Damascus, Syria: After Palestine and Lebanon, Israel bomb Syria. Tel Aviv’s local media reported that its military has carried out “one of the largest attack operations in the history of its air force” in Syria after the removal of Bashar al-Assad. Reportedly, Israel attacked more than 250 sites in Syria in a systematic manner.

Israel also seized lands in the occupied Golan Height of Syria. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, he told the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) to to grab the buffer zone, established in a 1974 ceasefire with Syria, shortly after al-Assad was overthrown. He said the occupied Golan Heights would remain with Israel “for eternity”.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Netanyahu called the fall of al-Assad regimes as “a direct result of the strong blows we have delivered to Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran”.

Israel is seeking to destroy the country’s defence system, analysts report. The IOF has attacked three major airports in Syria, one in Qamishili in the north of the country, another one in Homs, the country’s third-largest city, and then Mezzeh airport in capital city Damascus.

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The IOF also hit strategic facilities of the country, including the military headquarters and ammunition depots. It is also hitting facilities which it deemed as production facilities and chemical weapons warehouses.

Israel said it has destroyed dozes of helicopters and aircraft, which as per their claims are due to concerns that these strategic facilities and military equipment could fall into the hands of the opposition, which has taken over the country.

White Helmets, Syria’s Civil Defence, said that they had put out fire in Damascus which was caused Israeli attack on scientific research centres on the city’s outskirts.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned “Israel’s invasion and bombing of Syria” and said the “Syrian people deserve to rebuild their country free from foreign occupation and violence”.

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In a statement released on its X page, the group also denounced US President Joe Biden for shipping weapons to Israel “despite the Gaza genocide”. “This inaction has emboldened indicted war criminal Netanyahu to defy international law and attack Syria,” CAIR said.

Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have decried land seizure in occupied Golan Heights. The Qatari Foreign Ministry said the country considers the Israeli incursion “a dangerous development and a blatant attack on Syria’s sovereignty and unity as well as a flagrant violation of international law”.

Saudi Arabia said it confirm “Israel’s continued violation of the rules of international law and its determination to sabotage Syria’s chances of restoring its security, stability and territorial integrity”. Riyadh also called international community to denounce the Israeli campaign, stressing that the Golan Heights is an occupied Arab territory.

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Iraq said Israel has committed a “grave violation under international law”. In a statement released, Baghdad’s Ministry of Foreign affairs said that “stresses the importance of maintaining Syria’s sovereignty and integrity and calls on the UN Security Council to uphold its responsibility and condemn this aggression … and put an end to it”.

Netanyahu also thanked US President-elect Donald Trump for recognising Israel’s claimed sovereignty over Golan Heights, Notably, international law strictly prohibits the acquisition of land by force.