Syrian media reports claim that Israeli warplanes have carried out numerous strikes across the country, including in the capital, Damascus.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported over 100 attacks on military targets.
Among the sites hit was a research center suspected of being linked to chemical weapon production, according to local media.
Israel states that its actions aim to prevent weapons from falling “into the hands of extremists” after the potential collapse of the Assad regime.
On Monday, the UN Security Council convened to address the situation in Syria following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad and stated that they would work on a statement in the coming days.
Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters that the council was largely unified in its commitment to preserving Syria’s territorial integrity and unity, ensuring the protection of civilians, and facilitating humanitarian aid for those in need.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported hundreds of Israeli airstrikes over the past two days, including one targeting a site in Damascus believed to be used by Iranian scientists for rocket development.
These strikes come as the UN’s chemical weapons watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), has warned Syrian authorities to secure any suspected chemical weapons stockpiles.
The OPCW defines chemical weapons as substances intentionally used to cause death or harm through their toxic properties. The use of chemical weapons is banned under international humanitarian law, regardless of the presence of a legitimate military target, due to their indiscriminate nature.
Although the exact number and location of Syria’s chemical weapons remain unknown, former President Bashar al-Assad is believed to have retained stockpiles, and his declaration was considered incomplete.
Syria signed the OPCW’s Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013, just one month after a chemical weapons attack on the suburbs of Damascus that used the nerve agent sarin, killing over 1,400 people. The shocking images of victims writhing in agony caused worldwide outrage. Western nations attributed the attack to the Syrian government, while Assad blamed the opposition.
Although the OPCW and the UN oversaw the destruction of 1,300 tonnes of chemicals declared by the Syrian government, chemical weapons attacks continued. BBC analysis from 2018 confirmed that between 2014 and 2018, chemical weapons were used at least 106 times during the Syrian civil war.
On Monday, the OPCW stated that it had reached out to Syria “to emphasize the critical importance of ensuring the safety and security of all chemical weapons-related materials and facilities” in the country.
Also on Monday, the Israeli military released photos showing its troops crossing from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights into the demilitarized buffer zone in Syria, where UN peacekeepers are stationed.
This followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement the previous day that the military had temporarily taken control of the so-called Area of Separation, asserting that the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria had “collapsed” due to the rebel takeover of the country.
The Golan Heights is a rocky plateau located about 60km (40 miles) southwest of Damascus. Israel captured the Golan from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and unilaterally annexed it in 1981, a move that was not internationally recognized, though the US did so unilaterally in 2019.
At a news conference on Monday, Israeli military spokesperson Saar stated that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had only taken “a very limited and temporary step” for “security reasons.”
He further emphasized that Israel had no interest in interfering in Syria’s internal affairs and was solely focused on protecting its citizens.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that the Israeli military would “destroy heavy strategic weapons,” including missile and air defense systems.
Israel’s recent actions follow the capture of Damascus by Syrian rebel fighters, leading to the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Assad and his father had ruled the country since 1971.
Forces led by the Islamist opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) entered Damascus early Sunday and later appeared on state television to announce that Syria was now “free.”
On Tuesday, HTS announced that the incoming authorities would publish a list of “the most senior officials involved in torturing the Syrian people.” The group also stated that it would offer rewards for information on “senior army and security officers involved in war crimes.”
The Assad regime received significant support from Hezbollah and Russia during the brutal civil war. With Hezbollah engaged in the Israel-Gaza conflict and Russia diverting its resources to the invasion of Ukraine, HTS and other rebel groups seized the opportunity, eventually capturing large areas of Syria.
During the 2011 Syrian uprising, Israel believed that, despite Assad’s alliances with Iran and Hezbollah, his regime was a lesser evil compared to what might follow.
On Sunday, Netanyahu called the fall of the Assad regime a “historic day in the Middle East” and stated that Israel would “extend a hand of peace” to Syrians who sought peaceful relations with Israel. He explained that the IDF’s presence in the buffer zone was a “temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is reached.”
“If we can establish neighborly and peaceful relations with the new forces in Syria, that is our desire. But if not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and its border,” he added.
Israel is likely to be particularly sensitive about the Golan Heights, as HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani’s family has roots in the area. Thousands of Israeli settlers now live in the region alongside approximately 20,000 Syrians, mostly Druze, who remained after it was captured.
Israeli airstrikes in Syria are not new. Israel has previously acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes in recent years targeting sites linked to Iran and allied groups like Hezbollah.
The frequency of Israeli strikes in Syria has reportedly increased since the onset of the Gaza war in October 2023, in response to cross-border attacks from Hezbollah and other groups in Lebanon and Syria targeting northern Israel.
Just last month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, reported that a series of strikes targeted a weapons depot and other sites near Palmyra, an area where families of Iran-backed militia fighters were located, killing 68 Syrian and foreign fighters.
