After the fall of al-Assad, Israel captured the buffer zone in Syria’s Golan Heights. Golan Heights occupation news
Israeli forces also bombed weapons depots in southern Syria and the capital, Damascus, according to Israeli media reports.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will allow Israeli forces to “seize” a buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria after Syrian opposition forces ousted Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Had ordered the forces.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that the decades-old agreement had collapsed and Syrian troops had abandoned their positions, making Israel’s occupation necessary.
“We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border,” he said.
Israel captured and occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 war. The international community, except the United States, views it as Syrian-occupied territory.
Agricultural areas in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights were declared closed military zones and some schools shifted to online classes in anticipation of unrest.
Syrians took to the streets with celebratory gunfire after a massive opposition advance in the capital of Damascus on Sunday, ending the al-Assad family’s iron-fisted 50-year rule but raising concerns about the future of the country and the wider region. Questions arose.
Jubilant crowds gathered in central squares of Damascus waving Syrian revolutionary flags in scenes reminiscent of the early days of the Arab Spring uprising, before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an armed rebellion plunged the country into a nearly 14-year war. Was thrown.
Netanyahu on Sunday described al-Assad’s ouster as a “historic day”, which followed strikes by Israel against al-Assad’s backers Iran and Hezbollah in the recent war over Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israeli media said on Sunday that the Israeli Air Force has bombed weapons depots in southern Syria and Damascus to prevent opposition groups from capturing them.
“We attacked ammunition depots in southern Syria and the Damascus airport area out of fear that they could fall into the hands of armed groups and local factions,” Israeli public broadcaster KAN quoted an unnamed Israeli security official as saying.
“Israel is working to thwart any potential threat and avoid any loss of its air superiority in Syria,” the official said.
Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth said that weapons depots and surface-to-surface missile stores were the targets of Israeli strikes in Syria, without giving further details.
Israel has frequently targeted arms shipments and military installations in Syria during the country’s war, citing concerns over possible transfers of advanced weapons to enemy groups including Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias.
An Associated Press journalist in Damascus reported airstrikes in the area of Mazzeh military air base, southwest of the capital, on Sunday.
The airport has been hit by Israeli airstrikes before, but it was not immediately clear who carried out Sunday’s attack.
The Israeli military declined to comment on the reports and Israel does not often publicly claim responsibility for attacks in Syria.
