The Lebanese Al-Mayadeen network, which has links to Hezbollah, reported this morning that Israeli tanks are now positioned around 20 kilometers from Damascus, the capital of Syria. Other sources confirmed that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have secured control over nine villages on the southern edge of Damascus, near the Lebanese border. Meanwhile, reports indicated that the IDF has carried out widespread airstrikes in the Damascus region. Earlier reports from Syrian media stated that Israeli jets targeted the Al-Shuairat military airport, located east of Homs, and Syrian army sites in the Raqqa and Al-Hasakah provinces.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition group, revealed earlier that Israel had hit over 250 targets across Syria within just 48 hours, following the collapse of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. According to sources who spoke with Fox News on Monday night, Israel and the United States are capitalizing on the grounding of Russian fighter jets that had been stationed in Syria.
On Sunday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) carried out a series of targeted airstrikes against known ISIS camps and terrorist cells in central Syria. “The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, in order to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria,” CENTCOM stated. The operation involved striking more than 75 targets with various US Air Force aircraft, including B-52 bombers, F-15 fighters, and A-10 attack planes. The IDF also took control of the Syrian Golan Heights in a bid to shield Israel from the repercussions of the ongoing fighting after Syrian rebels dismantled the Assad regime.
On Monday, Israel’s Defense Minister Yisroel Katz instructed the IDF to expand its control over additional areas in the Syrian buffer zone and to capitalize on its strategic gains. Katz also directed the IDF to establish a secure zone, free from significant weapons and terrorist infrastructure, in the southern region near the buffer area, which could pose a threat to Israel. Additionally, Katz ordered efforts to engage with the local Druze community and other populations in the area.
{Matzav.com Israel}
