11 December 2024
Calling it a “great opportunity”, Israel is taking advantage of Assad’s overthrow to expand its colonial agenda in the region.
Expanded Occupation and Escalating Airstrikes Across Syria
Right after Assad’s overthrow, Israel has intensified its occupation of the Syrian Golan, extending its military presence beyond the occupied territory and into the buffer zone.
Within 48 hours of the regime’s collapse, Israel carried out 250 bombardments targeting military sites across Syria, including in Damascus.
Context of Golan’s Occupation
Israel occupied the Syrian Golan in 1967, forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands of Syrians, and annexed it completely in 1981.
Over 20,000 Druze residents in the occupied Golan reject Israeli citizenship, and military service. For decades, Israel has been exploiting the Golan’s rich resources, including water, oil, and wind, to benefit its state and over 30 jewish settlements in the area, housing 25,000 settlers.
The illegal annexation of Golan is recognised and condemned internationally, with the exception of the US.
Israel’s Ongoing Aggression in Lebanon
Exploiting the fall of Assad, Israel is also continuing its attacks against Southern Lebanon, expanding its control over Lebanese lands.
Since the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon on 27 November, Israel has violated it over 156 times, killing more than 10 Lebanese.
Since October 2023, Israel’s aggression on Lebanon killed 4,047 people, wounded 16,638 others, and forcibly displaced 1.2 million people.
Continued Genocide in Gaza
Israel is taking advantage of the global focus on Syria and the media blackout in northern Gaza to escalate its ongoing genocide, including through siege and starvation.
In the 48 hours since the overthrow of Assad, Israel killed 78 Palestinians and injured over 134, including in airstrikes on tents in Nuseirat camp, and the Indonesian hospital
Netanyahu Boasting about his War Crimes and Vowing Power Expansion
In a display of colonial mindset and to serve Israeli warmongering interests while furthering the fragmentation of Arabs, Netanyahu has boasted that his war crimes against our people has contributed to the fall of Assad.
“This collapse is a direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad’s main supporters.”
Netanyahu has further vowed to reshape“the face of the Middle East,” declaring:
“The State of Israel is establishing itself as a focus of strength in our region. Whoever cooperates with us gains greatly. Whoever attacks us loses greatly.”
Israel’s Regional Colonial Agenda
“It is more important than ever to create a strong regional coalition, with Saudi Arabia and the Abraham Accords countries, in order to deal together with regional instability,” Yair Lapid, Israeli opposition leader
“We must prepare ourselves for rapid and dramatic action. We must build our own ‘ring of fire’ and ready ourselves for swift military action…Normalization with Syria and Lebanon premised on Israeli power and might are realistic goals.” Benny Gantz, former Israeli Defense Minister and current Knesset member.
Popular Hope Amid Imperial Ambitions in the Region
Despite the possible terrifying implications on the region by imperial powers and redoubling of Israeli dispossession of Palestinians, public sentiment is full of joy and hope.
Across the Arab world, people are celebrating the fall of a tyran, freedom for prisoners and Syrian families reuniting, as a possible future to imagine for a free Palestine.