While Syrians celebrated the toppling of the Assad regime following a swift operation by rebel forces on Sunday, Israel moved in. The Israeli military launched half a dozen airstrikes on Syrian targets and parked tanks inside Syria’s borders, in violation of a 50-year ceasefire pact.

Israeli airstrikes on Sunday targeted apparent missile and chemical weapons stockpiles. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the attacks were meant to keep those weapons from being used by “extremists.” And on Monday and Tuesday, Israel continued to strike dozens of other Syrian military targets — more than 350 — and claimed to have destroyed Syria’s navy.

The Israeli military on Sunday evening positioned its troops near five Syrian villages within a demilitarized zone just to the east of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and later illegally annexed. The movement of its troops violates a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, which Israel has argued is null since Assad’s government has collapsed — though the agreement was struck with his father 50 years ago. The Israeli military has also posted soldiers atop the Syrian side of the 9,000-foot Mount Hermon, which also falls within the ceasefire demilitarized zone.

The Israeli government said Monday that its military strikes and operations inside Syria were preemptive security measures meant to protect its citizens, intended to create a larger buffer zone between the two nations as the new Syrian government takes shape. A letter written by Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. Security Council said that this was a “limited and temporary” security measure. However, a U.N. spokesperson said its peacekeeping forces in charge of security along the border had informed Israel that its actions violate the 1974 agreement and instructed “there should be no military forces or activities in the area.”

“Israel is not interested in just and durable peace.”

But for those who live inside the occupied Golan........

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