Israel struck suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets in Syria allegedly to prevent them from falling into the hands of "hostile actors," the country's Foreign Minister said Monday.
"The only interest we have is the security of Israel and its citizens," Gideon Saar told reporters Monday. "That’s why we attacked strategic weapons systems, like, for example, remaining chemical weapons, or long-range missiles and rockets, in order that they will not fall in the hands of extremists."
Syrian anti-regime forces reached Damascus over the weekend and overthrew Bashar Assad's regime following nearly 14 years of civil war, raising hopes for a more peaceful future but also concerns about a potential security vacuum in the country, which is still split among different groups.
An Associated Press journalist in Damascus reported airstrikes in the area of the Mezzeh military airport, southwest of the capital, on Sunday. The airport has previously been targeted in Israeli airstrikes, but it was not immediately clear who launched the latest strike.
Saar did not provide details about when or where the strikes took place.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria in recent years, targeting what it says are military sites related to Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah, both of which were close allies of Assad. Israeli officials rarely comment on individual strikes.
Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons stockpile in 2013 after the government was accused of launching an attack near Damascus that killed hundreds of people. But it is widely believed to have kept some of the weapons and was accused of using them again in subsequent years.
Commenting on Israel's military takeover of the buffer zone along its border with Syria, Saar claimed it was a "limited and temporary step."
"This is a limited and temporary step we took for security reasons," Saar said in a press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had ordered the army to "take control" of the zone after the fall of Assad.
"Ground troops are engaged in combat on four fronts: against ... in Judea and Samaria, in Gaza, in Lebanon, and last night we deployed troops into Syrian territory," Halevi said.
Judea and Samaria are the Israeli names for the occupied West Bank.
