Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Damascus reported that Israel again launched raids on the vicinity of the Syrian capital on Friday evening, where explosions were heard. Local sources also spoke to Al Jazeera about a bombing believed to be Israeli targeting defense laboratories and a research center in Masyaf in the Hama countryside in the center of the country.
Since the rebel forces entered Damascus at dawn last Sunday and overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the Israeli occupation army has intensified its raids on military and strategic sites throughout Syria and announced the implementation of the largest air operation in its history.
The Israeli army indicated in its statements that about 90% of the Syrian army’s military capabilities were destroyed, including aircraft, warships, and strategic facilities, to prevent rebel forces from reaching them.
Israeli Army Radio also indicated at the time that 350 fighter jets attacked sites from Damascus to Tartous, and that dozens of aircraft, air defense systems and weapons depots were destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said that its forces were continuing what it described as their defensive missions in the buffer zone in Syria and along the border.
He pointed out that army units found combat equipment, including anti-tank missiles and rifles.
The Israeli army indicated that its forces are continuing operations to strengthen engineering barriers in order to protect Israel and the Golan in particular, according to its claim.
For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that he, accompanied by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the Golan Heights and ordered the army to prepare to remain at the top of Mount Hermon overlooking Damascus throughout the winter.
Katz stated that they climbed the Syrian peak of Mount Hermon, which returned to Israeli control after 51 years, describing this moment as historic, as he put it.
A statement issued by the Israeli Ministry of Defense explained that Katz considered that there is great security importance to Israel’s control of the summit of Mount Hermon amid the events taking place in Syria.
After the fall of the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, the Israeli occupation army seized Mount Hermon and several sites in the occupied Syrian Golan.
The summit of Mount Hermon overlooks many regions of Syria, such as Damascus, the Levant Desert, and the Hauran Plain. Part of the northern Jordanian and Palestinian borders can also be seen, especially Irbid Governorate, the Hebron Mountains, and Lake Tiberias, in addition to all of southern Lebanon, the western Lebanon mountain range, and the Bekaa Valley.
The Mount Hermon area, or what is known as Mount Hermon – which is located in the western part of Syria near the Lebanese border – has been considered a buffer zone between Syria and Israel since the 1970s and before, as it was defined between the two parties in accordance with the Disengagement Agreement, and remained subject to the agreement for about 50 years. Which was concluded at that time, to separate the forces that fought in October 1973.