Israel seizes Syrian territory twice the size of Gaza

SOUTH LEBANON – Israel has reneged on the armistice agreement signed with the Syrian state in 1974 since the announcement of the fall of the Syrian government led by president Bashar al-Assad. 

The Israeli army has invaded the occupied Golan Heights towards Mount Hermon in Quneitra, reaching 25 kilometres southwest of Damascus. 

By the evening of December 9, the Israeli enemy – amid complete international silence – had occupied Syrian territory almost twice the size of Gaza. The Israeli invasion of Syria coincided with the seizure of 43,000 dunams of land in the occupied West Bank.

In conjunction with Netanyahu’s statement that “the Golan Heights will remain Israeli forever,” the Israeli aggression on Syria has started since the onset of dawn on Sunday, targeting military and scientific centres owned by Syria, including weapons and ammunition depots, military parts, aircraft squadrons, radars, military signal stations, and scientific research centers. Air defense systems have also disabled and taken out of service.

Security sources have revealed to Reuters that “the Israeli military incursion into southern Syria reached about 25 kilometers southwest of the capital Damascus.”

Besides, a Syrian security source has revealed that “Israeli forces reached the Qatana area, which is located ten kilometers inside Syrian territory, east of the demilitarized zone separating the occupied Golan Heights from Syria.”

Meanwhile, the Syrian Civil Defense has announced the extinguishing of a fire in Damascus “after the Israeli bombing of practical research centers on the outskirts of the city,” confirming “the absence of any evidence of unusual toxic fumes while extinguishing the fire.” 

The Syrian Civil Defense has added that “no cases of suffocation were observed among civilians.”

For its part, the Israeli army radio has confirmed the destruction of “aircraft, warships, and strategic facilities in Syria to prevent the opposition from reaching them. 

“We destroyed the capabilities of the Syrian army in the largest air operation we have carried out in our history,” it said. 

The Israeli army radio added that “the army is still operating only in the buffer zone, which is about 30 kilometers from Damascus.”

The spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Majed Al-Ansari, has called on “all parties in Syria to work together to preserve the unity of Syrian territory,” revealing that “international discussions are ongoing regarding Syria and we are part of it.”

The rapid developments in Syria cannot be separated from the radical transformations in West Asia since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, as Syria has witnessed intensive Israeli involvement targeting the Axis of Resistance in parallel with targeting the Syrian army. Indeed, the coming days will answer the most important question: Is the aggression an indication of a larger plan to occupy all of Syria?