Israeli forces launched a series of airstrikes targeting military sites, including military bases and ammunition depots, in Syria’s western coastal governorates of Latakia and Tartus on Sunday, December 15 and Monday, December 16.
According to Al Mayadeen, the airstrikes resulted in massive explosions that caused an earthquake-like tremor, and left several civilians killed and injured. The aerial attacks on the Syrian coast have been described as “the heaviest strikes” in the area in more than a decade.
Earlier on Sunday, a number of Israeli airstrikes reportedly targeted military facilities in the rural area of Syria’s eastern governorate of Deir ez-Zor, including a military airbase where Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces were stationed, a bridge connecting seven villages to the western bank of the Euphrates River, and military barracks belonging to Division 17 of the Syrian Arab Army.
After former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown, Israel launched a fierce campaign of airstrikes on Syrian military sites and assets, on the pretext of allegedly keeping them out of “the hands of extremists,” referring to the armed groups who toppled al-Assad. However, Israel has also targeted non-military facilities, which indicates its endeavors to destroy Syria’s infrastructure.
Israel is expanding its de facto occupation of the Golan Heights
In addition to the bridge that the Israeli Occupation forces (IOF) destroyed in Deir ez-Zor, they also demolished streets, water networks, power lines and electricity poles, and cut down trees in Quneitra governorate in southern Syria. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned Israel’s destructive actions in Quneitra considering them as ethnic cleansing practices, which aim at making the area uninhabitable as has been done in Gaza, specially after the IOF reportedly demanded residents of Quneitra to leave the area.
On Thursday, December 12, IOF forced residents of Hamidiyah village in the rural areas of Quneitra to evacuate their houses, while they searched houses in Um Batna village. One day later, IOF officials reportedly met with community leaders in Quneitra after the invasion, raising their concerns on further repercussions that may result from the presence of Israeli troops in their areas.
These concerns have aggravated after the Israeli government unanimously approved a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to expand illegal settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights on Sunday, December 15.
Jordan denounced the approval of the plan on Monday, December 16, describing the move as a “reinforcement of the occupation and a blatant violation of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.”
Syrian transitional government will not engage in conflict with Israel
While Israel has been expanding into sovereign Syrian territory and carrying out attacks on Syria’s military assets and infrastructure on almost a daily basis, the Syrian transitional government has expressed unwillingness to engage in any conflict with Israel due to the exhaustion the country has endured after several years of civil war and conflict.
The commander-in-chief of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the head of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed al-Shar’a, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani said on Saturday: “We are not looking to engage in a conflict with Israel and cannot bear such a battle.” Al-Julani’s statement was perceived by analysts as a reassuring message to Israel, although he was quoted saying that Israel has “no more excuses” to stay on Syrian soil.
Al-Assad broke his silence about his overthrow
As developments in Syria are still unfolding, many questions have remained unanswered about the surprising overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Following more than one week of his ouster and departure from Syria, statements attributed to Al-Assad were released on Monday, on the Syrian Presidency Telegram account.
Al-Assad said that he was not able to deliver these statements earlier due to “complete communication breakdown for security reasons”. He clarified that his departure from the country was not previously planned, and that seeking asylum abroad was not an option for him and his entourage. He also emphasized that he and his family remained in Syria for 14 years since the eruption of the civil war despite all security threats and attempted incursions into the capital Damascus.
The toppled president further explained that he was fulfilling his duties in Damascus until the early hours of Sunday, December 8. Later he left for Latakia, to visit a Russian military base to “oversee combat operations”. However, according to the statement, Al-Assad soon figured out that all forces of the Syrian Arab Army had withdrawn, abandoning the frontlines and last military positions. As armed groups were launching drone-strikes on the Khmeimim airbase operated by Russia at that time, Moscow ordered an immediate evacuation of the airbase on the same day.
Al-Assad stated: “I have never sought positions for personal gain but have always considered myself as a custodian of a national project, supported by the faith of the Syrian people, who believed in its vision”.
Despite Al-Assad’s strenuous attempts to justify the sudden overthrow of his administration, the situation on the ground foreshadows one reality; Syria has fallen in the grip of voracious and extremist groups, who have declared that they will not put any obstacles in the way of the Zionist state to achieve the “Greater Israel” project.
