JERUSALEM: According to two regional security officials who spoke to Reuters on Sunday, Israel carried out three airstrikes in the Syrian capital on Sunday against a government research center and a security complex that it claims Iran has previously used to develop missiles.
The major customs headquarters and buildings next to the military intelligence offices within the security complex, which is situated in Damascus’ Kafr Sousa area, were severely damaged by the strikes, according to the sources. They added, under condition of anonymity, that the research facility was also destroyed.
According to one source, the attacks had damaged facilities that housed guided missile components, equipment, and secret military data.
According to the sources, Israel hit at least seven targets in southwest Syria earlier on Sunday, including the Khalkhala air base north of Sweida city, from which Syrian army troops had evacuated the previous evening.
The US Central Command posted on social media that strikes were conducted on “more than 75 targets utilizing a variety of US Air Force assets, such as B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s.” The strikes, according to CENTCOM, were intended to prevent the Islamic State from exploiting the present Syrian situation.
To “seize” the buffer zone
Benjamin Netanyahu gave the Israeli military orders on Sunday to “seize” the demilitarized buffer zone on the Syrian border after Bashar al-Assad was overthrown, and the Israeli military subsequently enforced a curfew in five Syrian villages in the Golan Heights.
The Israeli prime said that “Syrian forces have abandoned their positions” and that the 50-year-old “disengagement agreement” between the two nations had fallen apart.
Israeli army spokesman Lt Col Avichay Adraee sent a message on X (previously Twitter) for the people of the Syrian villages, saying, “For your security, you must stay at home and not go out until further notice.”
Netanyahu said on Sunday that he had ordered the IDF to take control of the surrounding commanding points and the buffer zone.
Following the military’s statement that it had sent troops to the region, Netanyahu made the announcement while touring the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
According to a war monitor, Syrian government soldiers have withdrawn from areas close to the Israel-held Golan since the rebel coalition, headed by the Islamist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, launched a fresh onslaught against government forces on November 27.
Israel has occupied the majority of the plateau since 1967, and in a decision that was not widely accepted by the international community, it later annexed it.
UN peacekeepers have been stationed in the buffer zone since it was created in 1974 to keep Israeli-held and Syrian territory apart.
UNDOF forces reported seeing “unidentified armed individuals in the area of separation, including approximately 20 who went into one of the mission’s positions in the northern part of the area of separation,” according to a UN Peacekeeping spokesperson on Saturday.
“Peacekeepers continue to carry out their mandated activities on the Golan,” the UN official stated.
Iranian response
Iran, a supporter of the Assad regime, stated on Sunday that the Syrian people alone should decide Syria’s future and that no outside interference or pressure should be allowed.
In order to establish an inclusive government that represents all facets of Syrian society, Iran’s foreign ministry has called for a national debate. The foreign ministry stated that it anticipated that Tehran and Damascus’ relationship would endure because of their “far-sighted and wise approach.”
However, the Saudi Al Arabiya station posted video showing attackers searching through documents and furniture at the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Sunday morning.
In the Mazzeh district, which is also home to other embassies and United Nations headquarters, an AFP photographer observed smashed glass on the floor, damaged furniture, and smashed offices.
Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokeswoman for the Iranian foreign ministry, told Tehran Times that Iranian diplomats had evacuated the embassy prior to its storming.
