Israel strikes Syria 480 times, destroys strategic weapon

Jerusalem: The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has prompted Israel to launch airstrikes targeting military targets across Syria and deploy ground troops both into and beyond a demilitarised buffer zone for the first time in 50 years, media reports said on Wednesday.

The Israeli military on Tuesday said it had carried out about 480 strikes across the country over the past two days, hitting most of Syria’s strategic weapon stockpiles, CNN reported.

According to reports, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli navy had destroyed the Syrian fleet overnight, hailing the operation as “a great success.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had hailed the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime as “a new and dramatic chapter.”

During a rare press conference, Netanyahu said, “The collapse of the Syrian regime is a direct result of the severe blows with which we have struck Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.”

'The axis has not yet disappeared, but as I promised, we are changing the face of the Middle East,' he added.

According to media reports, Voice of the Capital, a Syrian activist group, said the overnight bombing campaign was “the most violent in Damascus in 15 years.”

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said, 'Of the 480 strikes carried out by the Israeli Air Force, about 350 were manned aircraft strikes targeting airfields, anti-aircraft batteries, missiles, drones, fighter jets, tanks, and weapon production sites in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, and Palmyra.'

The rest of the strikes were in support of ground operations that targeted weapons depots, military structures, launchers, and firing positions.

The IDF also said its ships struck two Syrian naval facilities, where 15 vessels were docked. Dozens of sea-to-sea missiles were said to have been destroyed.

Israeli officials have revelled in the downfall of Assad, a staunch ally of Iran who allowed his country to be used as a resupply route for Hezbollah in Lebanon. But they also fear what could come from radical Islamists governing Syria, which borders Israel in the occupied Golan Heights, the report said.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told journalists on Monday that Israel was bombing Syrian military facilities housing chemical weapons stocks and long-range missiles to prevent them from falling “into the hands of extremists.”

“With regard to what will be in the future, I’m not a prophet,” he said.

Meanwhile, the IDF also confirmed it had troops operating in Syrian territory beyond the buffer zone bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.