Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his nation has no interest in entering into conflict with the Syrian government, although he indicated that Israeli airstrikes and the occupation of Syrian territory will continue.
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria on December 12, 2024.
Leo Correa/AP
“We have no interest in a conflict with Syria,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “We will determine Israel’s policy on Syria according to the reality on the ground.”
“I remember that for decades Syria was an active state against Israel,” he said. “He has repeatedly attacked us.”
Speaking of former President Bashar Assad’s close ties to Iran and its proxies, Netanyahu continued: “He allowed others to attack from his territory. He allowed Iran to arm Hezbollah on its territory.”
The Prime Minister made the statement after another night of heavy airstrikes across Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that Israel has carried out about 473 airstrikes in the country since the fall of Assad on December 8.
“Over the course of several days, we have destroyed the capabilities that the Assad regime took decades to build,” Netanyahu said. “We have also hit the weapons supply routes through Syria to Hezbollah.”
Netanyahu said he and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the Israel Defense Forces to “thwart potential threats from Syria and prevent terrorist elements from gaining control near our border,” referring to the Israeli occupation of the buffer zone between the two nations established this year. 1974 peace agreement.
“We are committed to preventing Hezbollah from re-arming,” Netanyahu said. “This is a long test for Israel, which we must fulfill and we will fulfill. I declare without doubt to Hezbollah and Iran: to prevent you from attacking us, we will continue to take measures against you, as necessary, in all areas and at all times.”
At the weekend, Netanyahu’s government also approved a plan to double the territory of the Golan Heights, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967 but is still recognized by the vast majority of the international community as Syrian territory.
“We will continue to support it, we will flourish and establish it there,” Netanyahu said.
Israel unilaterally seized the strategic area — facing Damascus from the Southwest — in 1981. In 2019, the US recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the region.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
