ISRAELI TANKS reached the southwestern Syrian city of Quneitra yesterday, three kilometres away from the town of Qatana, near Damascus.
Israel started the push to expand its occupation of Syria on Sunday, after foreign-backed militants, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), announced the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government following a rapid two-week offensive that led to the capture of Damascus.
Israeli forces seized the buffer zone that separates the occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria in violation of a 1974 disengagement agreement between the Tel Aviv regime and Damascus.
They also captured the strategic Mount Hermon in Golan, which provides high ground for the entire area.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Syrian Golan Heights will remain part of the occupied territories ‘for eternity’.
‘We condemn the fact that Israel has entered Syrian territory and taken control of the buffer zone,’ Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said.
Similarly, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said: ‘The seizure of the buffer zone in the Golan Heights… confirms Israel’s continued violation of the rules of international law, and its determination to sabotage Syria’s chances of restoring its security, stability and territorial integrity.’
Israeli media reported that the regime has carried out nearly 300 air raids on Syria over the past two days.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement called on the international community to take action against Israel, as its military presence in Syria further destabilises the country.
‘The ongoing crimes committed by the Zionist enemy on Syrian territory, whether through the occupation of additional lands in the Golan Heights or by striking and destroying the defensive capabilities of the Syrian state, constitute blatant aggression and a brazen violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian state and people,’ it said.
‘While condemning these attacks, (we) warn of the consequences of their continuation. We also call on the international community, particularly the Arab and Islamic worlds, to take a firm stance against these crimes.’
In its statement, Hezbollah said Israel’s occupation of Syrian land takes place amid daily violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon and its bloody assaults on the Gaza Strip in Palestine.
Israel’s actions place people in West Asia in imminent danger, the resistance group warned, underscoring the need for unity in confronting the usurping regime.
- The Israeli Navy has carried out a large-scale operation to destroy Syria’s naval fleet, with the Israeli public broadcaster saying attacks targeted numerous Syrian Navy ships carrying sea-to-sea missiles in the ports of al-Beida and Latakia.
The Israeli army claims that the attacks are to prevent the fleet’s capabilities and weapons falling into the hands of armed groups.
According to Israeli media, the army launched attacks against at least 300 targets across Syria, including airbases and other capabilities.
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