Israel attacks Syria as Netanyahu approves plan to expand Golan Heights | Syria

Israel attacked dozens of sites in Syria overnight with airstrikes, despite Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani saying his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group was not interested in conflict with Israel.

Jolani’s comments came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he had approved a plan to expand settlement building in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The latest airstrikes follow a statement by Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, that Israeli troops who captured the Golan Heights buffer zone with Syria last week would remain for the winter on Mount Hermon – known to Syrians as Jabel Sheikh – in positions they occupied . last week.

Katz’s office said in a statement that “because of what is happening in Syria, there is tremendous security importance to our retention of the summit”.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, a nom de guerre used by Ahmed al-Sharaa, told Syrian state media: “There are no excuses for any foreign intervention in Syria now that the Iranians have left. We are not about to engage in a conflict with Israel.”

Jolani said Israel was using false pretexts to justify its attacks on Syria, but that he was not interested in engaging in new conflicts as the country focused on reconstruction after the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

He added that “diplomatic solutions” were the only way to ensure stability rather than “reckless military adventures”.

Syria map

“Israeli arguments have become weak and no longer justify their recent violations. The Israelis have clearly crossed the lines of engagement in Syria, posing a threat of unjustified escalation in the region,” Jolani said.

“Syria’s war-weary state, after years of conflict and war, does not allow new confrontations. The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction.”

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israel fired 61 missiles at Syrian military sites in less than five hours on Saturday night.

Israeli airstrikes hit bases, heavy weapons, sites linked to the former Assad regime’s missile and chemical weapons programs, and destroyed Syria’s small naval force in the port of Latakia.

The continued attacks have raised concerns among diplomats and international officials, who are worried about what they fear could be a new occupation of Syrian territory and Israel’s agenda in the Syrian buffer zone.

Saudi Arabia on Sunday condemned Israel’s plan for the Golan Heights as “sabotage”. In a statement, Riyadh’s foreign ministry expressed “condemnation and condemnation” of the plan, which it called part of “continued sabotage of opportunities to restore security and stability in Syria”.

Netanyahu justified his announcement of plans to expand Israeli settlements in the part of the Golan Heights the country originally occupied in 1973 “in light of the war and the new front against Syria” and a desire to double the Israeli population in the area.

“Strengthening the Golan strengthens the state of Israel, and that is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold on to it, make it flourish and settle into it,” he said in the statement.

The UN has called on Israel to withdraw from the buffer zone, which lies between Syria and the Israeli-occupied territory. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned by the recent and widespread violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

France, Germany and Spain have also called on Israel to withdraw from the demilitarized zone.

The United Nations has said Israel is in violation of a 1974 withdrawal agreement between Israel and Syria that established the buffer zone. Israel has said the 1974 withdrawal agreement “collapsed” with the fall of the Assad regime.

In response to Jolani, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said: “We do not intervene in what is happening in Syria. We have no intention of administering Syria.”

“There was an enemy country here. Its army collapsed. There is a threat that terrorist elements will come here and we moved forward so … extreme terrorist elements will not settle close to the border with us.

“We unequivocally intervene only in that which determines the safety of Israeli citizens. The deployment along the entire border, from Mount Hermon to the junction of the Israeli-Syrian-Jordanian border, is correct.”

According to reports, among the sites hit over the weekend were military headquarters, Syrian army positions, radars and weapons depots, and assets of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, which was responsible for developing advanced weapons.

Israel also estimates that it has destroyed much of the Syrian Air Force’s infrastructure and aircraft.

Doctors also announced Sunday evening that at least 15 Palestinians had been killed and others wounded in an airstrike on a shelter for displaced people in Gaza’s Khan Younis.

The scale of the Israeli bombing campaign has surprised many Western capitals, which had believed that any Israeli attack would be limited to chemical weapons and missile sites rather than an effort aimed at the wholesale destruction of Syria’s military, which has had 70% of its military. capabilities destroyed in hundreds of attacks.

The latest Israeli airstrikes came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up talks with Jordan, Turkey and Iraq aimed at trying to shape the future of a post-Assad Syria by building consensus among regional partners and allies whose interests often diverge.

“We know that what happens inside Syria can have strong consequences far beyond its borders, from mass displacement to terrorism,” he told reporters in Aqaba, Jordan. “And we know we cannot underestimate the challenges at this moment.”

The blink also confirmed contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Blinken would not discuss details of the direct contacts with HTS, but said it was important for the United States to convey messages to the group about its behavior and how it intended to govern during a transition period.