Israel launches 480 strikes in Syria, moves troops beyond buffer zone

RYAN ROBERTSON: After the fall of Syrian President slash Dictator Bashar Assad, Israel is on the offensive– carrying out 480 strikes in Syria in the two days following the collapse of Assad’s government.

Israeli troops also deployed into and beyond the Golan Heights, a demilitarized zone Israel has administered for over 50 years. A Syrian activist group reported Tuesday Israeli troops made it to a town about 15 miles outside of Damascus, Syria’s capital 

A spokesperson for Israeli forces told CNN that they were operating beyond the buffer zone but not advancing toward Damascus.

Israeli leaders are celebrating the fall of Assad’s government, which received backing from Iran. With no one and nothing to defend them, Israel is working to destroy Syrian weapons, airfields, and manufacturing sites.

Israeli strikes already destroyed most of Syria’s strategic weapons stockpiles and sites where chemical weapons were reportedly held. Speaking with journalists Monday, the Israeli foreign minister said he hoped it would prevent the weapons from falling, quote, “into the hands of extremists.”

Many of the strikes centered on the port city of Latakia, home to Syria’s navy. It’s the same city where the U.S.–and other nations– struck a research facility that was also believed to be linked to chemical weapons.

The Latakia region is also a center for Syria’s minority group of Alawite Muslims. Assad and his father were both Alawite. But people in the region brought down a statue of Hafez Assad, the former president’s father and predecessor.

The rebels who overthrew Assad’s government are now establishing a government of their own. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the rebel government could pay a big price if it allows Iran to operate in Syria or provides weapons to Hezbollah, the anti-Israel militant group in neighboring Lebanon. But, the one thing all the rebel groups do have in common–they hate Iran and its meddling in Syria. 

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Ryan Robertson.

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