Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
A large armored unit of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) advanced in southern Syria on March 19 and demolished several positions of the now dissolved Syrian Arab Army.
According to Daraa 24, a news blog that covers southern Syria, the unit, made up of some 50 vehicles, moved into the outskirts of the town of al-Nasriyah, which is located right along the administrative borders between the governorates of al-Qunitra and Daraa.
Photos shared by the blog showed Merkava main battle tanks and Humvee armored vehicles operating on a road leading to al-Nasriyah.
The unit demolished three military positions, Abu Diab Company, Cobra Company and Nasiriyah Dam Company, before withdrawing back to the buffer zone adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights.
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Israeli troops invaded the buffer zone just hours after the fall of the Assad regime on December 8. The IDF also launched hundreds of strikes destroying much of the country’s military capabilities, including warships, warplanes, ballistic missiles and air defense systems.
Initially, the IDF described its presence in the buffer zone as a temporary and defensive measure. However, Defense Minister Israel Katz said later that troops will remain deployed to nine army posts in the zone , including one atop the strategic Mount Hermon, “indefinitely.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that southern Syria must be completely demilitarized, warning that Israel would not accept the presence of the forces of the new Syrian Islamists government near its territory. The primer also warned the government against attacking the Druze, vowing to defend the minority.
In recent weeks, the IDF stepped up its strikes on Syria. A wave of strikes that hit military positions in Daraa over the night of March 17 and 18 killed at least four civilians and a soldier from the forces of the Syrian interim government.
The IDF also intensified its ground operations in southern Syria, conducting at least 19 such raids since the start of March, according to the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights, a London-based monitoring group.
The Syrian government condemned Israel’s actions. However, it has so far refrained from reacting in any way. This led to much criticism against the government, including from some of the Islamists who helped install it after the fall of the Assad regime.
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