After the fall of the Assad government in Syria, the Israeli military launched a rare large-scale attack on military targets across Syria. U. S. media described, “Syria’s naval and Air Force has basically ceased to exist.”.
(CNN) — the Israeli military said Thursday that it had carried out about 480 attacks across the country in the past two days, destroying most of the country’s strategic weapons CNN. Katz, the Israeli Defence Minister, said the Israeli Navy had destroyed the Syrian fleet overnight and praised the operation as a “Tremendous success”. The report said that of the 480 attacks launched by the Israeli Air Force, about 350 were carried out by manned warplanes, targets are airports, anti-aircraft positions, missiles, drones, fighter aircraft, tanks and weapons production sites in Damascus, Holmes, Tartus, Latakia and Palmyra. The Israel Defense Forces said the rest of the attacks were in support of Israeli ground forces’ attacks on Syrian weapons depots, military buildings and artillery positions.
A scene after an Israeli air strike on a Syrian naval base. (AFP)
According to reports, the top of the list of Israeli air strikes is the Syrian strategic missile forces. Syria was previously armed with thousands of medium-and short-range ballistic missiles, including the full range of Israel’s“Scud” series of ballistic missiles. Although their performance is not advanced, the“Iron Dome” system, which is heavily equipped by the Israeli military, can not intercept such ballistic missiles, only a limited number of “Davy slings” and “Arrow-23” antimissile systems are available. Given the limited size of Israel’s territory, these ballistic missiles could still pose a significant threat to Israel if they were launched centrally. Gideon Sarre, the Israeli foreign minister, admitted that “Israel is bombing Syrian military facilities that store chemical weapons and long-range missiles to prevent them from falling into the hands of extremists”. Israeli“Jerusalem Post” said on the 11th that hundreds of Syrian“Scud” ballistic missiles and thousands of rockets were destroyed in an Israeli air strike, “The Syrian scientific research centre in Damascus, which is the centre for missile and rocket research and production in Syria, also ceased to exist during the air strikes.”.
Israel has also long feared Syria’s anti-aircraft missile force. “Jerusalem Post” mentioned that Syria is equipped with more than 100 sets of“Sam” series and S-300 Air Defense missile systems, mobile deployment of“Beech” and“Armor” series of air defense systems. The SAM -5 air defense system also shot down an Israeli F -16 I fighter jet in 2021. But in the recent Israeli air strikes, these air defense systems, as well as supporting radar devices, electronic warfare systems are no longer operational.
Reuters said the Israeli military launched the morning of 10“The most violent air strikes so far,” attacked military facilities and air bases across Syria, destroyed dozens of helicopters and jets. (CNN) — Syrian military helicopters have been destroyed at Mézel Air Base, southwest of Damascus, CNN reported. The US“Defense Blog” website revealed that the Halehara Air Force Base in Suveda Province, where the most elite Syrian Air Force is stationed, was hit with a devastating blow. Preliminary assessment showed that, the “Total destruction” of the MiG-29 deployed here represents the loss of all available Syrian Mig-29. There are also parts of older MiG-21, Mig-23 and su-22s, much of which were destroyed by the Israeli army when only half were operational.
Worse still is the Syrian Navy. Defence Secretary Katz confirmed that the Israeli Navy had launched an anti-ship missile attack on the Syrian naval base at Latakia, “Which destroyed the Syrian fleet”, according to the us-based power website. At least six soviet-era OSSA II-class missile boats, “The most powerful surface vessel in active service in Syria,” sank in the harbor, according to photographs taken at the scene. Other smaller vessels were also trapped in the Israeli attack and port infrastructure was severely damaged, according to available photographs. The Israeli military said that on the evening of 9, the Israeli Navy missile boat launched a raid on the Gulf of Minette Beida and the port of Latakia in Syria, destroying 15 docked Syrian ships and dozens of anti-ship missiles.
The Israeli military estimates that 70% to 80% of Syria’s strategic military assets have been destroyed in attacks since the evening of July. The Jerusalem Post said it would take about $1 billion and more than a decade for Syria to rebuild its air defense capabilities, including missile stockpiles, spare parts and personnel training. Notably, Israel also announced the deployment of ground troops to establish a“Safe zone” in southern Syria“Outside the buffer zone”, free of“Heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructure”.
In response to large-scale Israeli air strikes against military targets in Syria, the UN secretary-general’s spokesman said: “We categorically oppose any violation of the territorial integrity of Syria. . . we oppose such attacks.” The United Nations continues to treat Golan Heights as occupied territory, and Israeli occupation of the buffer zone is a violation of the disengagement agreement.