(Israel Hayom) Yoav Limor - Israeli airstrikes in recent days have stripped the Syrian army of its entire strategic arsenal. Although continuous intelligence was gathered on Syrian military's assets and infrastructure, no one predicted they would become an immediate target for destruction. While Israel has conducted numerous strikes over the past decade targeting air defense systems threatening Israeli jets and weapons production facilities, it deliberately refrained from dismantling the backbone of the Syrian army to avoid appearing as though it was declaring war on Syria or risking entanglement with Russia, Assad's principal patron. Since the Syrian rebels subscribe to an extreme jihadist ideology, with deep-seated hostility toward Israel and a desire for its destruction, it was decided to obliterate as much of Syria's military infrastructure as possible that risked falling into rebel hands. Israel leveraged its extensive intelligence on the Syrian military into a massive operation designed to leave the rebels with little more than "pickup trucks and submachine guns," as one senior Israeli official said.
2024-12-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive