Rebels’ Gift to Israel – Tehran Times

TEHRAN- Israel’s acts of aggression against Syria in the wake of the downfall of President Bashar Assad’s government have put the spotlight on the regime’s expansionist ambitions.  

Israel intensified air raids in Syria and sent its troops into the Syrian territory after an alliance of armed groups took control of Damascus early Sunday and overthrew Assad.  The alliance is

spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaida offshoot that severed ties with the terror group years ago.  

Israel carried out air attacks on approximately 100 targets in Syria on Monday, that’s according to Israeli media.  

The regime said it targeted suspected chemical weapons sites. It, however, fell short of providing any evidence about the existence of chemical weapons in Syria.  

Israel also said it hit strategic locations, including advanced missiles systems and weapons depots to keep them from falling into the hands of extremists. 

On Sunday morning, Israel officially deployed its troops and tanks in the buffer zone on the border with Syria after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unilaterally announced the collapse of the 1974

Separation of Forces Agreement with Syria.  According to the agreement, only UN peacekeepers could be deployed to the buffer zone.  

The Israeli army seized the zone near the occupied Golan Heights in violation of the 50-year-old deal.  

Israeli forces have captured the towns of Madinat al-Baath and Hader in the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra and moved towards the neighboring Dara’a province.  Earlier, Israeli soldiers had taken over a Syrian army outpost at the summit of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed the deployment of troops in Syrian territory is a “limited, temporary” step meant to ensure the regime’s security during the confusion after the fall of Assad’s government. 

Israel’s aggression against Syria has taken the lid off the regime’s intentions to seize territories from neighboring Arab nations. 

Egypt has condemned Israel’s “further occupation of Syrian lands,” saying it views the Israeli military’s movement into a buffer zone as an attempt to enforce a new reality on the ground. 

Israel’s air strikes and ground incursion into the Syrian territory have highlighted the regime’s dreams of establishing a “Greater Israel”.  

According to proponents of “Greater Israel”, the malevolent plan refers to the notion of extending Israel’s occupation and sovereignty throughout the Middle East (West Asia). 

According to The Nation, an American monthly magazine, the drive to establish the “Greater Israel” is the central ideological goal of the Likud Party, which has dominated Israeli politics since 1977. 

Two months ago, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich advocated for the creation of a “Jewish state” that would encompass all Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab territories, including the Syrian capital.  

In an October interview, Smotrich hoped that Israel’s borders will expand deep into Arab land.  

The minister added that this “Jewish state” must extend into Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. 

“It is written that the future of Jerusalem (al-Quds) is to expand to Damascus,” he said.  

Delivering a speech in France in March 2023, Smotrich also sparked a controversy after he featured a map that included Jordan and the occupied West Bank as part of Israel.  

He claimed during his speech in Paris that the Palestinian people are “an invention” of the last 100 years, adding that his family members who were born in Jerusalem (al-Quds) in the 19th century are the “real Palestinians.” 

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has already advocated for the creation of a “Jewish state” that would include the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Smotrich had earlier called on Israel to “erase” the Palestinian town of Hawara after being rampaged by settlers.  

Two days after Israel launched a massive bombing campaign in Lebanon in September this year, the Jerusalem Post published and quickly deleted an article questioning whether Lebanon and parts of other Middle Eastern countries are part of Israel’s “promised land”. 

The article was published on September 25; and days later on October 1, Israel carried out a ground offensive in Lebanon.  

In January this year, Israel’s far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu renewed his call for striking the Gaza Strip with a “nuclear bomb.” 

In November last year, Eliyahu said dropping a “nuclear bomb” on the Gaza Strip is “an option.” 

Such comments made by Israeli officials expose the true colors of the apartheid regime.  

Israel’s aggression against Gaza, Lebanon and Syria is aimed at expanding its occupation.  

The regime has employed another tactic to carry out its sinister scheme in the Persian Gulf region.  

Some Arab states normalized ties with Israel in the first term of Donald Trump.  

The US president-elect is now seeking to exert pressure on more Arab countries, in particular Saudi Arabia, to follow suit when he takes the helm at the White House.  

Arab leaders should wake up to the fact that Israel and its main supporter, the United States, are just wolves in sheep’s clothing. 

Normalization serves merely as a tactic to pull the wool over Arab leaders’ eyes in a bid to facilitate the advancement of Israel’s expansionist objectives.