Syrian civil war: US strikes ISIS, IDF take Mount Hermon peak

As the commander of al Qaeda's franchise in the Syrian civil war, Abu Mohammed al-Julani was a shadowy figure who kept out of the public eye, even when his group became the most powerful faction fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

Today, he is Syria's most recognizable insurgent, having gradually stepped into the limelight since severing ties to al Qaeda in 2016, rebranding his group and emerging as the de facto ruler of rebel-held northwestern Syria.

The State of Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic have never had formal ties since the inception of both countries in the 20th century.

The two countries have been locked in a perpetual state of war since the creation of Israel in May 1948 and an immediate declaration of war. The Syrian army initially captured territories in the newly formed State of Israel near the Sea of Galilee during the War of Independence. Following the July 1949 Armistice Agreement, much of this land was returned to Israel and designated as Demilitarized Zones (DMZs). However, disputes over borders, territorial ownership, and agricultural rights in these zones led to intermittent skirmishes until the Six-Day War in 1967.

Just over 54 years ago, on November 13, 1970, Hafez al-Assad seized power in Syria from the rival factions of the Ba'ath Party amid the chaos that ensued in the years following the Six-Day War. 

Assad's coup represented the defeat of the leftist factions within the Ba'ath Party and the rise of more moderate elements.

However, few could have imagined at the time that the rise to power of a disgruntled army officer—just another in a long series of coups in Syria, a country infamous for its instability—would mark the beginning of a long family dynasty, the longest in modern Syrian history.

The United States will continue to maintain its presence in eastern Syria and will take measures necessary to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Daniel Shapiro told the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain's capital on Sunday.

Speaking hours after Syrian rebels announced they had toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime, Shapiro called on all parties to protect civilians, particularly minorities, and respect international norms.

Celebratory gunfire could be heard coming from Syria on Sunday morning after rebel forces took over the country's capital, forcing former president Bashar al-Assad to flee. 

Remnants of the regime

Jerusalem Post reporter Seth J. Fratnzman reported live from the Golan Heights, near the abandoned Syrian town of Quneitra, where a lone regime flag still stood.

The IDF struck a chemical weapons factory belonging to the regime of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to prevent the rebels from seizing it, Israeli media reported on Sunday, citing Syrian sources. 

The IDF confirmed it had positioned forces at the buffer zone along the border with Syria and at several other points of significance for defense. 

Opposition head Yair Lapid urged Israel to strengthen regional alliances with Saudi Arabia and the Abraham Accords nations to confront growing instability in the region, particularly in light of events in Syria and the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime on Sunday.

In a statement on Sunday, Lapid highlighted the weakening of the Iranian axis as a strategic opportunity for Israel. He called for a comprehensive diplomatic initiative to enhance regional stability, which he said would also strengthen Israel's position in Gaza and the West Bank.

The fall of Assad, an implacable foe of Israel who turned Syria into a staging ground for Iranian threats and weapons transfers to Hezbollah, is not something Israel would lament.

With Syrian rebel forces rapidly advancing south toward Damascus after already taking Aleppo and Hama, the ground in Syria is shifting.

ad falls. 

Iran has turned its back and abandoned its ally Syria as opposition forces topple the regime, an exclusive New York Times report on Saturday revealed.

According to an internal memo from a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that the NYT viewed, the situation in Syria was described as “unbelievable and strange.” It is as if “Iran accepted the fall of Assad and has lost the will to resist,” the memo said.

With the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad's regime on Sunday, it appears that the era of a clear single authority over most of Syria is nearing its end, and Israel will need to identify new areas of cooperation.

The Syrian rebels consist of a collection of groups and organizations that do not necessarily share the same vision of reality—except for their unity against the Assad regime, their common enemy. 

Therefore, Israel's intelligence community will need to monitor developments and, in conjunction with diplomatic efforts, attempt to secure the area near the border by engaging with those in control to achieve basic agreements on stability.