DAMASCUS: A war monitor said on Tuesday that Israel had conducted 300 strikes on Syria since the fall of president Bashar al Assad, adding that the raids had "destroyed the most important military sites" in the country. Abu Mohammed al Jolani, the leader who headed the offensive that forced Assad out, has begun talks on a transfer of power and vowed to pursue former senior government officials responsible for torture and war crimes.
Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes on Syria since the civil war began in 2011 following Assad's crackdown on a democracy movement. Since his ouster, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had recorded more than 300 Israeli strikes. Journalists in the capital Damascus heard loud explosions on Tuesday.
On Monday, Israel said it had struck "remaining chemical weapons or long-range missiles and rockets in order that they will not fall in the hands of extremists". The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources around Syria, said Israeli strikes had "destroyed the most important military sites in Syria". The group said the strikes targeted weapons depots, boats from the Assad government's navy, and a research centre that Western countries suspected of having links to chemical weapons production. Journalists on Tuesday saw the defence research centre had been destroyed. Strikes also targeted the electronic warfare administration, the Observatory said.
Israel, which borders Syria, also sent troops into a buffer zone east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights after Assad's fall, in what Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described as a "limited and temporary step" for "security reasons". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel for almost 60 years, would perpetually remain part of Israel. Israel backer the United States said the incursion must be "temporary", after the United Nations said Israel was violating a 1974 deal. The Israeli military on Tuesday denied reports that its tanks were advancing towards Damascus, insisting that its forces were stationed within the buffer zone.
The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called on Israel to halt its military movements and bombardments. "This needs to stop. This is extremely important," he said.
After Assad for years deployed all the means at his government's disposal to put down the revolt, including air strikes and even chemical attacks on rebel bastions, it was ultimately a lightning offensive launched on November 27 that ousted him.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed on Tuesday that the military had hit several Syrian naval vessels in overnight strikes. "The IDF (military) has been operating in Syria in recent days to strike and destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel. The navy operated last night to destroy the Syrian fleet with great success," Katz said during a visit to a naval base in the northern city of Haifa. — AFP
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