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By Ioanna Theou
Besides Palestine, the Israel government has targeted Iran, Lebanon and Syria too. In the past 18 months after the fall of Bashar al- Assad, Israel has conducted 849 aerial and ground attacks in Syria, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). These attacks have as a result 79 deaths and damages to military and civilian sites and facilities.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights supported that despite the fall of Assad regime and the new government of al-Sharaa the country still is ‘suffering’ and the attacks are continuing. Israel destroyed the last military capabilities of Syria, including its air, naval, and infantry bases.[i] The destruction of Syrian military infrastructure can be identified as an effort to dismantle the remaining operational and military connections between Hezbollah, Iran, and Syria.
Prior to the collapse of the Assad regime, Syria functioned as pivotal state connecting Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon (the so-called Shiite Axis), facilitating the transfer of weapons, equipment and personnel. [ii]Consequently, the weakening of Syrian military capacity and infrastructure also limits any remaining covert support networks and operational linkages between Assad’s remnants, Hezbollah, and Iran.
The Israeli army has violated the 1974 UN- monitored disengagement line, creating a de facto security buffer zone extending across parts of southern and western Syria beyond the occupied Golan Heights.[iii] Let’s not forget also, the desires of Prime Minister Netanyahu for the Greater Israel territories that includes land from Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, even from Saudi Arabia and Egypt.[iv]
The governorates of Daraa and Quneitra in southern Syria have mentioned the continuously violent episodes since the fall of Assad and Israeli cross border activity in the border strip. This raises a key question regarding the role and capacity of the al-Sharaa government in protecting Syrian territory and sovereignty. Could there a deal between al-Sharaa and Netanyahu? The interesting fact is that according to documentation from independent conflict monitors and NGOs, such Armed Conflict Location and Event DATA (ACLED) and Amnesty International, it is confirmed that, the Israeli forces have established at least seven bases in Daraa and Quneitra.
These military bases are constructed with massive earth berms and advanced sensor arrays. A route has also been created specifically for these bases to provide easy access and support to the Israeli army. The scale of this project, including the establishment of military bases, proves that is unlikely to have gone unnoticed by the Syrian government. Furthermore, the Israeli military has demolished a lot of civilian buildings, destroyed agricultural farms and used a herbicide spay to establish a barren perimeter with no visual blind spots.[v]
On the other hand, Israel presents its operations in the buffer zones as a security necessity to counter regional threats, while Syria just denounces it as breach of sovereignty and asks for Israeli compliance with the 1974 disengagement agreement, but without doing anything else. The Syrian government’s limited response may be read as a form of de facto acceptance to Israeli actions on the ground.
Resources
[i] Rudaw, (2025, July 16). ‘’Israel carried out nearly 900 attacks in Syria since Assad’s fall’’, Rudaw net. https://www.rudaw.net/english/categories/syria/1077927
[ii] Council on Foreign Relations, (2013, February 15). ‘’ The Hezbollah Connection in Syria and Iran’’. https://www.cfr.org/articles/hezbollah-connection-syria-and-iran
[iii] United Nations Peacemaker, (1974, May 31). Seperation of Forces between Israel and Syria. https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/default/files/document/files/2024/05/il20sy740531separation20of20forces20between20israel20and20syria.pdf
[iv] Al Jazeera, (2026, February 26). ‘’What is Greater Israel, and how popular is it among Israel’’, Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/26/what-is-greater-israel-and-how-popular-is-it-among-israelis
[v] Amnesty International. (2026, May 14). Syria: Israel’s deliberate destruction of civilian homes in Quneitra must be investigated as war crimes. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2026/05/syria-israels-deliberate-destruction-of-civilian-homes-in-quneitra-war-crime/
Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), (2026, June, 10). ‘’Israeli Occupation forces raid area in Quneitra countryside, assault civilians’’. https://sana.sy/en/syria/2322639/
Rudaw, (2025, July 16). ‘’Israel carried out nearly 900 attacks in Syria since Assad’s fall’’, Rudaw net. https://www.rudaw.net/english/categories/syria/1077927