The collapse of the Assad regime has prompted a punishing military response from Israel.
Why Israel is Targeting Syria
The collapse of the Assad regime has prompted a punishing military response from Israel, which has launched airstrikes at military targets across Syria and deployed ground troops both into and beyond a demilitarized buffer zone for the first time in 50 years. The Israeli military said it had carried out about 480 strikes across the country over the past two days, hitting most of Syria’s strategic weapon stockpiles, while Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli navy had destroyed the Syrian fleet overnight, hailing the operation as “a great success.”
Of the 480 strikes carried out by the Israeli Air Force, about 350 were manned aircraft strikes targeting airfields, anti-aircraft batteries, missiles, drones, fighter jets, tanks and weapon production sites in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia and Palmyra, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
The rest of the strikes were in support of ground operations that targeted weapons depots, military structures, launchers and firing positions. The IDF also said its ships struck two Syrian naval facilities, where 15 vessels were docked. Dozens of sea-to-sea missiles were said to have been destroyed. Just a day earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had hailed the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime as “a new and dramatic chapter.” “The collapse of the Syrian regime is a direct result of the severe blows with which we have struck Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran,” he said. “The axis has not yet disappeared but as I promised – we are changing the face of the Middle East.”
Israeli officials have reveled in the downfall of Assad, a staunch ally of Iran who allowed his country to be used as a resupply route for Hezbollah in Lebanon. But they also fear what could come from radical Islamists governing Syria, which borders Israel in the occupied Golan Heights. “With regard to what will be in the future, I’m not a prophet,” he said. “It is important right now to take all necessary steps in the context of the security of Israel.”
‘Beyond the buffer zone’
Nadav Shoshani, a spokesperson for the Israeli military, denied that forces were “advancing toward” Damascus, but acknowledged they were operating in Syria beyond the buffer zone. The Israeli military has insisted that it “is not interfering with the internal events in Syria.”
UK Government Indicated It Could Consider Lifting The Ban on HTS
The UK government indicated on Monday that it could consider lifting the ban on Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has toppled the Assad regime in Syria, if the group delivers on its promises like protecting the minorities and people’s rights. HTS has been proscribed in the UK as a terrorist organisation since 2017 owing to its original links with al-Qaeda. Any association or support to HTS is a criminal offence in the UK. Though HTS has its origins in al-Qaeda, it claims to have severed its ties with the latter.
