HTS emerged from a former al-Qaida affiliate, and while Jolani has distanced himself from the terrorist group and projects modernity, Israel remains on high alert for threats to its security emerging from the chaos in Syria.
On Saturday, the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, said on a visit to the Syrian border that the IDF was “monitoring to ensure that local elements aren’t moving in our direction,” and that it had prepared a “very strong offensive and defensive response” in case of need.
Israeli media later reported that the IDF had launched airstrikes overnight on a chemical weapons depot near Damascus to prevent it from falling into the hands of rebel groups, as well as on air defense batteries and missile factories. Those reports were not officially confirmed, however.
Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command posted on X Sunday that its forces had conducted “dozens of precision airstrikes targeting known ISIS camps and operatives in central Syria.” ISIS is another term for the Islamic State group.
The strikes, Central Command said, were “part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, in order to … ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria.”
A senior Biden administration official added: “It is impossible not to place this week’s offens[ive] in the context of the decisions the President has made to fully back Israel against Iran and its proxy terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, and Ukraine against Russia.”
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