Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria was “…a historic day in the Middle East” and the fall of “the central link in Iran’s axis of evil.”
Netanyahu said the incidents were “a direct result of the strikes we have taken on Iran and Hezbollah, Assad’s main supporters. This has set off a chain reaction across the Middle East, crippling those who want to be free from this oppressive regime.” Is empowering.”
He said this during his visit to Israel-occupied Golan Heights.
In recent months, Israel has killed commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as well as senior leaders of Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, both of which are supported by Tehran.
The Israeli prime minister said Assad’s overthrow “presents important new opportunities” for Israel but is not without risks.
He said that his country is “pursuing a policy of good neighbourliness” and that: “We extend the hand of peace towards our Druze neighbours, who are brothers of our Druze citizens in Israel. We extend this hand of peace towards the Kurds, the Christians and Let’s increase it further also.” Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel.”
Syria is a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional country consisting of Christians, Alawites, and Kurds, as well as the Druze, an ethno-religious Arab minority group that has significant populations in Israel and Lebanon, among others.
“We will closely monitor developments and take the necessary steps to protect our border and our security,” Netanyahu said.
He also said he had ordered the army to take control of a demilitarized buffer zone on the Syrian border.
Speaking on the same visit, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said of Iran: “Its webs are being cut one by one”.
Islamist-led Syrian rebels overthrew more than five decades of rule by Assad and his father Hafez in a massive offensive that began on November 27, dramatically ending years of stalemate in the civil war that began in 2011. It has been done.
Assad received substantial military support from Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, as well as the Russian military since 2015.
Israeli forces killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a major airstrike on Beirut in September.
Since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly targeting the military and Iran-backed groups.
The army stepped up such attacks after nearly a year of hostilities with Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon escalated in late September, before a ceasefire took effect on November 27, the same day the Syrian rebel advance began.
Israel rarely comments on individual attacks in Syria but has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to expand its presence in the country.
