularity surged among Arab social media users who supported the Tomahawk missile strikes on the Syrian government airbase, with light-hearted memes that ascribed to him the nom de guerre “Abu Ivanka al-Amreeki” (Father of Ivanka, the American) in a manner similar to the names adopted by Syrian rebel fighters as well as militants from Islamic State and al-Qaida.

More Abu Ivanka al Amreeki hilarity from Syrian friends pic.twitter.com/j72ewXjIiJ — Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) April 7, 2017

One image showed a flattering picture of the American president transposed on a Syrian revolution flag that said: “We love you.” Another showed Trump giving a thumbs-up with a caption that said: “How did I do?”

“Maybe some of you hate President Trump, but we love him because he do[es] more than he say[s],” one activist from Aleppo said. “He’s a man of action. At least he did something and [gave] us some hope.”