The Israeli military on Wednesday said it conducted more than 400 strikes over the past 48 hours on strategic military targets in Syria, days after Syrian rebels ousted president Bashar al-Assad.
Since Assad’s 24-year rule came to an abrupt end on Sunday, Israel, which borders Syria, has sent troops into a buffer zone on the east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and destroyed an estimated 70-80% of Syrian strategic military assets.
“Within the last 48 hours, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) struck most of the strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria, preventing them from falling into the hands of terrorist elements,” the military said in a statement.
The targets included 15 naval vessels at the two Syrian Navy facilities – the Al-Bayda port and the Latakia port, anti-aircraft batteries and weapons production sites in the capital Damascus and other key cities.
“Dozens of sea-to-sea missiles with ranges of 80-190 km were destroyed. Each missile carried significant explosive payloads, posing threats to civilian and military maritime vessels in the area,” the military said.
⭕ In 48 hours, the IDF struck most of the strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorist elements. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻:
⚓ Naval Operations: Israeli Navy missile ships struck 2 Syrian Navy facilities… pic.twitter.com/6N1fz7BiMF
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 10, 2024
“Numerous strategic assets, including Scud missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-sea, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, UAVs, fighter jets, attack helicopters, radars, tanks, hangars, and more were neutralized,” it added.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since the civil war erupted in 2011.
Netanyahu On Assad’s Fall
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the fall of Bashar al-Assad was a “historic day in the… Middle East” and the fall of a “central link in Iran’s axis of evil”.
He has said the events are “a direct result of the blows we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, Assad’s main supporters”.
“It has triggered a chain reaction across the Middle East, empowering those seeking to break free from this oppressive regime,” he said in a video statement on Sunday, hours after Assad was forced to flee to Russia following a lightning rebel offensive that began in late November.
This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers.
We send a hand of peace to all those beyond our border in Syria: to the Druze, to the Kurds, to the… pic.twitter.com/yJZE3AZZJn
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) December 8, 2024
Israel has in recent months killed commanders in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the senior leaders of Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, both of which are backed by Iran.
Syrian rebels overthrew more than five decades of rule by Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad, in a lightning offensive that began on November 27.