In Tel Aviv, the Israeli Air Force conducted a strike on the headquarters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group in Damascus, Syria. This action took place amidst ongoing turmoil in Syria following the ousting of Bashar al-Assad by a militant group associated with al Qaeda.
Following the capture of Damascus on December 8, 2024, Israel dispatched troops to the demilitarized zone along the Syrian border. In addition to this military presence, Israel also engaged in diplomatic initiatives to influence the power dynamics in the region.
“Israeli military forces have been strategically positioned near Mount Hermon, as well as on the elevated terrain and the northern part of the Golan Heights on the Syrian side. They are stationed along the Bravo Line, which marks the boundary of the buffer zone,” explained Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesperson who now serves as a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Ahmed al-Sharaa Hayat, former al Qaeda terrorist and current Interim President of Syria, in Idlib, Syria, on the border with Turkey on Feb. 7, 2023. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)
Jonathan Spyer, director of research at the Middle East Forum who has reported from Syria, told Fox News Digital that Jerusalem’s aim is for Syria to remain decentralized and weak, rather than united under the leadership of jihadi forces.
“Turkey is the main backer of HTS, and Israel regards Ankara as a hostile country where Hamas had an active operations office. Turkey has been supportive of Hamas in the war,” he said.
“While Russia is opposed to the global bloc led by the U.S., of which Israel is a part, there is no direct clash between the two nations. Russia did not seek to impede Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran in Syria.”
Israel is reportedly pressuring the Trump administration to ensure Syria remains fragmented, by giving the Russians a green light to maintain its bases in the country to counter Turkey.
People wave guns in the air as they gather to celebrate the fall of the Syrian regime in Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)
In 2015, Russia intervened in Syria on behalf of the Assad regime, setting up outposts in the Middle East for the first time since the end of the Cold War. Jerusalem and Moscow have created a deconfliction mechanism to avoid direct military encounters when the IDF strikes Iranian terror assets in Syria, along with those destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“HTS is an organization that Israel knows well. It was there for several years prior to fall of Assad and its record shows it is a Sunni Jihadi Islamist organization supportive of [Hamas’] Oct. 7 [massacre] and opposed to Israel and Jews,” Spyer said.
“Israel’s experience prior to Oct. 7, on Oct. 7, and in the Gaza war taught Israelis not to have illusions regarding Sunni Islamists even when they say they are moderate,” he added.
