Israel bombed Syria 300 times fall

On Tuesday, a war monitor reported that Israel had launched 300 strikes on Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, “destroying the most important military sites” in the country.Israel bombed Syria 300 times fall

After five decades of brutal rule by his clan ended on Sunday, Assad fled Syria as an Islamist-led rebel alliance took Damascus.

The Islamist leader who overthrew Assad, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has begun power transfer talks and vowed to prosecute former senior government officials for torture and war crimes.

Although it has moderated its rhetoric, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria, is banned by many Western governments as a terrorist organisation.

The fall of Assad, whose clan had zero tolerance for dissent and maintained a complex web of prisons and detention centres to keep Syrians on the Baath party line, sparked celebrations across the country and in the diaspora worldwide.

The Syrian civil war killed 500,000 people and displaced half the country, with millions fleeing abroad.

The country faces profound uncertainty after the collapse of a government that ran every aspect of daily life in the image of Assad and his father, from whom the ousted president inherited power.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on Syria since the civil war began in 2011 after Assad suppressed a democratic movement.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported over 300 Israeli strikes since his ouster.

On Tuesday, AFP journalists in Damascus heard loud explosions but could not confirm their source or scope.

‘Most important military sites’

Israel said it struck “remaining chemical weapons or long-range missiles and rockets in order to not fall in the hands of extremists” on Monday.

The Observatory, which uses sources across Syria, said Israeli strikes “destroyed the most important military sites in Syria”.

The group claimed the strikes targeted weapons depots, Assad navy boats, and a chemical weapons research centre suspected by Western nations.

Israel attacked an air defence facility near Latakia, damaging Syrian naval ships and military warehouses.

Strikes hit military installations, research centres, and the electronic warfare administration in Damascus.

AFP journalists in Damascus were unable to get Syrian comments on the Israeli strikes two days after Assad’s escape.

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the deployment of troops into a buffer zone east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights a “limited and temporary step” for “security reasons” after Assad’s fall.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the Golan Heights, occupied for almost 60 years, would always be part of Israel.

After the UN accused Israel of violating a 1974 deal, Israel’s backer, the US, called the incursion “temporary”.

“Israel says these actions are temporary to defend its borders. These are temporary actions, so we want lasting stability between Israel and Syria, which means we support all sides upholding the 1974 disengagement agreement, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Hezbollah, which supported Assad, condemned the strikes late Monday and accused Israel of “occupying more land in the Golan Heights”.

Iran, Israel’s archenemy and Hezbollah supporter, called the Israeli military’s buffer zone incursion a “violation” of law.

After years of air strikes and chemical attacks on rebel bastions, Assad was overthrown by a lightning offensive on November 27.

The rebels resumed their campaign in northern Syria the day a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war, which killed thousands in Lebanon, took effect.

Israel inflicted massive losses on Hezbollah, which had supported Assad’s government in Syria and received weapons from Iran for years.

‘Power transfer’

On Tuesday, Islamist leader Jolani, now Ahmed al-Sharaa, said: “We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people.”

We will reward anyone who provides information about senior army and security officers involved in war crimes,” he said, adding that the incoming authorities would seek the return of exiled officials.

According to Telegram, Jolani met with outgoing prime minister Mohammed al-Jalali on Monday “to coordinate a transfer of power that guarantees the provision of services” to Syria’s people.

The ouster of Assad has prompted families to search for the tens of thousands of people in jails and detention centres.

As they approached Damascus, rebels released thousands of detainees, but many more remain missing.

AFP correspondents reported that a large crowd searched Monday for relatives who had spent years in the Saydnaya jail outside Damascus, a jail known for Assad’s worst atrocities.

In search of her 2012-arrested brother, Aida Taha, 65, said, “I ran like crazy” to the prison.

Fadwa Mahmoud, whose husband and son are missing, requested help on social media.