On December 8th, the Assad Regime in Syria was met with an abrupt collapse as the opposition forces advanced towards Damascus on that Sunday morning and declared Syria to be free of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Syria had been at war for nearly 13 years, but the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a swift onslaught that overthrew the Assad regime in a matter of days. Following the overthrow, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday that he has given the Israeli military orders to “seize” a demilitarised buffer zone on the Syrian border.
Israeli forces have launched extensive attacks throughout Syria, aiming on the capital city of Damascus as well as three significant airports and other critical military infrastructures. Israel alleges it is taking action to prevent weapons from getting “into the hands of extremists” after the Assad regime was toppled.
As reported by Syrian media, Israeli warplanes have attacked numerous locations throughout the nation, including Damascus. More than 100 strikes on military sites were reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based organisation. Local media reported that one of the sites targeted was a research institute suspected of having ties to the manufacturing of chemical weapons.
After three Syrian air bases were reportedly hit by IDF strikes overnight, three security sources quoted by Reuters believe that Israeli tanks are located close to the Syrian capital of Damascus; however, the IDF has dismissed the allegations. According to the Syrian Observatory—bombings in the coastal city of Latakia damaged warehouses close to the port, naval vessels and a Syrian air defence facility. As added by the Observatory, attacks in Daraa, southwestern Syria, targeted military installations and storage facilities in rural western and northern regions, killing two people.
UN peacekeepers believe Israel is violating the 1974 ceasefire agreement that ended the 1967 war—while Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iraq have denounced Israel’s “dangerous” land grab in the Syrian Golan Heights as the Israeli military continues the airstrikes throughout the nation. “There should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation. And Israel and Syria must continue to uphold the terms of that 1974 agreement, and preserve stability in the Golan,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
