The Israeli navy conducts air raids on what it described as navy bases and command centres.
The Israeli navy has carried out air raids focusing on what it described as navy bases and command centres in southern Syria and outdoors the capital, Damascus.
Israeli warplanes hit the city of Kisweh, roughly 20km (12 miles) south of Damascus, in addition to the southern province of Deraa late on Tuesday, residents, safety sources and native broadcaster Syria TV mentioned.
The Israeli military mentioned it struck “navy targets in southern Syria, together with command centres and a number of websites containing weapons”, with out specifying precise places.
Residents of Damascus reported listening to the sound of planes flying a number of low passes over the capital and a sequence of blasts.
“The Air Drive is attacking strongly in southern Syria as a part of the brand new coverage we now have outlined of pacifying southern Syria – and the message is evident: we is not going to enable southern Syria to turn into southern Lebanon,” Defence Minister Israel Katz’s spokesperson mentioned in an announcement.
“Any try by the Syrian regime forces and the nation’s terrorist organisations to ascertain themselves within the safety zone in southern Syria can be met with hearth,” the assertion added.
The bombardment got here hours after Syria condemned Israel’s incursion into the nation’s south and demanded it withdraw, in keeping with the closing assertion of a national dialogue summit. The summit, organised by Syria’s new authorities, aimed to stipulate the nation’s political roadmap after the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad in December.
Israel moved forces right into a United Nations-monitored demilitarised zone inside Syria after al-Assad’s removing, a transfer that violated the 1974 disengagement settlement with Syria.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to as for the “demilitarisation” of southern Syria, saying Israel “is not going to enable the brand new Syrian military to maneuver into territory south of Damascus”.
Palestinian group Hamas condemned the air strikes within the “strongest phrases”, calling them “a blatant assault on Syrian sovereignty” and a continuation of Israel’s aggression towards Arab nations.
The assaults complicate efforts by Syria’s new administration to reunify the nation, mentioned Qutaiba Idlbi, a resident senior fellow for Syria on the Atlantic Council.
He mentioned the air raids coincided with the nationwide dialogue summit on Syria’s political transition, which has already confronted challenges, significantly in negotiations with the Druze group within the south and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces within the northeast.
“The strikes on Damascus are solely going to serve to delay such settlement, because the powers in northeast and southern Syria will really feel extra empowered to hunt offers and maybe navy help from exterior actors to extend their leverage in negotiations with Damascus,” Idlbi advised Al Jazeera.
