Israeli Jets Destroy Syrian Deadly Arsenals Before They Fall To Rebels

As Assad falls, Israeli jets destroy his deadly arsenals before they fall to rebels

Emanuel Fabian

Israeli Air Force fighter jets on Sunday struck dozens of targets across Syria, taking out weaponry that Israel feared could fall into the hands of hostile forces, in light of the dramatic fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime some two weeks into a lightning offensive by rebel groups.

Also on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces seized control of a buffer zone between the Israel-Syria border in the Golan Heights, in what it described as a temporary defensive measure.

Dozens of IAF aircraft struck numerous targets, with a focus on destroying “strategic weapons,” defense sources told The Times of Israel, describing the strikes as “very intensive.”

The weapons hit by the warplanes included advanced missile storage sites, air defense systems, and weapon production facilities, according to the defense sources. Israel also struck a chemical weapons site overnight Saturday-Sunday, according to foreign reports.

The Assad regime, which fell on Sunday after a lightning offensive by rebel forces, was an ally of the Iranian regime, and a part of its so-called Axis of Resistance against Israel.

For many years, Syria was used as a throughway for Iranian weapons, en route to terror groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon, with which Israel entered a shaky ceasefire last month.

Israel struck at least seven targets in southwest Syria on Sunday, two regional security sources told Reuters.

They included the Khalkhala air base north of Sweida city, which Syrian army troops withdrew from Saturday night. The regional sources said the army left behind a large stockpile of missiles, air defense batteries, and munitions, that were hit on Sunday.

Strikes at the Mezzeh airbase in Damascus targeted other ammunition depots, the sources told Reuters.

Footage posted to social media purported to show the large Israeli airstrikes targeting the Mezzeh airbase. The videos showed heavy bombardment of the airbase.

Later, Israel conducted another wave of at least three airstrikes in the Syrian capital, targeting a security complex and a government research center, the sources told Reuters.

Those strikes caused extensive damage to the main customs headquarters and buildings adjoining the military intelligence offices within the security complex, in the Kafr Sousa district of Damascus, the sources said, where Israel previously said Iranian scientists were developing missiles.

The research facility was also damaged, a source said.

One of the regional sources said the strikes hit infrastructure used to store sensitive military data, equipment, and guided missile parts.

Strikes were also reported in the Daraa and Suwayda Governorates, in southern Syria, according to local media.

The US also took advantage of the new reality in Syria, carrying out dozens of strikes on Islamic State targets in central Syria on Sunday.