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Since Sunday, the IDF has managed to destroy up to 80 percent of all Syrian military assets, according to Israeli assessments. This operation is primarily aimed at preventing jihadists from obtaining weapons, while also reaffirming Israel's deterrence in the region.
In a swift action similar to the IDF's Six-Day War success, Israel is taking advantage of the power vacuum in Syria to dismantle one of the Middle East's strongest military forces.
After the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, Israel seemed vulnerable, leading Arab nations to reconsider their relationships with Israel and the U.S., leaning more towards Iran and Russia. In the Middle East, the perception of strength can influence alliances and power.
However, Israel responded by strategically weakening Hamas and Hezbollah, and by dismantling Iran's air defenses, moves which played a key role in the recent Syrian rebel victory. Now, the IDF is demonstrating that it, not Assad's allies in Moscow and Tehran, holds significant regional power.
The Syrian army, built over decades and equipped with advanced Russian weaponry, has been decimated. In just two days after Assad's regime fell and rebels took Damascus, the Israeli air force and navy have systematically destroyed Assad's military capabilities.
Israel is eliminating "all or almost all of Assad’s air force and navy," according to Amatzia Bar’am, a Middle East historian at Haifa University. This includes targeting chemical weapon manufacturing sites and weapon stockpiles. The IDF has also taken control of the demilitarized zone on the Golan Heights and captured the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, allowing them to monitor Syria's borders with Iraq and Lebanon.
In around 300 sorties overnight, the Israeli air force hit Syria’s military aircraft, including high-end MiG 23 and 29 jets, and Sukhoi-25 planes. The Israeli navy destroyed most of the Syrian warships at the ports of Latakia and Tartus, which are vital for Russia's naval operations in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. On Tuesday, satellite images confirmed the retreat of Russian warships from the port.
A "scientific institute" near Damascus, used for developing chemical and other weapons of mass destruction, was also obliterated, along with Syria's ballistic and sea-to-land missiles. The destruction of S-300 and other anti-aircraft systems has cleared Syrian skies for Israeli jets to venture further east.
Israel is keeping a "watchful eye on Tehran," Mr. Bar’am notes. "If the Islamic Republic opts for a nuclear breakthrough, Israel will strike with everything it has, even if it has to go it alone. The hope is that the U.S. will join," he says.
“We seek good relations with the new Syrian regime,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said Tuesday. “But if it allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, to facilitate transfer of Iranian or any other arms to Hezbollah, or if it attacks us, we will respond forcefully and exact a heavy price. What happened to the previous regime will then happen to this regime.”
Reports surfaced on Tuesday that IDF ground forces were approaching Damascus, but Israel denied these claims: “Reports circulating in the media about the alleged advancement of Israeli tanks towards Damascus are false,” IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani stated on his X account. “IDF troops are stationed within the area of separation, to protect the State of Israel.”
The Golan Heights buffer zone has been under UN peacekeeping surveillance since the 1973 war, but when armed militias tried to seize control on Sunday, the IDF intervened to protect the UN forces. The IDF plans to maintain control of this zone "on a temporary basis."
“I ordered the establishment of a sterile protection zone from weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said during a visit to the Golan Tuesday, also highlighting the IDF's recent successes against the Syrian military.
“Israel is using this short window in time to do what it was unable to do in decades,” military analyst Nir Dvori from Channel 12 commented. The IDF “is destroying this huge, threatening Syrian military. It would take years to replenish this arsenal, if anyone wants to do that.”
Meanwhile, U.S. B-52 bombers and F-15 jets hit ISIS targets in central Syria on Monday. “There should be no doubt — we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria,” Central Command's General Michael Erik Kurilla stated.
The UN, however, is condemning Israel's actions. “We are continuing to see Israeli movements and bombardments into Syrian territory. This needs to stop,” UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, told reporters on Tuesday, without commenting on similar U.S. operations.
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