Israel appeared to be continuing its aerial campaign in Syria on Monday, targeting weaponry that Jerusalem feared could fall into the hands of hostile forces in light of the dramatic fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime on Sunday.
Two Syrian security sources said on Monday that Israeli planes bombed at least three major Syrian army air bases that housed dozens of helicopters and jets in the biggest such wave of strikes on air bases since Assad was toppled.
The strikes hit Qamishli air base in northeast Syria, Shinshar base in the countryside of Homs, and Aqrba airport southwest of the capital Damascus, the sources said.
The reports came after Israel Air Force strikes on Sunday hit advanced missile storage sites, air defense systems, weapon production facilities, and chemical weapons sites, and also took out planes, helicopters, and tanks that belonged to the Assad regime’s military.
The 50-year-old 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.
The number of strikes carried out by Israel on Syrian military infrastructure since Sunday is believed to lie at around 250.
Western intelligence sources believe that around 300 strikes have been carried out against Syrian military targets, the Ynet news site reported, adding that if the strikes continue at their current pace, officials believe the Syrian Air Force will be all but destroyed in a matter of days, ensuring that the rebel groups, and any future government, will not be able to threaten Israel from the air.
A Britain-based war monitor told AFP that Israel had conducted more than 100 airstrikes on military targets in Syria on Monday, including a research center Western countries suspected of having links to chemical weapons production in Damascus.
“Israeli warplanes launched over 100 strikes in Syria today, including on the Barzah scientific research center,” Rami Abdel Rahman who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP, reporting “increased Israeli strikes to destroy the former regime’s military capabilities.”
There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces on the Monday strikes.
SOHR, run by a single person, has regularly been accused by Syrian war analysts of false reporting and inflating casualty numbers as well as inventing them wholesale.
On Monday evening, three witnesses in Barzeh, north of Damascus, told Reuters that there were at least two explosions in the area, where the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre has an office.
The SSRC has been sanctioned and previously struck for its links to chemical weapons production under the Assad regime.
Al Jazeera also reported Israeli airstrikes targeting the Qabr Essit Airport south of Damascus, which was used by the ousted army for helicopters.
A short while earlier, reports in Syria claimed that the IAF had bombed the Latakia port, targeting naval assets belonging to the toppled regime.
Syrian media also reported Israeli strikes in Da’ara in southern Syria early on Monday, with unverified footage of the strikes posted to social media appearing to show secondary explosions, indicating that weapons were stored in the buildings targeted.
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