Israel warns HTS: Stay away from border or face consequences
Shafaq News/ Israel warned Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) not to harm the Druze community in Syria or approach the Israeli border, an Israeli political analyst revealed on Thursday.
Barak Ravid, a political analyst and international affairs expert at CNN, said, "Israel has close ties with Kurdish groups in northern Syria and with Druze communities in the Golan Heights and southern Syria, due to the large Druze population in Israel."
"Israel has informed the Druze community in Israel that it will intervene if the Druze in Syria are threatened,” he added.
Moreover, Ravid pointed out that Israel sent messages to HTS via third parties, warning them to stay away from the Israeli border, emphasizing that "any attempt to approach the border will lead to action from the Israeli Defense Forces."
"Therefore, I believe there is much more skepticism in Israel about HTS than in the Biden administration or European countries. I think Israelis will be very cautious with this group," he continued.
Ravid also addressed recent Israeli attacks on Syria, stating, "Israel's goal is clear: to destroy what's left of the Syrian army… The number of airstrikes in the past few days has likely exceeded 400."
"The Syrian air and naval forces are gone, weapon depots have been bombed, and most of the Syrian chemical weapons program has been destroyed, with the rest likely to be bombed in the coming days,” he clarified.
The political analyst believed the Israelis were trying to “capitalize on the situation” to ensure that whoever controls Syria in the coming years would need significant time to rebuild its army, thereby posing less of a threat to Israel.
Reports suggest that Israel seized the “historic” opportunity presented by the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime at the hands of opposition armed forces, to preempt any new arrangements in Syria. On the same day Al-Assad fled Damascus, the Israeli army took control of the Golan Heights buffer zone. Israeli tanks advanced into Syrian villages near the zone, establishing positions in key strategic areas. Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes targeted Damascus, destroying aircraft shelters, heavy weapon depots, research centers, and other sensitive sites.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stern warning to the new Syrian leadership against allowing Iran to establish a foothold or transfer weapons to Hezbollah, vowing to respond forcefully, as reported by Arab media.
"We seek to establish relations with the new regime in Syria," Netanyahu said, adding, "We intend to prevent any threat emanating from Syria."
However, when Syria's Caretaker Prime Minister, Mohammed al-Bashir, was asked in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera about his stance on making peace with Israel, he declined to comment and ended the interview.
