TEL AVIV, December 8. /TASS/. Israel has delivered a series of strikes at dozens of targets in Syria, the Kan radio station reported.
According to its sources, the targets included multiple missile launchers, ballistic missile production shops and depots, as well as air defense systems. The strikes were geared to "ensure further freedom action for Israel in Syria’s skies," Kan said.
Meanwhile, The Times of Israel said, citing its sources in the defense sector that Israeli strikes on Syria were "very intensive," involving dozens of Israeli warplanes. The strikes in particular targeted "strategic facilities that could be seized by elements that are hostile to Israel" after the change of power in Syria.
The Israel Defense Forces have been unavailable for comments.
Syria’s armed opposition units launched a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates on November 27. By December 7, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s opponents had seized several large cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, and Homs. On Sunday morning, they entered Damascus and government troops withdrew from the city. Following intra-Syrian talks, President Assad stepped down and fled the country.
On Sunday morning, Israel officially announced the deployment of its forces in the buffer zone on the border with Syria. According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this was a temporary measure taken in light of the recent developments in neighboring Syria. The Israeli prime minister said that the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Israel and Syria, which envisaged that only UN peacekeepers could be deployed to the buffer zone, has collapsed after the Syrian army withdrew from its positions in border areas following the change of power in Damascus and Israel took these positions to avert potential security threats.