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Kobi Gideon/GPO/TPS-IL on 8 December, 2024
Netanyahu: Assad’s Fall ‘A Direct Result of the Blows We Have Dealt to Iran and Hezbollah’
Jerusalem, 8 December, 2024 (TPS-IL) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to the Syrian border on Sunday that Israeli successes against Hezbollah and Iran paved the way for Syrian rebels to overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad.
“The Assad regime, a key link in Iran’s axis of evil, has fallen. This is a direct result of the blows we have dealt to Iran and Hezbollah, the main supporters of the Assad regime. It has triggered a chain reaction across the Middle East among all those who seek to break free from this oppressive and tyrannical regime,” Netanyahu said.
He said the Cabinet authorized the Israel Defense Forces “to take control of the buffer zone and the adjacent commanding positions,” saying, “We will not allow any foreign force to establish itself on our borders.”
Netanyahu did not comment on Israeli airstrikes targeting Syrian and Iranian weapons stockpiles to prevent them from being seized by Islamist rebels. Nor did he comment on reports that Israeli forces captured Syrian military positions on Mt. Hermon.
“The fall of Assad is a harsh blow to the Iranian axis of evil, which has set itself the goal of destroying the State of Israel,” said Defense Minister Israel Katz, who joined Netanyahu. “The tentacles are being cut off one by one. We have come here to clearly say that we are determined to secure the settlements in the Golan Heights.”
The fallout from Israel’s war with Hamas and Hezbollah triggered a domino effect that led to Syrian rebels — including the Al Qaida-linked Tahrir al-Sham and Turkish-backed Islamists — to topple Bashar Assad’s regime.
