Abu Mohammed al-Julani, the leader of the successful rebel takeover of Syria, is busy with the help of the Western mainstream media revamping his image into a “moderate.” But some of those under his command (direct or indirect) are hinting at their true long-term intensions with recorded threats against Israel and the Jews.
In remarks to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan 11, a Syrian rebel official said that Israel was “getting off on the wrong foot” with its massive aerial campaign and ground incursion into southern Syria.
“Israel is spoiling the joy of the Syrians by invading their territory,” insisted the official.
A video posted by a group of rebels from the Great Mosque of Damascus has them promising to continue to fight and conquer Israel.
BREAKING 🚨🚨
Syrian rebel fighters, fresh from toppling Assad’s regime in Damascus, declare their next goal: conquering Jerusalem and annihilating the State of Israel.
Good luck! pic.twitter.com/UwBUxxGybj
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) December 9, 2024
In the video, they explain that their next destination is Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, and then they will continue to Gaza. “We entered the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus shouting Allahu Akbar, and with Allah’s help we will also enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque and we will also enter the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad (in Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia) and the Kaaba in Mecca.”
Another video posted to social media shows rebels walking in the Al-Hamdia market in Damascus while celebrating and promising to declare Syria an Islamic caliphate and swear allegiance to a Muslim caliph in order to “fight the Jews.”
In another clip, Syrian militants respond to Israeli Chief of Staff Gen. Herzi Levi, who earlier made a statement about the ongoing IDF operations in Syria. “To the Israeli Chief of Staff we say, ‘Where are we heading? To Jerusalem!’ We are coming for you, Jews.”
The Syrian rebels are threatening to come to Jerusalem and fight Jews in Israel.
And they told you they are “moderate” and “reformed”! pic.twitter.com/IIKI3QZePc
— ((🆆3⃣🅱🆂🜃🅶3⃣)) 🇮🇱 I Stand with Israel! 🇮🇱 (@w3bsag3) December 11, 2024
It’s for this reason that Israel this week conducted an unprecedented military campaign to destroy all remaining heavy weaponry belonging to the Syrian Armed Forces. It’s still very unclear what the jihadist hordes that took over Syria will do next, and if they indeed try to take on Israel, it’s best they’re as lightly armed as possible.
An IDF statement explained that the operation was aimed at preventing the Syrian Army’s weapons from “falling into the hands of terrorist elements.”
To that end, over a 48-hour period the Israeli military revealed the following details of what it’s been up to in Syria:
Naval operations: On Monday night, Israeli Navy missile ships struck two Syrian Navy facilities simultaneously: the Al-Bayda port and the Latakia port, where 15 Syrian naval vessels were docked.
Targets: Dozens of sea-to-sea missiles with ranges of 80–190 kilometers were destroyed. Each missile carried significant explosive payloads, posing threats to civilian and military maritime vessels in the area.
Hours in the sky: Manned aircraft flew hundreds of hours over Syrian airspace, conducting over 350 aerial strikes together with fighter escorts.
Targets struck: A wide range of targets were struck, including anti-aircraft batteries, Syrian Air Force airfields, and dozens of weapons production sites in Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, and Palmyra.
Assets neutralized: Numerous strategic weapons were neutralized, including Scud missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-sea, surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, UAVs, fighter jets, attack helicopters, radars, tanks, hangars, and more.
Their jihadist dreams, with nothing but trucks and guns for now, are smoke. Netanyahu is right, however, to destroy Syria’s strategic weapons from Russia and Iran left by Assad and also to draw a clear line in the sand regarding their possible rearming and Israel’s promised response. Whether or not they will accept the reality of their situation, no one really knows. Whether also the Sunni/Shiite split remains, only God knows. But for now and with Trump cutting off Iran things should be better than Assad’s treacherous times for awhile at least.
Dear Anna, since the fall of Syria, the situation for Israel has become much worse. Israel was already on the “wrong foot” because it did not destroy the jihadists when they were approaching Aleppo. Now Syria is the first state to be destroyed. And it will never be a real state in the Western sense again. Most likely it will become a “province” under Turkish control – but that means a war between Turkey and Israel. At the very least, it is futile to bomb “Assad’s” heavy weapons when they will once again be supplied by Turkey.
Israel will have to face a large-scale rush to establish a caliphate, which could also destroy Jordan, Iraq and even Egypt as states as we know them today. This has been the dream of jihadists for 100 years. Trump’s role in this near future is unknown, but crucial. I don’t think he will wage a “proxy war” against the Arab world and Turkey just to save Israel.
Israel must therefore act now and quickly to establish a defensive axis with Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. But Israel must also act by “monitoring” the emergence of the new “Islamic State al-Shams” – but this will only work with the help of Saudi Arabia, the USA and Russia. Erdogan will not be a helpful player in any way, because he wants to rebuild the Ottoman Empire between Istanbul and Jerusalem, if not Mecca.
Israel is therefore in the most dangerous position since 1948. That remains to be seen.
So Israel is now in it’s most dangerous situation ever since 1948. That is to be seen.