Israeli warplanes have reportedly launched numerous attacks throughout Syria, including in its capital, Damascus, according to Syrian media outlets. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has indicated that more than 100 military targets were struck during these air raids, BBC reports.
Among the locations targeted was a research facility believed to be involved in chemical weapon production, as per local media.
Israel says that these strikes are part of efforts to prevent weapons from falling “into the hands of extremists” following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
At the same time, the United Nations Security Council is convening to address the ongoing situation in Syria following the collapse of Assad’s regime.
According to the SOHR, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes over the last two days, including on a site in Damascus linked to rocket development efforts by Iranian scientists.
These attacks are taking place amid warnings from the UN’s chemical weapons monitoring agency, which has urged Syrian authorities to ensure the security of suspected chemical weapons stockpiles.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the UN’s chemical watchdog, defines chemical weapons as any substance designed to cause death or harm through its toxic properties.
Under international humanitarian law, the use of chemical weapons is prohibited, regardless of the presence of a legitimate military target, due to the indiscriminate nature of these weapons.
The exact whereabouts and quantity of Syria’s chemical weapons are unclear, though it is widely believed that former President Assad maintained significant stockpiles, and that his declaration on chemical weapons was incomplete.
Syria agreed to the OPCW’s Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013, just a month after a deadly chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus that killed over 1,400 people, using the nerve agent sarin.
The horrifying images of victims writhing in pain shocked global audiences, with Western nations blaming the Assad government for the attack, while Assad accused the opposition of staging it.
Despite the OPCW and UN overseeing the destruction of 1,300 tons of chemicals declared by the Syrian government, chemical weapon attacks in the country have persisted.
A 2018 BBC investigation confirmed that between 2014 and 2018, chemical weapons were used in Syria’s civil war on at least 106 occasions.
On Monday, the OPCW announced that it had contacted Syria to “emphasise the paramount importance of ensuring the safety and security of all chemical weapons related materials and facilities” within the country.
Later that day, the Israeli military released images of their troops crossing into the demilitarized zone in Syria’s Golan Heights, where UN peacekeepers are stationed.
This occurred a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the Israeli military had temporarily taken control of the “Area of Separation” following the collapse of the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria, due to the rebel takeover.
The Golan Heights, a strategically significant plateau located about 60 kilometers southwest of Damascus, was captured by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981, a move that remains unrecognized by the international community, though the United States endorsed it in 2019.
In a press briefing, Israeli Defense Minister Saar stated that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were only making “a very limited and temporary step” for “security reasons.”
He emphasized that Israel had no intention of interfering in Syria’s internal affairs, focusing solely on protecting its citizens.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated that Israel would target and “destroy heavy strategic weapons,” including missile and air defense systems.
Israel’s latest military actions follow the Syrian opposition’s recent capture of Damascus and the downfall of President Assad’s regime, which had been in power since 1971, under both Assad and his father.
Forces aligned with the Islamist opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) entered Damascus early on Sunday, later appearing on state television to announce that Syria was now “free.”
On Sunday, Netanyahu hailed the Assad regime’s collapse as a “historic day in the Middle East.”
The Assad regime had relied heavily on support from Hezbollah and Russia throughout the civil war. With Hezbollah engaged in the Israel-Gaza conflict and Russia stretched by its invasion of Ukraine, HTS and other Syrian rebel groups capitalized on the situation, ultimately taking control of significant portions of the country.
During the 2011 Syrian uprising, Israel believed that Assad, despite his alliances with Iran and Hezbollah, was preferable to what might come after his rule.
On Sunday, Netanyahu emphasized that Israel would “send a hand of peace” to Syrians who sought peaceful coexistence with Israel.
He added that the IDF’s presence in the demilitarized zone was a “temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found.”
“If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that’s our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel,” Netanyahu stated.
Israel is particularly cautious regarding the Golan Heights, as the family of HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani has roots in the area. Today, approximately 20,000 Syrians, mostly Druze, remain in the Golan alongside thousands of Israeli settlers.
Israeli airstrikes in Syria are not a recent development, with Israel having acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes in recent years on targets it claims are linked to Iran and its allied groups such as Hezbollah.
The frequency of Israeli airstrikes has reportedly increased since the Gaza war began in October 2023, driven by cross-border attacks on northern Israel by Hezbollah and other groups from Lebanon and Syria.
Last month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that airstrikes hit a weapons depot and nearby locations near Palmyra, killing 68 fighters, both Syrian and foreign, who were affiliated with Iran-backed militias.
{Matzav.com}