Israeli forces strike Syria 480 times and acquire territory as Netanyahu pledges to change the Middle East’s surroundings

Israel has begun airstrikes at military targets throughout Syria and sent ground forces into and beyond a demilitarized buffer zone for the first time in fifty years in retaliation for the fall of the Assad regime.

Defense Minister Israel Katz declared the Israeli navy had destroyed the Syrian fleet overnight, calling the operation “a great success.” The Israeli military said Tuesday that it had carried out roughly 480 strikes throughout the country over the previous two days, hitting the majority of Syria’s strategic weapon stockpiles.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, had celebrated the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government as “a new and dramatic chapter” just a day before.

He stated during a rare news conference on Monday that “the severe blows with which we have struck Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran are a direct result of the collapse of the Syrian regime.” “As I promised, we are transforming the Middle East, but the axis has not yet vanished.”

Israeli leaders have celebrated the overthrow of Assad, a close supporter of Iran who allowed his nation to serve as a resupply route for Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, they are equally concerned about the potential consequences of extreme Islamists ruling Syria, which borders Israel in the occupied Golan Heights.

Israel is striking Syrian military installations that store chemical weapons and long-range missiles to keep them from falling “into the hands of extremists,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told reporters on Monday.

“I am not a prophet with respect to the future,” he declared. “It is crucial to take all necessary actions in the context of Israel’s security at this time.”

Following strikes that started over the weekend, a CNN crew in Damascus heard tremendous explosions throughout the early hours of Tuesday. The Syrian opposition group Voice of the Capital described the nocturnal bombing campaign as “the most violent in Damascus in 15 years”.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that about 350 of the 480 attacks carried out by the Israeli Air Force were manned aircraft strikes that targeted airfields, anti-aircraft batteries, missiles, drones, fighter planes, tanks, and weapon production centers in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, and Palmyra. The remaining strikes supported ground operations that targeted military installations, fire positions, launchers, and weapons stores.

Additionally, the IDF reported that Israeli ships struck two Syrian naval installations, which were home to fifteen ships. Reports indicated the destruction of dozens of sea-to-sea missiles.

AFP journalists acquired images of Syrian military helicopters burned at the Mezzeh Air Base southwest of Damascus and large-scale devastation of military vessels at the Syrian naval port in Latakia.

Several Arab nations have accused Israel of using Syria’s turmoil to carry out a land grab.

Egypt claimed that Israel’s actions “constitute an exploitation of the state of fluidity and vacuum… to occupy more Syrian territories,” while the Arab League, an organization of Arab countries, claimed that Israel was “taking advantage of the developments in the internal situation in Syria.”

Israeli military spokeswoman Nadav Shoshani acknowledged that forces were operating in Syria outside of the buffer zone but denied that they were “advancing toward” Damascus. It “is not interfering with the internal events in Syria,” according to the Israeli military.

Israel is establishing a “security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructures” in southern Syria, “beyond the buffer zone,” Katz said in a statement on Monday.

On Tuesday, Voice of the Capital said that Israeli forces had moved as far as Beqaasem, which is a few kilometers beyond the Syrian side of the buffer zone and roughly 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the Syrian capital. The village is located in the Syrian foothills of Mount Hermon, which Israeli soldiers took on Sunday; however, CNN was unable to independently verify the assertion. Situated on the boundary between Syria, Lebanon, and the Golan Heights, Mount Hermon is a strategically important high point.