The Israel Defense Forces carried out an airstrike in southern Syria on March 25, stating it acted after gunmen fired on Israeli forces operating in the area. Syrian state media claimed that four civilians were killed. It is the latest clash in Syria as Israel continues to try to demilitarize the southern part of the country, an effort that has included airstrikes and ground operations in recent weeks.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted airstrikes in southern Syria on the evening of March 17, targeting military command centers and “sites containing weapons and military vehicles belonging to the old Syrian Regime.” The operations are part of a widening Israeli campaign to demilitarize southern Syria.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked a building in Damascus, Syria, on Thursday, stating it was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad command and control center. The IDF said it conducted the strike due to concerns about planned attacks against Israeli territory. The Israeli military has increasingly carried out strikes in recent months against former and current Syrian regime assets and various groups, including Hamas.
Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, the new chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), visited Israel’s border with Syria on March 9. He traveled to IDF positions and met with commanders. It is his first visit to the border since assuming the role and part of a wider series of Israeli moves to bolster the border and warn the new government in Damascus to demilitarize southern Syria.
An armed group called the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria recently formed with a stated goal of countering Israel’s military presence in the Golan Heights.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz visited the peak of Mount Hermon on December 17. The IDF seized the peak in the wake of the fall of the Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad on December 8. “The IDF is here to protect the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of the State of Israel from any threat, from the most important place where it is possible to do so,” Katz said. The IDF is preparing to remain in areas that were previously a buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces along the border.
Israel’s Bashan Arrow operation in Syria continues. The Israelis have strengthened their presence in the Golan Heights DMZ and targeted more critical assets belonging to the former Assad regime.