Israel confirms it has destroyed the military fleet of the deposed Assad regime in Syria

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed on Tuesday that the Israeli Navy has destroyed the entire military fleet of the deposed regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, while its ground troops remain stationed within the demilitarized area of ​​the border.

"The Israeli Navy operated on Monday night, successfully destroying the Syrian fleet," Katz said during a visit to a naval base in Haifa, northern Israel.

The large-scale attacks by Israeli warships were carried out to prevent the Syrian Navy's capabilities and weapons from falling into the hands of insurgent forces, most of them Islamist and pro-Turkish.

"Whoever follows in Assad's footsteps will end up like Assad"We will not allow an extremist Islamic terrorist entity to act against Israel from beyond its borders, we will do everything possible to eliminate the threat," the minister warned.

Syrian warships armed with sea-to-sea missiles were destroyed in attacks carried out by Israeli Navy ballistic missiles in Minet al Beida Bay and the port of Latakia on the Syrian coast.

“The Israel Defense Forces have acted in recent days to attack and destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel.“, Katz stressed.

He insisted that Israeli troops want to create a safe zone - without heavy weapons forces, and without a permanent Israeli presence - beyond the current demilitarized zone that Israel and Syria agreed to in their 1974 disarmament agreement.

“The IDF is completing its establishment in the buffer zone and in controlled areas,” Katz said.

The Israeli foreign minister insisted yesterday that the presence of troops on the border is “limited and temporary.”

The Israeli Air Force, for its part, has carried out some 300 airstrikes in Syria since the collapse of the Assad regime, destroying chemical weapons and long-range missile depots so that they do not fall into the hands of “hostile forces.”

Agencies contributed to this Aurora article.