Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Monday that his country had struck “chemical weapons” in neighboring Syria, where rebel forces ousted president Bashar al-Assad over the weekend.
Speaking at a press conference, Saar said “we attacked strategic weapon 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.”
Saar said Israel was monitoring the actions of the rebels, adding: “The steps we took, the only interest we have is the security of Israel and its citizens.”
Israeli media reported on Friday that the military had struck a chemical weapons cache in Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said on Monday the Israeli military conducted overnight strikes on multiple locations spanning coastal and southern Syria.
“Since the initial hours after the announcement of the fall of the former regime, Israel began launching intensive air strikes, deliberately destroying weapons and ammunitions depots,” it said.
AFP photos on Monday showed damage at Mazzeh military airport on the outskirts of Damascus, including destroyed helicopters and jets, where the Israeli military struck nearby weapons depots.
Since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly targeting the army and Iran-backed groups.
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria but has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to expand its presence in the country.
The country also moved troops into a demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights region bordering Syria on Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border.”
Saar said Monday that the takeover of the buffer was “a limited and temporary step we took for security reasons.”