Israel’s military said on Sunday it had been conducting “operational strikes” on Syria’s Mount Hermon in recent weeks, continuing a military campaign on Syrian soil that has drawn growing international condemnation.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based Syrian war monitor, also reported airstrikes around the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, attributing them to the Israeli army. The strikes targeted an ammunition depot used by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in a rebel offensive last month, the Observatory said. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the airstrikes.
Israel’s continued military operations in Syria, which it said on Sunday were aimed at “strengthening the defense of Israeli citizens”, have drawn accusations from the United Nations and some member states that Israel is violating a decades-long ceasefire by sending its troops inside and outside the buffer zone between the countries .
The raids came just days after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said he met with members of the UN peacekeeping mission on the border between Syria and Israel. The UN Disengagement Observer Force, known as UNDOFit was established by the Security Council in 1974 to maintain a ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian forces after the 1973 war and to monitor the buffer zone that the agreement established.
After rebel forces in Syria suddenly toppled the Assad regime last month, Israeli ground forces advanced in and out of the demilitarized zone, marking their first open entry into the country in half a century and prompting UN Secretary-General António Guterres to condemn Israel’s violations of the 1974 agreement.
Mr. Sa’ar said in a statement that “extremist armed groups” had attacked peacekeepers in the buffer zone, violating the ceasefire. UNDOF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claims.
Israel’s attacks in Syria complicate an already complex situation there, as the new Syrian leadership tries to rebuild a nation devastated by more than a decade of civil war and gain international recognition.
Ahmed al-Shara, the rebel commander who led the coalition that ousted Mr. al-Assad and who took over as the country’s interim leader, criticized the Israeli military’s actions in Syria in an interview with The New York Times and other news outlets in December, shortly after took power. He said Syria would continue to abide by the 1974 ceasefire agreement and called on the international community to ensure Israel followed suit.
But Israel has repeatedly signaled that it plans to stay in Syria for as long as it deems necessary. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did Visit in December on Mount Hermon, which Israeli troops captured last month, said they would remain in the country “until another agreement is found that guarantees Israel’s security.”
His Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, who accompanied the Prime Minister on the visit, he said that the Israeli military presence there serves as a “deterrent from the rebels in Damascus, who claim to represent a moderate face, but are among the most extreme Islamist movements.”
Mr. al-Shara’s rebel faction, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was once affiliated with Al Qaeda but broke with the group in 2017. The United States, the United Nations and others have designated it a terrorist organization, but some countries say they may consider removing that designation. The decision, they say, will depend on whether there will be a democratic transition in Syria and whether the rebel leaders will show respect for minority groups.
In recent weeks, Mr. al-Shara sought to portray himself as a diplomat focused on rebuilding his country, meeting with officials from the United States as well as those from European and Middle Eastern countries.
There are some indications that the new Syrian government would also welcome relations with Israel. The newly appointed governor of Damascus, Maher Marwan, d interview for NPR in late December she called on the United States to use its influence with Israel to encourage the establishment of diplomatic relations.
For now, however, Israel appears to be more focused on military action.
In addition to the incursion of Israeli ground troops into Syria, the Israeli military also carried out intense airstrikes there, war observers say, both before and after the fall of Mr. al-Assad. In a report released Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented more than 370 Israeli attacks in Syria last year, most of which have arrived in recent weeks.
