Israel destroyed Syrian naval fleet, says defense minister

Israel’s Defense Minister said this Tuesday (10) that the Israeli Navy destroyed the Syrian naval fleet.

“The Navy operated last night to destroy the Syrian fleet, and it was a great success,” announced Israel Katz during a visit to the Haifa naval base.

An AFP photographer captured the large-scale destruction of military vessels at the Syrian naval base in Latakia, western Syria.

“The IDF [Forças de Defesa de Israel] have been operating in Syria in recent days to target and destroy strategic capabilities that pose a threat to the State of Israel,” added the minister.

Understand the conflict in Syria

The Assad family regime was overthrown in Syria on December 8, after 50 years in power, when rebel groups took over the capital Damascus.

President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country and is in Moscow after gaining asylum, according to a source in Russia.

Syria’s civil war began during the Arab Spring in 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.

The country was plunged into full-scale conflict when a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to fight government troops.

Furthermore, the Islamic State, a terrorist group, also managed to gain a foothold in the country and came to control 70% of Syrian territory.

Fighting escalated as other regional actors and world powers — from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia — joined in, escalating the country’s war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.”

Russia has allied with Bashar al-Assad’s government to combat the Islamic State and rebels, while the United States has led an international coalition to repel the terrorist group.

After a ceasefire agreement in 2020, the conflict remained largely “dormant”, with minor clashes between the rebels and the Assad regime.

More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the UN, and millions of people have been displaced across the region.

Find out who the Syrian rebel leader is and the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad

This content was originally published in Israel destroyed Syrian naval fleet, says Minister of Defense on the CNN Brasil website.

Source: CNN Brasil

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