Israel struck Syrian chemical weapons, anti-aircraft & ballistic missiles, DM Katz and FM Sa’ar confirm

Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar confirmed that Israeli forces have captured territory along the border and conducted several airstrikes in Syria in recent days, following the collapse of the Assad regime and the abandonment of border positions by Syrian soldiers.

“The only interest we have is the security of Israel,” Sa’ar said at a press briefing. “Therefore, we attacked strategic weapons arrays, residual capabilities of chemical weapons, long-range missiles and rockets - so that they do not fall into the hands of extremist elements.”

The statements by Sa’ar and Katz followed numerous reports on Sunday of intense, widespread Israeli strikes against Syrian army infrastructure across Syria.

Katz’s office also stated that he instructed the army to create a “security space free of heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructure in the southern region, beyond the buffer space, that can threaten the State of Israel.”

He also ordered Israel Defense Forces to thwart any resumption of weapons smuggling from Iran to Lebanon through Syria, and “continue to destroy heavy strategic weapons throughout Syria, including anti-aircraft missiles, air defense systems, surface-to-surface missiles, cruise missiles, long-range rockets, and anti-ship missiles.”

Sa’ar explained that the IDF established a buffer zone after an armed group entered the border area and attacked a UN peacekeeping post within the demilitarized zone separating the two countries' borders.

“Following this and in view of a threat with an emphasis on our settlements in the Golan Heights and per the decision of the Security Cabinet, the IDF took control in a targeted and temporary manner,” Sa’ar stated.

Speaking to Ynet News shortly before the Israeli Air Force commando unit Shaldag seized control of the Syrian side of Mount Hermon after Assad regime soldiers retreated, retired IDF general Amiram Levin stressed its strategic importance.

“The Syrian Hermon not only dominates over the Israeli Hermon, but it also watches over Lebanon, over Damascus, it has a significant strategic advantage.”

Katz, meanwhile, instructed the IDF to complete the takeover of the buffer zone “while establishing contact with the Druze population in the region and other populations.”

On Monday, the army stated that the head of the IDF’s Intelligence Division, Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder, met the head of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, following the collapse of the Assad regime to discuss the latest developments in Syria and their effects on the Druze community.

Southern Syria has a large Druze population, concentrated opposite the Druze towns in Israeli territory in the northern Golan Heights, as well as in southeastern Syria in an area known as the Druze Mountain, near the provincial capital of Suweida.

“It is important to take care of the protection of the minorities in Syria: Kurds, Druze and Christians as well as Alawites. In this matter - we will follow actions and not words,” Sa’ar emphasized.

“We have a relationship, of course, with the Kurds and Druze in Syria.”

The foreign minister explained his view that Syria would cease to be a unified country and advocated the granting of autonomy to the various minorities in Syria, “perhaps with a federal structure. This is something that the international community will have to consider,” Sa’ar said.

Ynet News reported that alongside securing the buffer zone, the Israeli military issued warning messages to rebels in the Syrian Golan, instructing them not to cross the Alpha Line, which marks the start of the demilitarized zone.

The Syrian opposition-aligned outlet, “Voice of the Capital,” also claimed that Israel is negotiating with Russia to take over strategic Russian posts in southern Syria, some of them lying beyond the buffer zone. Among them is Tel al-Harah, a hill located just over 10 kilometers (6.5 miles) from the Israeli border.

“On the Syrian Golan, armed groups that we haven’t identified yet moved around over the weekend, right in the buffer zone with us,” the IDF told Ynet.

“They have different ideologies, many weapons that are roaming around in the country like monsters. That’s why we recommended if only temporarily, to create a frontal defense of the enemy's territory,” a military source said.