ISRAEL has attacked more than 250 targets in Syria overnight, with one Israeli security source describing it as “one of the largest attack operations in the history” of the country’s Air Force.
Israel, who are currently continuously bombarding Gaza and southern Lebanon, said it is targeting and destroying chemical weapons in Syria to avoid them falling into the hands of “extremists”.
SOHR, the war monitor, says Israeli attacks in southwestern Syria earlier on Monday killed at least two civilians. Israeli officials rarely acknowledge individual strikes.
An Israeli security source told the Israeli Army Radio that Israel’s military attacked more than 250 targets in Syria in what he described as “one of the largest attack operations in the history” of the country’s Air Force.
The Observatory, and Beirut-based Mayadeen TV, which has reporters in Syria, said Israeli troops are advancing up the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon. It was not possible to independently confirm the reports.
An Israeli military official said troops plan to seize a buffer zone inside Syria as well as “a few more points that have strategic meaning,” without elaborating.
Photographs circulating online showed destroyed missile launchers, helicopters and warplanes.
There was no immediate comment from the insurgent groups – led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS – that have taken control of Damascus.
Israel had earlier seized a roughly 155-square-mile buffer zone inside Syria that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war, a move it said was taken to prevent attacks in the aftermath of the overthrow of President Bashar Assad.
Israel has a long history of seizing territory during wars with its neighbours and occupying it indefinitely, citing security concerns.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognised internationally, except by the United States.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has closely tracked the conflict since the civil war erupted nearly 14 years ago, said Israel has carried out more than 300 airstrikes across the country since rebels overthrew Assad over the weekend, ending his family’s half-century rule.
Qatar, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia have condemned Israel’s incursion, accusing it of exploiting the disarray in Syria and violating international law.
“The assaults carried out by the Israeli occupation government, including the seizure of the buffer zone in the Golan Heights, and the targeting of Syrian territory confirm Israel’s continued violation of the principles of international law and its determination to sabotage Syria’s chances of restoring its security, stability and territorial integrity,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
