IAF targets Syrian regime's military headquarters, radar systems in overnight raid

IAF targets Syrian regime's military headquarters, radar systems in overnight raid

AMIR BOHBOT, LIRAN HARONI

The Israel Air Force attacked military sites and Syrian regime military headquarters containing weapons in southern Syria on Monday night, the army said on Tuesday.

The army said that the operation targeted night radars and detection equipment, which could be used to build an aerial intelligence picture.

The presence of such equipment constitutes a threat to the State of Israel and IDF operations, the military explained, and the targets were attacked in order to eliminate future threats.

According to Syrian reports, these were military targets of the previous Assad regime in the villages of Jabab and Izra, in the Daraa province of southern Syria. Syrian reports claimed that these were targets that previously belonged to the 12th Brigade and the 89th Battalion in Bashar al-Assad’s army.

Through intermediaries, Israeli security officials conveyed a strong message to the new Syrian regime, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, that Israel will not allow the Sunni rebel organization HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham) to establish itself in Syrian outposts or to build new ones in southern Syria.

The officials made it clear that any such establishment would be attacked by the IDF, which would enforce by all means necessary the demilitarization of the region from armed organizations that could threaten Israel.

These messages come against the backdrop of threats from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz against the new Syrian regime, which is committing atrocities against the Alawite community and has attempted to attack members of the Druze community in several locations.