Israel has confirmed that it has carried out attacks on the Syrian naval fleet as part of its efforts to neutralize military assets in the country following the fall of the Assad regime.
In a statement, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said its ships attacked the ports of Al-Bayda and Latakia on Monday evening, where 15 ships were docked.
The BBC has verified videos showing explosions at the port of Latakia, with images appearing to show extensive damage to ships and parts of the port.
The IDF also said its warplanes had carried out more than 350 airstrikes on targets across Syria while moving ground forces into the demilitarized buffer zone between Syria and the occupied Golan Heights.
Earlier, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said it had documented more than 310 IDF attacks since the Syrian government was overthrown by rebels on Sunday.
In a statement, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the IDF aimed to “destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel.”
He added that the operation to destroy the Syrian fleet had been a “great success”.
The IDF said a wide range of targets had been hit – including airfields, military vehicles, anti-aircraft weapons and weapons production sites – in the Syrian capital Damascus, as well as in Homs, Tartus and Palmyra.
It also targeted weapons caches, ammunition depots and “dozens” of naval missiles.
It added that it had done this to prevent them from “falling into the hands of extremists”.
In a video message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Syrian rebel group that deposed President Bashar al-Assad, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), that Israel would “respond strongly” if it allowed Iran to “reestablish itself ‘. Syria”.
He has previously expressed a desire for peaceful ties with the new Syrian government, calling its interventions defensive.
Rami Abdul Rahman, the founder of the SOHR, described the impact of the attacks as destroying “all capabilities of the Syrian army” and said “Syrian lands are being violated.”
Meanwhile, the IDF also confirmed that troops are operating in Syrian territory outside the buffer zone bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Israel’s defense minister said the Syrian fleet was attacked overnight [Getty Images]
The IDF acknowledged that its forces had entered Syrian territory, but told the BBC that reports of tanks approaching Damascus were “false”.
It said some troops were stationed in the separation area bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights “and then a few additional points.”
“If we mention a few additional points, we are talking about the area of the separation zone, or the area of the buffer zone in the vicinity,” IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani told the BBC.
BBC Verify has geolocated an image of an IDF soldier standing just over half a kilometer outside the demilitarized buffer zone on the Golan Heights, in Syria on a hill near the village of Kwdana.
On Monday, the Israeli army released photos of its troops moving from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights into the demilitarized buffer zone in Syria where UN peacekeepers are stationed.
[BBC]
The IDF seizure of Syrian positions in the buffer zone was a “temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.
“If we can establish neighborly and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that is our wish. But if we don’t, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and Israel’s border,” he said. Monday.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Israel’s entry into the buffer zone, accusing the country of an “occupation mentality” during a “sensitive period, when the opportunity has arisen to achieve the peace and stability that the Syrian people have been seeking for years.” desires’.
Also known as the Area of Separation, this buffer zone was established as part of Israel’s 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria to keep Israeli and Syrian forces separated, following Israel’s previous occupation of the Golan Heights.
Israel unilaterally annexed the Golan in 1981. This move was not internationally recognized, although the US did so unilaterally in 2019.
[BBC]
Asked about the IDF attacks on Monday evening, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel is only concerned with defending its citizens.
“That is why we attack strategic weapon systems, such as the remaining chemical weapons or long-range rockets and missiles, for example, so that they do not fall into the hands of extremists,” he said.
On Monday, the UN chemical watchdog warned authorities in Syria to ensure suspected stockpiles of chemical weapons are safe.
It is not known where and how many chemical weapons Syria has, but it is believed that former President Assad maintained stockpiles.
Israel’s attacks come after Syrian rebel fighters captured the capital Damascus, while Assad fled the country, reportedly to Russia. He, and before him his father, had been in power in the country since 1971.
Forces led by the Islamist opposition group HTS entered Damascus in the early hours of Sunday, before appearing on state television to declare that Syria was now “free”.
Additional reporting by Ian Casey
