After launching hundreds of air strikes on Syrian military assets and seizing positions including the summit of a mountain with an uninterrupted sightline to the capital Damascus, Israel appears to be taking advantage of what it sees as a unique moment of opportunity.
Syrian command structures were in disarray, with key positions apparently left unmanned after the fall of the Assad regime.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says its air force and navy have conducted more than 350 strikes since Saturday night, taking out an estimated 70-80% of Syrian strategic military assets from Damascus to Latakia.
They included fighter aircraft, radar and air defence sites, and naval ships, as well as weapons stockpiles, the IDF said.
“The navy operated last night to destroy the Syrian fleet with great success,” said Defence Minister Israel Katz.
The IDF has also moved ground forces east from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights into a demilitarised buffer zone in Syria and, it now admits, just beyond.
Katz said he had told the military to “establish a sterile defence zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence”.