Israel Striking Bases & Equipment Across Syria, Including Assad’s Chemical Weapons Sites

Israeli warplanes in the last several hours have been conducting major airstrikes against facilities across Syria, just 48 hours after the Assad government’s fall and the entrance of Al-Qaeda linked militant factions into Damascus.

“At least two explosions heard in Damascus have taken place in the area of Barzeh, north of Damascus, where the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre has an office,” several eyewitnesses have told Reuters.

“The SSRC has been sanctioned and previously struck for its links to chemical weapons production under toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,” the report continues. It is a location that Israel first struck all the way back in 2013, and has hit on several occasions since then.

Sensitive military facilities formerly belonging to the Syrian Army and now defunct Assad defense ministry have also been destroyed by Israeli attacks across the south of Syria on Monday.

A weapons warehouse near the Damascus international airport, which has ceased operations, has also been hit. Massive strikes have been reported on Latakia port as well, which giant fireballs lighting up the night sky.

Amid the chaos of the HTS takeover of the country over the last week, and before any type of new government can coalesce in Damascus, it appears Israel is preemptively taking out all military technology and heavy weaponry before anyone else can access it. 

An Israeli broadcast correspondent from Kann writes that “An Israeli source tells me: Israel’s goal is to destroy everything from Assad’s army that could fall into the hands of the rebels – from tanks to missiles. We are destroying the equipment of the Assad army.”

Breaking: Last night Israel destroyed all of Syria’s remaining chemical weapons, missiles, air-defense systems, and air force, including Iranian military positions.

Tens of billion dollars of Iranian investment went down the drain. pic.twitter.com/tM7Mdpcbon

— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) December 9, 2024

Israel has also expanded its penetration into historic Syrian territory in the south:

After fighting wars on multiple fronts for months, Israel is now concerned that unrest in Syria could spill over into its territory. Israel also views the end of the Assad regime as a chance to disrupt Iran’s ability to smuggle weapons through Syria to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The Israeli military over the weekend began seizing control of a demilitarized buffer zone in Syria created as part of a 1974 ceasefire between the countries. It said the move was temporary and meant to secure its border.

But the incursion sparked condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire and possibly exploiting the chaos in Syria for a land grab.

Indeed ‘exploiting’ the situation for a land grab is precisely what the game plan has likely been from the start, as both Israel and Turkey are the big winners in the Syria crisis, and with Assad gone (having been given asylum in Moscow). The Israeli attacks began even as HTS was making its way toward Damascus from Aleppo and Homs.

Israeli strikes on Latakia port, Syria pic.twitter.com/VDozyr6gOs

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) December 9, 2024

According to more details of what’s been hit in the ongoing Israeli attacks:

New Israeli airstrikes are reported in Syria, targeting an airbase near the capital Damascus.

Al Jazeera reports that the Qabr Essit Airport, used by the ousted Assad regime’s army for helicopters, was hit in the strikes. The airbase is located south of Damascus, close to the town of Aqraba.

Some reports are saying that as many as 100 sites have been struck in the last 12-24 hours, but more is likely to be confirmed when the dust settles. Israel sources are saying 250 or more strikes. Jets and aerial equipment, and runways at bases are being obliterated.

Part of Israel’s aim also seems to be preventing pro-Iranian entities from ever popping up again in Syria, and to finally and definitively dismantle Hezbollah and Shia militias’ arms networks.

| Meanwhile… Israel continues to destroy any remaining & abandoned military asset above ground with absolute no worry of resistance—as air defenses are offline.

Israel bombed Syrian assets 150 times today, among them were Gazelle SA helicopters, completely gone. pic.twitter.com/IPJ6gLnCHQ

— Arya – آریا (@AryJeay) December 9, 2024

Sunni hardline factions are also a feared element, given they could eventually turn the same weapons against Israel, and in the Golan Heights area, and as Israeli troops continue invading the south for a so-called buffer zone.