Israeli jets strike 300 targets in Syria, dozens of aircraft destroyed

Author: Rhonda Published: December 10, 2024

Israeli security sources indicate that these actions have significantly expanded the Air Force’s operational freedom.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, AMIR BOHBOT, REUTERS

DECEMBER 10, 2024 03:51

Updated: DECEMBER 10, 2024 09:16

PREPARING FOR a joint mission? US and Israeli fighter jets participate in the Juniper Oak drill over the Negev in January. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT) — PREPARING FOR a joint mission? US and Israeli fighter jets participate in the Juniper Oak drill over the Negev in January.

(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

Israel’s air force carried out about 300 strikes in Syria in the early hours of Tuesday morning, according to Israeli security sources.

Most of the strikes were in southern Syria and around the city of Damascus, targeting Syrian army bases, with an emphasis on air defense systems and stores of surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.

Israeli security sources indicate that these actions have significantly expanded the air force’s operational freedom.

Additionally, there have been attempts by Hezbollah to seize Syrian weaponry.

On Monday evening, two Syrian security sources told Reuters that IAF jets had struck at least three major Syrian army air bases that housed dozens of helicopters and jets.

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in Syria. (credit: SCREENSHOT/X, SECTION 27A COPYRIGHT ACT)

The Qamishli air base in northeast Syria, the Shinshar base in the countryside of Homs, and the Aqrba airport southwest of the capital Damascus were all hit, the sources said.

The air force also reportedly struck several strikes on a research center on the outskirts of Damascus and a center for electronic warfare near the Sayeda Zainab area of the capital.

Israeli tanks spotted not far from Damascus

Also on Tuesday morning, citing Arab reports, Israeli media reported that IDF tanks were spotted approximately 20 km from Damascus.

According to Reuters, several Syrian military vessels were sunk in their home port by the IAF.

Israeli incursion into Syria reaches 25 km southwest of Damascus, security sources say

An Israeli military incursion into southern Syria has reached about 25 km. (16 miles) southwest of the capital, Damascus, two regional security sources and one Syrian security source said on Tuesday.

The Syrian security source said Israeli troops reached Qatana, which is 10 km. into Syrian territory east of a demilitarized zone separating Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria.

The Israeli military declined to comment.

Necessary to address security threats

In a letter to the United Nations Security Council, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon described the military actions as “limited and temporary” measures necessary to address immediate security threats.

“Israel does not intervene in the internal Syrian conflict,” Danon wrote, emphasizing that the strikes were specifically aimed at ensuring the safety of Israeli citizens, particularly those residing in the Golan Heights. He reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to the Disengagement agreement that was made on May 31, 1974, between Israel and Syria.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the IDF to intensify its activities along the Syrian border following the Syrian military’s recent occupation of Mount Hermon. The IDF has been directed to establish a security zone beyond the buffer area while fostering ties with local populations, including the Druze community, to enhance stability in the region.

Amid toppling of Assad, Kurds in Syria appeal to Israel for help

Author: Rhonda Published: December 9, 2024

This comes as the regime of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was crumbling, and the country was taken over by Islamist rebels.

By ANNA BARSKY

DECEMBER 9, 2024 10:00

Iraqi Kurds wave flags of Iraqi Kurdistan during a demonstration (photo credit: SAFIN HAMED / AFP) — Iraqi Kurds wave flags of Iraqi Kurdistan during a demonstration

(photo credit: SAFIN HAMED / AFP)

Representatives of the Syrian Kurds have recently appealed to Israeli officials via various communications channels seeking assistance and protection.

This comes as the regime of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was crumbling, and the country was taken over by Islamist rebels.

Earlier today, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels announced that they had begun attacking Kurdish forces in the Manbij area in northern Syria, northeast of Aleppo.

Israel, which views the Kurdish community as a friendly and Western-oriented entity, has been working with Western countries since the beginning of the current campaign to ensure the security of the Kurds within the emerging new reality in Syria.

The current situation, including the victory of Sunni jihadists and the intensification of the civil war, creates security and political uncertainty.

Rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham drive along a street in al-Rashideen, Aleppo province, Syria November 29, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Mahmoud Hasano)

Sa’ar in discussion with counterparts worldwide

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has recently engaged in a series of discussions with his European and American counterparts, raising the Kurdish issue and emphasizing the necessity of supporting them.

Last week, Sa’ar participated in the foreign ministers’ conference in Malta, during which he met, among others, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while on Sunday evening, Sa’ar spoke with his British counterpart, David Lammy.

The message conveyed by Sa’ar, both in meetings in Malta and in his discussion with Lammy, was that the international community must ensure the safety of the Kurds against attacks by extremist Islamists.

Israel surprised by Syrian rebels’ victory, downfall of Assad

Author: Rhonda Published: December 8, 2024

December 8, 2024

Syrians against President Bashar al-Assad tear down a poster bearing his image (Screenshot/X)

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli intelligence agencies were caught off-guard by the speed and success of the rebels’ takeover of Syria, after the anti-government militias officially declared victory in ousting President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday.

According to Hebrew-language outlet Yediot Ahronot, Israel intelligence indicated that Assad’s grip on power in the country, which has been ravaged by more than a decade of civil war, was stable.

Bolstered by support from Russian and Iran, Assad’s position as the leader of Syria was not seriously threatened by the rebels, Israeli intelligence believed.

For years, Russia provided intense military support to Assad, including conducting airstrikes on rebel groups and helping retake major cities, such as Palmyra, after they were captured by militias.

Iran directed Hezbollah, its proxy group, to fight against the rebels in Syria in order to protect Assad.

But with Russian forces stretched thin due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and Hezbollah suffering unprecedented blows during the conflict with Israel, Assad’s strongest supporters did not provide the backing he needed to crush the rebel offensive.

“Tehran and Moscow did not foresee the collapse of the regime, but neither did Israel’s intelligence agencies or the Mossad see anything like that on the horizon,” Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal wrote on his X account.

“With all due respect to our intelligence services, the Israeli assessment should have been better.”

Israel is now grappling with unanticipated security concerns, as the Assad regime was toppled and the rebels are now in control of much of the country.

It’s widely understood that many of the rebel forces are funded and supported by Turkey, which has expressed major hostility towards Israel since the outbreak of the war against Hamas.

Additionally, many rebel leaders adhere to an Islamist ideology, with some of the groups absorbed into the wider anti-Assad movement originating as offshoots of Al-Qaeda.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar warned the rebels that they are obligated to abide by existing security arrangements between Israel and Syria, or risking facing consequences from the IDF.

Sa’ar noted that in recent days, armed militants had “entered the buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border with Israel,” saying that constituted a violation of a May 1974 agreement to keep the area free of Israeli or Syrian troops.

The presence of armed rebels near the Israeli border constitutes a threat to Israel’s security, particularly the communities of the Golan Heights.

Sa’ar stressed that Israel would act to protect its citizens and assets, but added that Jerusalem “will not intervene in the internal conflict in Syria.”