Syrian media reports indicate that Israeli warplanes have conducted numerous attacks across the country, including strikes in the capital, Damascus.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported over 100 strikes targeting military sites.
Among the locations hit was a research center allegedly linked to chemical weapons production, according to local media.
Israel has stated that its actions aim to prevent weapons from falling “into the hands of extremists” after the fall of the Assad regime.
On Monday, the UN Security Council convened to address the situation in Syria following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad and announced plans to draft a statement in the coming days.
“The council, I think, was more or less united on the need to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Syria, to ensure the protection of civilians, to ensure that humanitarian aid is coming to the needy population,” Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters.
The SOHR says there have been hundreds of Israeli air strikes in the past two days, including on a site in Damascus said to have been used for rocket development by Iranian scientists.
The strikes coincide with a warning from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), urging Syrian authorities to secure any suspected chemical weapon stockpiles.
According to the OPCW, chemical weapons are substances designed to cause harm or death through toxic properties. Their use is prohibited under international humanitarian law due to their indiscriminate nature, even in the presence of legitimate military targets.
While the exact number and locations of Syria’s chemical weapons remain unknown, it is widely believed that former President Bashar al-Assad retained undeclared stockpiles. Syria joined the OPCW in 2013, shortly after a sarin gas attack on Damascus suburbs killed over 1,400 people. The attack shocked the world with images of victims in distress, and Western nations blamed the Syrian government, though Assad attributed it to opposition forces.
Although the OPCW and the UN destroyed 1,300 tonnes of declared chemical agents, reports of chemical weapons use persisted. A BBC analysis in 2018 found at least 106 instances of chemical attacks between 2014 and 2018 during the Syrian civil war.
On Monday, the OPCW emphasized the importance of safeguarding chemical weapon-related materials and facilities in Syria.
That same day, the Israeli military shared images of its troops crossing from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights into the demilitarized buffer zone in Syria, where UN peacekeepers operate. The move followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that the military had temporarily seized control of the Area of Separation, citing the collapse of the 1974 disengagement agreement after Syria’s rebel takeover.
The Golan Heights, a plateau about 60km (40 miles) southwest of Damascus, was seized by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981—a move recognized only by the US in 2019.
At a press conference, Israeli officials maintained the military’s actions were limited and solely for security purposes, with no intention of interfering in Syria’s internal affairs. Defense Minister Israel Katz further stated that Israel’s focus is on neutralizing strategic weapons, including missile and air defense systems.
Israel’s recent actions follow the dramatic fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, marking the end of a dynasty that, including his father’s rule, had controlled Syria since 1971. Syrian rebel fighters, led by the Islamist opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), captured Damascus early Sunday, announcing on state television that the country was now “free.”
On Tuesday, HTS revealed plans to release a list identifying senior officials accused of torturing Syrians during Assad’s rule. The group also announced rewards for information about “senior army and security officers involved in war crimes.”
Assad’s regime had relied heavily on support from Hezbollah and Russia during Syria’s brutal civil war. However, with Hezbollah entangled in the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict and Russia preoccupied with its invasion of Ukraine, rebel groups, including HTS, capitalized on the opportunity to seize vast territories in Syria.
Israel, which initially viewed Assad as a more stable option despite his alliances with Iran and Hezbollah, had calculated during the 2011 Syrian uprising that his regime’s survival was preferable to the uncertainties of its potential successors.
In response to the regime’s collapse, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Sunday as a “historic day in the Middle East,” emphasizing Israel’s willingness to extend a “hand of peace” to Syrians seeking peaceful coexistence.
Netanyahu clarified that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) presence in the buffer zone was a “temporary defensive measure” until a stable arrangement could be established.
“If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that’s our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel,” he said.
Israel is likely to exhibit heightened sensitivity regarding the Golan Heights, as HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani’s family has roots in the region. The area is home to thousands of Israeli settlers and approximately 20,000 Syrians, primarily Druze, who remained after it was captured.
Israeli airstrikes in Syria are not uncommon. The country has previously acknowledged conducting hundreds of strikes targeting locations linked to Iran and allied groups such as Hezbollah.
Since the Gaza war began in October 2023, Israeli strikes in Syria have reportedly increased, often in response to cross-border attacks by Hezbollah and other groups from Lebanon and Syria.
Last month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring organization, reported strikes on a weapons depot and nearby locations near Palmyra, targeting areas where families of Iran-backed militia fighters were present. The attack reportedly resulted in the deaths of 68 Syrian and foreign fighters.