The United States is discussing directly with Israel Israeli military actions in Syria after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
He highlighted that it is “really important that we all try to ensure that no further conflict occurs”.
“The purpose of these Israeli actions is to try to ensure that the equipment that was abandoned – military equipment that was abandoned by the Syrian Army – does not fall into the wrong hands, of terrorists, of extremists,” Blinken told reporters before heading from Jordan to Turkey.
Israel sent troops to the demilitarized area on the border with Syria and attacked Syrian air bases, ports and weapons arsenals across the country.
“The Israelis have been clear about what they are doing and why they are doing it,” Blinken declared.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to discuss developments in Syria, according to the prime minister’s office.
Sullivan later said during a press conference that the US is “in touch with the Israeli government about what will happen, what the next few days and weeks will look like.”
“We have the expectation that this will be temporary,” Sullivan added. “And we take their word for it that this is the intention, as we work on a new agreement that ensures Israel is safe.”
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 USA are in contact with Israel about military actions in Syria, says Blinken on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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