With the announcement of the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, the United States has begun working to destroy the remaining chemical weapons in Syria, coinciding with Israeli raids targeting various sites in southern Syria.

Axios reported on Monday, December 9, that Washington is working with several other countries in the Middle East to prevent the chemical weapons held by the ousted regime from falling into “the wrong hands.”

The site added that the United States and its allies are concerned that the collapse of the regime’s army and other security forces, along with the spread of chaos, will allow “terrorist groups” to seize dangerous weapons previously held by the regime.

Axios mentioned that over the past 48 hours, the Israeli air force has carried out airstrikes against dozens of Syrian military bases, weapon depots, and facilities that were part of Syria’s chemical weapons and ballistic missile programs, according to unnamed Israeli officials.

The American site quoted one Israeli official as saying, “It is our responsibility to ensure that strategic weapon systems do not fall into the wrong hands.”

It also quoted another unnamed American official stating that the Biden administration has focused in recent days on Syria’s chemical weapons.

The official stated that the United States has “good information” about the condition of Syria’s weapon stockpiles and that American intelligence experts believe they are still under control.

He added, “We are taking very cautious measures in this regard… We are doing everything we can to ensure that these materials do not reach anyone and to take care of them.”

The Syrian opposition, which has taken control in Syria, has not commented on the Israeli strikes at the time of this report’s publication.

Since the announcement of the end of the Assad family’s regime in Syria, Israeli airstrikes in various areas of the southern region, reaching the capital Damascus, have not ceased.

These strikes coincided with orders issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to occupy the buffer zone with Syria and military command sites within Syrian territory.

Israeli Channel 14 reported yesterday, Sunday, that Netanyahu said, “In cooperation with the Minister of Defense, and with the full support of the Cabinet, I issued instructions to the army yesterday to seize the buffer zone and the nearby command sites. We will not allow any hostile force to settle on our borders.”

Israeli actions began just hours after the regime’s fall and the control of armed opposition factions over the Syrian capital, announcing the collapse of al-Assad’s regime.

Enab Baladi documented Israeli strikes targeting Damascus, focusing on the Mazzeh Military Airport in recent hours.