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Late on February 18, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had carried out airstrikes against several weapon sites belonging to the former Syrian regime in southern Syria.
The military releases footage of the strikes, which took place some 20 kilometers from Israel’s border. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the strikes targeted the outskirts of the town of Sasa to the south of the capital, Damascus. No casualties were reported by the London-based monitoring group.
The strikes had targeted Syrian tanks used to store weapons, according to military sources. In the footage, at least four armored vehicles can be seen targeted in the strikes.
In addition to the strikes, the SOHR said that IDF tanks shelled multiple areas within the Yarmouk Valley in the western Daraa countryside.
Also on the same day, an Israeli armored force advanced towards the town of Bariqa in the southern al-Quneitra countryside. The very next day, another force stormed the town of Aabdyn in the same region and ordered the locals to hand over all weapons and to stop any constructions.
The IDF launched a military operation in southern Syria just hours after the fall of the regime of president Bashar al-Assad last December. Israeli forces invaded the buffer zone adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights and set up five strategic sites there, including one atop of the summit of Mount Hermon.
Hundreds of Israeli strikes also hit key bases and equipment of the former Syrian Arab Army. As a result, most of the country’s ballistic missile stockpiles, air defense systems, warplanes and warships were wiped out.
While Israel stated at first that its operation in Syria will be temporary, recent statements by senior Israeli officials indicate that the IDF will continue to operate in the war-torn country for the rest of the year and possibly beyond.
Syria’s transnational government has condemned Israel’s actions, but stopped short from retaliating due to the current fragile status of the country.
With the conflicts in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon nearing their end, Israel could shift its attention towards Syria. A large-scale Israeli invasion with the aim of controlling the country’s borders with Lebanon and Iraq, or even to occupy Damascus, is very possible.
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