Photos show how Israeli airstrikes wiped out remnants of Assad’s army in Syria

• Israel launched widespread attacks on Syria to wipe out the remnants of the Assad regime’s army.

• The attacks targeted Syrian weapons stockpiles after a rebel offensive ousted President Bashar Assad.

• Israeli warplanes and missile ships destroyed Syrian aircraft, naval ships and weapons depots.

The Israeli military has launched widespread attacks across Syria over the past two days to wipe out the remnants of the Assad regime’s military arsenal.

Israel’s air force carried out about 480 strikes on most of the country’s strategic weapons stockpiles left behind after rebels forced Syrian leader Bashar Assad to flee the country.

About 350 of the attacks were manned aircraft that targeted Syrian military assets, including aircraft, ammunition depots, storage facilities, and missile and radar systems. The Israeli Navy also destroyed several military ships docked in two Syrian naval ports. The Israeli army has taken strategic positions on the Golan Heights abandoned by Syrian forces.

Israeli officials said the expanded strikes on Syria were aimed at preventing the Assad government’s military infrastructure and weapons from being used by extremists and potential enemies. Israel is exploiting the fall of the Assad regime to enhance its long-term security, while using destructive force to cripple Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The fall of Assad

After a decades-long dictatorship, rebels took control of the Syrian capital Damascus this weekend, forcing Assad to give up power and flee the country.

“We declare Damascus free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad,” Hassan Abdul-Ghani, commander of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, wrote in a post on social media. “To the displaced people around the world: free Syria awaits you.”

Former Syrian Prime Minister Ghazi al-Jalali remained in the country after the collapse of the Assad regime and said the government is ready to cooperate and support “any leadership chosen by the Syrian people.”

Creating a ‘sterile defense zone’

While Israel supported the ouster of Assad, a close ally of Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the situation in Syria remains “fraught with significant dangers” from the extremists now ruling the country.

In the days after the days-long rebel offensive ousted the Syrian dictator, Israel launched hundreds of attacks on Syrian military assets over 48 hours to prevent them from “falling into the hands of terrorist elements.” HTS has publicly parted ways with the Al Qaeda affiliate from which it emerged, but US officials believe it still has ties to Al Qaeda leaders.

“We have no intention of interfering in Syria’s internal affairs, but we clearly intend to do what is necessary to ensure our security,” Netanyahu said.

“I authorized the air force to bomb strategic military capabilities left by the Syrian army so that they would not fall into the hands of the jihadists,” he said, adding that Israel would “want to establish relations with the new regime in Syria.”

The IDF said the attacks were part of a large-scale mission known as Operation Bashan Arrow, intended to create a “sterile defense zone” by neutralizing potential threats from the neighboring country.

Sinking Syrian warships

Israeli forces attacked key Syrian naval facilities late on Tuesday in the port cities of Al-Bayda and Latakia, where more than a dozen Syrian naval ships were docked.

Photos of the decimated port show half-submerged Syrian warships. Some of the damaged ships were Osa-class missile boats, Soviet-era ships whose 30mm turrets and mounted missile launchers could be seen in the wreckage.

The Syrian Navy, the smallest branch of the country’s armed forces, operated more than a dozen of the high-speed ships, albeit outdated, that the Soviet Union had developed in the 1960s.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli Navy missile ships “destroyed the Syrian Navy overnight and with great success.” It is not clear how many Syrian ships were destroyed by Israeli warships during the nighttime attack.

Satellite images of Latakia, a former Assad stronghold, showed the charred wreckage of the navy ships. The IDF wrote in a message on

Destroying Syrian military aircraft

The IAF carried out an airstrike on the Mezzeh airbase in Damascus, once a key stronghold of the Assad regime’s air force.

At least three major Syrian army air bases were attacked by Israeli warplanes, damaging dozens of helicopters and fighter jets, The Times of Israel reported. Local residents living near the bases said they heard several explosions after the Israeli strikes appeared to ignite ammunition stored there, the Associated Press reported.

Dismantling the Syrian military infrastructure

In addition to decimating Syria’s air and naval fleet, the IDF said it carried out attacks on 130 military assets, such as firing positions, anti-aircraft batteries, missile and radar systems and weapons production sites.

Crippling Syria’s chemical weapons infrastructure

Israeli forces also destroyed the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center in Damascus, a key facility believed to be testing and exploiting the country’s secret chemical and biological weapons programs under the Assad regime.

The Barzeh facility was bombed earlier in 2018 by US, British and French forces in response to a poison sarin gas attack in Douma, Syria. The US blamed Assad’s government for the April 2018 chemical warfare attack that killed at least 40 people and injured more than 100.

However, the head of the centre’s polymers department told Reuters at the time that the facility, now reduced to rubble, was used for research into medicinal components that could not be imported, such as anti-venom and cancer treatments.

‘Changing the face of the Middle East’

The fall of the Syrian regime weakens Iran’s regional influence and could pose logistical and strategic challenges for Iran’s regional allies, such as the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

“The collapse of the Syrian regime is a direct consequence of the heavy blows we hit Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran,” Netanyahu said at a press conference on Monday. “The ash has not disappeared yet, but as I promised, we are changing the face of the Middle East.”

Despite widespread attacks across Syria, Israeli military officials said the country’s forces were operating outside the Israeli-occupied demilitarized buffer zone on the Golan Heights, but not toward the Syrian capital.

“IDF forces are not advancing towards Damascus. This is in no way something we are doing or pursuing,” IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani said at a briefing. “We are not involved in what is happening internally in Syria, we are not a party to this conflict and we have no interest other than protecting our borders and the safety of our citizens.”

Katz, Israel’s defense minister, said the country is advancing beyond the Golan Heights to establish a “security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructure” in southern Syria.

“As for what will happen in the future, I am not a prophet,” Katz said. “It is now important to take all necessary steps in the context of Israel’s security.”

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