Bilal Al Hammoud / EPA
Destruction in the port of Latakia, Syria, near the border with Turkey, after shelling
Israel dropped hundreds of bombs on the Syrian capital. As soon as the victory for the fall of the al-Assad regime was being proclaimed, Netanyahu already had other plans: he wants the Golan Heights “for all eternity”. To help with the chaos, the US and Turkey come together.
This Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel for almost 60 years, they will continue to be part of Israel “for all eternity.”
The statements cited by the were made amid growing criticism of the Israeli takeover of the previously demilitarized buffer zone in Syrian-controlled territory.
Netanyahu further stated that the Israeli control of the territory “guarantees security and sovereignty” of Israel, therefore “it will be part of the State of Israel forever”.
Over the weekend, Netanyahu ordered troops to move into a UN-patrolled buffer zone and attacked by air what he said were regime arms depotsat a time when the Syrian rebels’ victory over Bashar al-Assad reshapes the region’s front lines.
The UN, on Monday, denounced that the action constitutes a violation of the 1974 Israel and Syria withdrawal agreement.
Thousands of Israelis currently live in the Golan Heights areaalong with around 20,000 Syrians, mostly Druze, who remained in the area after it was taken, says .
Netanyahu said on the same day that the Israeli occupation of the buffer zone was a “temporary defensive position until an adequate solution is found”, and assured that if Israel manages to “establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces that are emerging in Syria, that is our desire”.
“But If we are unable to do so, we will do whatever is necessary to defend the State of Israel and Israel’s borders” warned the prime minister.
According to what the BBC writes, Israeli warplanes would have carried out hundreds of airstrikes across Syriaincluding in the capital, Damascus, since Sunday, when in the country.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) shared with the BBC that documented more than 310 attacks by the Israeli Defense Forces since the fall of the Assad regime.
According to SOHR, the attacks covered Aleppo, Damascus and Hamawith more than 60 occurring overnight, between Monday and Tuesday alone.
Rami Abdul Rahmanfounder of SOHR, described the impact of the attacks as destructive to “all capabilities of the Syrian army” and assured that “Syrian lands are being violated.”
To add to all this, in addition to Israeli action, Turkish-backed rebels launched an offensive against US-backed Kurdish forces on the northern border with Turkey, and the Americans have carried out dozens of airstrikes against Islamic State targets in the vast Syrian desert, reports The Guardian.
US Central Command said on Sunday that the attacks were aimed at “disrupting, degrading and defeating the Islamic State in order to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that the Islamic State does not attempt to take advantage of the crisis situation.”
On Monday, the UN Chemical Observatory alerted Syrian authorities to the need to ensure the safety of stocks of chemical weapons. It is not known where or how many chemical weapons Syria possesses, but it is believed that former President Bashar al-Assad kept some stocks. Now, it looks like they may be necessary.
