Israel pounds Syrian military sites; regional sources claim ‘nothing left’ of army assets
IDF denies ground forces in Golan have advanced beyond buffer zone toward Damascus; at the same time, Israeli Navy operates to destroy toppled Assad regime’s fleet
Israel pounded Syrian army bases on Tuesday in strikes it says aim to keep weapons from falling into hostile hands, but denied its forces had advanced into Syria, toward Damascus, beyond a buffer zone at the border.
Regional security sources and officers within the now-fallen Syrian army who spoke to Reuters described Tuesday morning’s airstrikes as the heaviest yet, hitting military installations and airbases across Syria, destroying dozens of helicopters and jets, as well as Republican Guard assets in and around Damascus.
The rough tally of 200 raids overnight had left nothing of the Syrian army’s assets, said the sources.
The Israeli Air Force has carried out over 300 airstrikes in Syria since the collapse of the regime, destroying advanced weapons and other capabilities.
Strikes reportedly carried out by Israel in Damascus’s Barzeh area completely destroyed a defense ministry research center, AFP correspondents reported on Tuesday. Western countries including the United States struck the facility in 2018, saying it was related to Syria’s “chemical weapons infrastructure.”
The IDF had yet to comment broadly on the strikes, but military sources said that the Navy had carried out a large-scale operation Monday night to destroy the former regime’s naval fleet, amid a wave of operations to take out military assets lest they fall into hostile hands.
The Israeli operations in Syria came in the wake of a lightning offensive by rebel forces there, which on Sunday toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad in a dramatic two-week chapter of a civil war that began in 2011, and which had been locked in a stalemate for years.
Following the regime’s fall, Israel moved to destroy regime weapons sites before they could fall into the hands of forces hostile to Israel, amid the chaotic takeover by rebel groups, many of whom were originally associated with al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups.
Numerous Syrian navy vessels armed with sea-to-sea missiles were destroyed in strikes carried out by Israeli Navy missile boats Monday night at the Minet el-Beida bay and Latakia port on the Syrian coast, according to military sources.
At the same time, Israel denied reports that its ground forces had gone beyond a buffer zone in the Golan Heights that the IDF seized on Sunday and stressed that its control of that area was a temporary, defensive measure.
“Reports circulating in some media outlets claiming that IDF troops are advancing or approaching Damascus are completely incorrect,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, wrote on X.
“IDF troops are present inside the buffer zone and at defensive positions close to the border in order to protect the Israeli border,” he added.
The comment came after Reuters, citing two regional security sources and one Syrian security source, claimed that troops reached “Qatana.” It was unclear whether the report was referring to the Qatana district, parts of which abut the buffer zone, or the town of Qatana, which is around 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from Damascus and east of the buffer zone.
Israel has said it will not become involved in the conflict in Syria and that its seizure of the buffer zone established in 1974 was a defensive move.
Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia condemned the incursion into the buffer zone. Saudi Arabia said the move would “ruin Syria’s chances of restoring security.”
The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, also called on Tuesday for Israel to stop its operations in Syria.
“We are continuing to see Israeli movements and bombardments into Syrian territory. This needs to stop. This is extremely important,” Pedersen told reporters in Geneva.
Israel said its airstrikes would carry on for days, but told the UN Security Council that it was not intervening in Syria’s conflict. It said it had taken “limited and temporary measures” solely to protect its security.
