TEL AVIV, February 19. /TASS/. Israel’s air force has carried out a strike on southern Syria, the press service of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
According to the army press service, it targeted the hardware used by the Syrian armed forces during the rule of the country’s former President Bashar Assad.
"A short while ago, the IAF struck weapons belonging to the old Syrian regime in the area of Sasa in southern Syria," the press service said in a statement. "The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel," it added.
In late November 2024, members of armed opposition groups launched a major offensive against government positions in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates. By December 7, opposition forces had captured several major cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Deraa, and Homs. They entered Damascus on December 8, prompting the withdrawal of Syrian army units from the city. On the same day, the Israeli military seized control of the Syrian side of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights without facing resistance. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the 1974 power-sharing agreement with Syria was no longer valid since Syrian forces had vacated the area following the change of power in Damascus. On December 12, the Israeli army press service reported that the air force had destroyed over 90% of the identified stockpile of surface-to-air missiles in a series of large-scale strikes on Syria.