LAST UPDATE | 35 mins ago
AS SYRIANS CONTINUE to celebrate Bashar al-Assad’s ousting, the Israeli military said it had conducted hundreds of strikes on Syria over the past two days.
Israel has been urged to stop the attacks by the UN’s special envoy, but it has resisted, warning against Iran trying to “re-establish itself” in Syria.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Syria’s new rulers that he would respond “forcefully” if they allow “Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, or permits the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah”.
Responding to the strikes, Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said today that the weakening of the anti-Israel “resistance” after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in Syria would not diminish Tehran’s power.
Some, “unaware of the meaning of resistance, imagine that when the resistance becomes weak, Islamic Iran will also become weak… Iran is strong and powerful and will become even more powerful,” Khamenei said in his first speech after Assad’s fall.
It comes as Syria’s new transitional prime minister said it was time for “stability and calm” in the country, two days after longtime president Assad was toppled by rebels in a lightning offensive.
The rebels appointed Mohammad al-Bashir as the transitional head of government to run the country until March 1, a statement said.
“Now it is time for this people to enjoy stability and calm,” Bashir told Qatar’s Al Jazeera television in his first interview since being appointed.
Assad fled Syria as an Islamist-led opposition alliance swept into the capital Damascus over the weekend, bringing to an end five decades of brutal rule. The ousted Syrian leader has reportedly sought refuge in Moscow.
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the Islamist leader who headed the rebel offensive, had previously announced talks on a transfer of power and vowed to pursue former senior officials responsible for torture and war crimes.
Yesterday, he sought to allay fears over how Syria would be ruled, telling broadcaster Sky News the country was “exhausted” by war and would not be heading back into one.
“Syria will be rebuilt… The country is moving towards development and reconstruction. It’s going towards stability,” he said.
“People are exhausted from war. So the country isn’t ready for another one, and it’s not going to get into another one.”
His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is rooted in Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch and is proscribed by many Western governments as a terrorist organisation, though it has sought to moderate its image.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged all nations to support an “inclusive” political process in Syria, saying the United States would eventually recognise a government if it meets such standards.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah meanwhile said it hoped that Syria’s new rulers would “take a firm stand against Israeli occupation, while preventing foreign interference in its affairs”.
The Britain-based Observatory said Israeli strikes had “destroyed the most important military sites in Syria”.
The monitor said the strikes targeted weapons depots, naval vessels and a research centre that Western governments suspected of having links to chemical weapons production.
Israel, which borders Syria, also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
The UN official in New York told AFP late Tuesday that Israeli forces were occupying seven locations in the buffer zone.
Israel backer the United States said the incursion must be “temporary”, after the United Nations said Israel was violating the 1974 armistice.
The Israeli defence minister said the military had orders to “establish a sterile defence zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence.”
Fighting also continued in the north of the country, where battles between Turkish-backed and Kurdish-led forces left 218 people dead over the last three days, according to the Observatory.
Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the US and Israel of taking part in a “joint” plot to overthrow Assad.
He also blamed another “neighbouring state of Syria” for its “obvious role” in the recent developments, without naming the country.
Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey all share borders with Syria. Of those neighbours, Turkey has long supported the ouster of Assad.
According to Khamenei, different “invaders” in Syria were pursuing different aims.
“Their goals are different, some of them are seeking to seize the lands of northern or southern Syria, America is seeking to strengthen its position in the region,” he said.
Turkey has forces in northern Syria, while in the south the Israeli army has sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the countries’ shared border east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
The US also has troops based in Syria, where they have worked with Kurdish-led fighters battling the Islamic State group.
The Kremlin has said today that it was in contact with the new Syrian leadership over the fate of Russia’s military bases in the country.
Assad was an ally of Moscow, replying on the support of the Russian arms and soldiers during the civil war, before he was overthrown last weekend.
“We are in contact with those who control the situation in Syria,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“This is necessary since our (military) base and diplomatic mission are there.”
Blinken said the future government of Syria should be “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian”.
Laying out US priorities, Blinken said the new government must “uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities” and allow the flow of humanitarian assistance.
The United States wanted the next government to “prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism”, he added.
Although they no longer hold any territory in Syria, the jihadists of the Islamic State group remain active.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said IS fighters killed 54 government troops after capturing them as they fled across the vast Syrian desert.
The UN envoy for Syria said the groups that forced Assad to flee must transform their “good messages” into actions on the ground.
“They have been sending messages of unity, of inclusiveness,” Geir Pedersen said.
“What we need not to see is… that this is not followed up in practice in the days and the weeks ahead of us,” he added.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned of the risks of sectarian violence and a resurgence of extremism. “We must avoid a repeat of the horrific scenarios in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan,” she said.
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