Getty ImagesIsrael confirmed that it carried out assaults towards the Syrian naval fleet.
The BBC has verified movies exhibiting explosions on the port of Latakia in Syria, with footage showing to indicate intensive injury to ships and elements of the port.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says it has documented greater than 310 assaults by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for the reason that fall of the Assad regime on Sunday.
Israeli warplanes have reportedly carried out tons of of airstrikes throughout Syria, together with the capital Damascus.
In an announcement, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz mentioned the IDF goals to “destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel.”
He added that the operation to destroy the Syrian fleet was a “nice success”.
In a video message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advised the Syrian insurgent group that ousted President Bashar al-Assad, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), that Israel will “reply forcefully” if it permits Iran to “reestablish itself in Syria.” Syria”.
Meanwhile, the IDF confirmed it has troops working in Syrian territory past the demilitarized buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
He added that his strikes had been supposed to forestall weapons from falling “into the arms of extremists” as Syria transitions into the post-Assad period.
The SOHR reported that the assaults affected Aleppo, Damascus and Hama, with greater than 60 occurring in a single day between Monday and Tuesday alone.
They focused Syrian military navy amenities, together with weapons warehouses, ammunition depots, airports, naval bases and analysis facilities.
Reports say that most of the affected constructions weren’t merely broken, however utterly destroyed.
Rami Abdul Rahman, the founding father of SOHR, described the affect of the assaults as destroying “all capabilities of the Syrian military” and mentioned “Syrian lands are being violated.”
Getty ImagesThe IDF acknowledged that its troops had entered Syrian territory, however advised the BBC that stories of tanks approaching Damascus had been “false”.
It mentioned some troops had been stationed inside the separation area which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights “after which some further factors”.
“When we are saying some further factors, we’re speaking in regards to the space of the Separation Area, or the realm of the buffer zone close by,” IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani advised the BBC.
BBC Verify has geolocated a picture of an IDF soldier standing simply over half a kilometer past the demilitarized buffer zone within the Golan Heights, inside Syria, on a hill close to the village of Kwdana.
On Monday, the Israeli army released photos of its troops crossing the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights into the demilitarized buffer zone in Syria, the place the United Nations peacekeeping forces are primarily based.
The IDF’s seizure of Syrian positions within the buffer zone was a “short-term defensive place till an appropriate settlement is discovered,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned on Monday.
“If we are able to set up neighborly relations and peaceable relations with the brand new forces rising in Syria, that’s our want. But if we do not, we’ll do all the pieces essential to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel,” he mentioned. mentioned on the press convention. Monday.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Israel’s entry into the buffer zone, accusing it of an “occupy mentality” in a “delicate interval, by which the opportunity of reaching the peace and stability that the Syrian individuals have desired for a few years has emerged” .
This buffer zone, also referred to as the Separation Area, was established as a part of the ceasefire settlement between Israel and Syria in 1974 to maintain Israeli and Syrian forces separated, following Israel’s earlier occupation of the Golan Heights.
Israel unilaterally annexed the Golan in 1981. The transfer was not acknowledged internationally, though the United States did so unilaterally in 2019.
Asked in regards to the IDF assaults Monday night, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar mentioned Israel solely cares about defending its residents.
“That is why we assault strategic weapons techniques, corresponding to remaining chemical weapons or long-range missiles and rockets, in order that they don’t fall into the arms of extremists,” he mentioned.
The United Nations chemical watchdog warned Syrian authorities on Monday to make sure alleged stockpiles of chemical weapons are secure.
It is just not recognized the place and what number of chemical weapons Syria has, however it’s believed that it already did President Assad stored provides.
Israel’s assaults come after Syrian insurgent fighters captured the capital, Damascus, and overthrew the Assad regime over the weekend. He and his father had been in energy within the nation since 1971.
Forces led by the Islamic opposition group HTS entered Damascus within the early hours of Sunday, earlier than showing on state tv to declare that Syria was now “free”.
Additional reporting by Ian Casey
