Israel confirms attack on Syrian naval fleets

Israel has confirmed that it has carried out attacks against Syria’s naval fleet.

The BBC has verified videos showing explosions at the port of Latakia in Syria, with images appearing to show extensive damage to ships and parts of the port.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says it has documented more than 310 attacks by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) since the fall of the Assad regime on Sunday.

Israeli warplanes have also reportedly carried out hundreds of airstrikes across Syria, including the capital Damascus.

In a statement, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the IDF aimed to “destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel.”

He added that the operation to destroy the Syrian fleet had been a “great success.”

Meanwhile, the IDF confirmed that it has troops operating in Syrian territory beyond the demilitarized buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

It added that its strikes were aimed at preventing weapons from falling “into the hands of extremists” as Syria transitions to a post-Assad era.

SOHR reported that the attacks spanned Aleppo, Damascus and Hama, with more than 60 taking place overnight between Monday and Tuesday alone.

They targeted military facilities of the Syrian army, including weapons warehouses, ammunition depots, airports, naval bases and research centers.

Reports say that many of the affected facilities have not only been damaged, but are completely destroyed.

Rami Abdul Rahman, founder of SOHR, described the impact of the attacks as destroying “the entire capabilities of the Syrian army” and said that “Syrian lands are being violated.”

The IDF acknowledged that its troops had entered Syrian territory, but told the BBC that reports of tanks approaching Damascus were “false.”

He said some troops had been stationed inside the separation area which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights “and then some additional points.”

“When we say some additional points, we mean the Separation Area area, or the buffer zone area in the vicinity,” IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani told the BBC.

BBC Verify has geolocated an image of an IDF soldier standing just over half a kilometer beyond the demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights, inside Syria, on a hillside near the village of Kwdana.

On Mondays, The Israeli military released photographs of its troops crossing from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights into the demilitarized buffer zone. in Syria, where UN peacekeepers are based.

The IDF’s seizure of Syrian positions in the buffer zone was a “temporary defensive position until an adequate agreement is found,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

“If we can establish neighborly relations and peace with the new forces emerging in Syria, that is our wish. But if we do not, we will do whatever is necessary to defend the State of Israel and Israel’s border,” he said on Monday. .

The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Israel’s entry into the buffer zone, accusing it of having an “occupation mentality” during a “sensitive period, when the possibility of achieving the peace and stability that the Syrian people have longed for has arisen.” for many years.”

This buffer zone, also known as the Separation Area, was created as part of Israel’s ceasefire agreement with Syria in 1974 to keep Israeli and Syrian forces separated, following Israel’s previous occupation of the Golan Heights.

Israel unilaterally annexed the Golan in 1981. The move was not recognized internationally, although the United States did so unilaterally in 2019.

When asked about the IDF attacks on Monday night, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was only concerned with defending its citizens.

“That is why we attack strategic weapons systems, such as remaining chemical weapons or long-range missiles and rockets, so that they do not fall into the hands of extremists,” he said.

On Monday, the U.N. chemical watchdog warned authorities in Syria to ensure suspected stockpiles of chemical weapons are safe.

It is not known where or how many chemical weapons Syria has, but former President Bashar al-Assad is believed to have maintained stockpiles.

Israel’s strikes come after Syrian rebel fighters captured the capital Damascus and overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime over the weekend. He and his father had been in power in the country since 1971.

Forces led by the Islamist opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) entered Damascus in the early hours of Sunday, before appearing on state television to declare that Syria was now “free.”

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