Türkiye slams Israeli occupation of Syrian territories

ANKARA

Türkiye has strongly condemned Israel’s military attacks and advances in the Syrian territories following the collapse of the Assad administration in the Middle Eastern country.

“We strongly condemn Israel's violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement by entering the Israel-Syria zone and its continuing advance into Syrian territory,” read a statement by the Foreign Ministry on Dec. 10.

The statement came as Israeli increased its aerial attacks on a number of targets across Syria and entered into the Syrian territories through the occupied Golan heights.

“ln this sensitive period, when there is a possibility of achieving the peace and stability that the Syrian people have been longing for many years, Israel is once again displaying its occupying mentality,” the statement read.

“We resolutely reiterate our support for Syria's sovereignty, political unity and territorial integrity,” added the Turkish ministry.

Israel carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes across Syria on Dec. 10 as its troops advanced deeper into the country, drawing to within 25 kilometers (15 miles) of the capital. Israel denied its forces were advancing toward Damascus.

A war monitor said on Tuesday that Israel conducted 300 strikes on Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, adding that the raids had "destroyed the most important military sites" in the country.

Assad fled Syria as opposition groups swept into the capital Damascus on Dec. 8, bringing to an end six decades of brutal rule by his clan.

The Israeli air force was methodically destroying Syria's military assets to ensure whoever rules the country next would have to rebuild them. Israeli media reported that Israel struck "all Syrian air bases" for the first time in over 50 years, utilizing hundreds of warplanes and drones.

The operations “have been systematically destroying all that remains of the escaped tyrant’s military,” wrote Yossi Yehoshua, the military correspondent for Israel's largest daily, Yediot Ahronot.

Near the port city of Latakia, Israel targeted an air defense facility and damaged Syrian naval ships as well as military warehouses.

The Syrian war monitor said Israeli strikes had "destroyed the most important military sites in Syria.”

In and around the capital Damascus, strikes targeted military installations, research centers and the electronic warfare administration.

Israel, which borders Syria, also sent troops into a buffer zone east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights after Assad's fall, in what Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described as a "limited and temporary step" for "security reasons.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel for almost 60 years, would perpetually remain part of Israel. He also announced the collapse of a U.N.-monitored disengagement agreement, which established a buffer zone between Israel and Syria after the 1973 war.

Israel backer the United States said the incursion must be "temporary,” after the United Nations said Israel was violating the 1974 deal.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan condemned Israel’s incursion, accusing it of exploiting the disarray in Syria and violating international law.