President-elect Trump tangled with a reporter who asked him Monday if he would entertain the idea of preemptive strikes on Iran.

Trump, following remarks at Mar-a-Lago, took questions from the media, and one reporter asked if he would target Iran’s nuclear facilities,

"Well I can’t tell you that. I mean, it's a wonderful question, but how can I – am I going to do preemptive strikes? Why would I say that?" the president-elect responded.

"Can you imagine if I said yes or no? You would say, ‘That was strange that he answered that way.’ Am I going to do preemptive strikes on Iran? Is that a serious question? How could I answer a question like that?" Trump continued. 

ISRAEL EYES IRAN NUKE SITES AMID REPORTS TRUMP MULLS MOVES TO BLOC TEHRAN ATOMIC PROGRAM 

The reporter then asked if Trump would be in support of Israel striking Iran. 

"How could I tell you a thing like that now?" Trump responded. "You don't talk about that before something may or may not happen. I don't want to insult you, I just think it's just not something that I would ever answer. Having to do with there or any other place in the world." 

CHRISTIAN LEADER IN LEBANON URGES US, ALLIES TO INTERVENE TO STOP HEZBOLLAH 

"We're trying to help very strongly and getting the hostages back, as you know, with Israel and the Middle East," Trump added Monday. 

"We're working very much on that. We're trying to get the war stopped, that horrible, horrible war that's going on in Ukraine with Russia. We're going to, we've got a little progress. It's a tough one. It's a nasty one. It's nasty," he also said. 

Hezbollah lost its most important supply route from Iran through Syria with the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, the group’s chief admitted Sunday. 

It was the first public acknowledgment of how upheaval in Syria had hurt the Iranian proxy, which had propped up Assad and is now fighting a war in Lebanon with Israel. Weapons to counter the Israeli campaign flowed from Iran through Syria and into Lebanon for Hezbollah. 

"Yes, Hezbollah lost in this phase its military supply line through Syria, but this loss is merely a detail in the overall of the resistance," said Naim Qassem in a televised address.

"The supply line might come back normally with the new regime, and we can always look for other ways, the resistance is flexible and can adapt," he added.

Assad’s ousting jeopardized Syria’s close ties to Iran. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group that led the overthrow of Assad, had lamented that Syria had become a "playground for Iran." Hezbollah had fought off the rebel groups on Assad’s behalf. 

TURKEY SEEKS TO PURGE PRO-US KURDISH FORCE THAT HELPED DEFEAT ISLAMIC STATE IN SYRIA

As it became clear Assad’s grip on power was coming undone, Hezbollah and Iran’s military forces made their exit from Syria. 

Qassem took over as Hezbollah’s secretary general in October after its leader for three decades, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in Israeli airstrikes south of Beirut. Hezbollah and Iran had long intervened on behalf of Assad in Syria’s 13-year civil war, but depleted by war with Israel, refused to come to his defense during the swift takeover of Damascus. 

Israel has also used the chaos of Assad’s fall to destroy the Syrian army’s strategic and chemical weapons in more than 350 airstrikes across the country. And it has moved into the buffer zone that separates it from Syria – the first time the Golan buffer zone has seen Israeli forces since 1973. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is not interested in meddling in Syria’s domestic politics but is looking to protect Israel’s borders. "We have no interest in a conflict with Syria. We will determine Israeli policy regarding Syria according to the reality on the ground," he said Sunday, adding Israel would continue to strike "as necessary, in every arena and at all times" to prevent the rebuilding of Hezbollah. 

SYRIAN DICTATOR BASHAR ASSAD FLEES INTO EXILE AS ISLAMIST REBELS CONQUER COUNTRY 

HTS, a former al Qaeda affiliate, has sought to portray itself as a moderating force in Syria, and the U.S. has been in direct contact with the leading rebel group. But Israel is leery of the group’s long-term intentions. 

"The immediate risks to the country have not disappeared, and the latest developments in Syria are increasing the intensity of the threat – despite the moderate appearance rebel leaders are pretending to portray," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday.

Hezbollah kicked up its cross-border attacks on Israel after Oct. 7, 2023, in support of Hamas, another Iranian proxy. Since late November, the cease-fire has mostly held, despite some Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah operatives. 

Qassem defended his decision to stick to the cease-fire, saying it did not mean the end of Hezbollah's "resistance," but was necessary to "stop the aggression" of Israel in Lebanon. 

• Israel invoked a WWII precedent in trying to justify its pre-emptive strikes in Syria.
• During WWII, the Royal Navy attacked the fleet of its former ally to keep it from Nazi control.
• Both operations were borne in atmospheres of fear and crisis.

When Israel sank six Syrian warships at the port of Latakia this week amid larger attacks on the military remnants of the ousted Assad regime, Israel's leader invoked a precedent from World War II.

"This is similar to what the British Air Force did when it bombed the fleet of the Vichy regime, which was cooperating with the Nazis, so that it would not fall into the Nazis' hands," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Though Netanyahu's history was faulty — it was the Royal Navy rather than the RAF that struck the French fleet — his analogy was revealing. The attack on the port of Mers-el-Kebir on July 3, 1940, has gone down as either a courageous decision that saved Britain — or a treacherous and needless backstab of an ally.

At the least, it is one of Britain's most controversial decisions of the Second World War. Like Israel today, the British acted amid an atmosphere of crisis, haste and uncertainty. The Israeli goal is to keep the now-deposed Syrian government's huge arsenal — which includes chemical weapons and ballistic missiles — from falling into the hands of rebel groups, which are dominated by Islamic militants. For Britain, the goal was to keep Adolf Hitler's hands off the French fleet, the fourth-largest navy in the world in 1940.

In that chaotic summer of 1940, the situation looked grim. The German blitzkrieg had just conquered France and Western Europe, while the cream of the British Army had barely been evacuated — minus their equipment — from Dunkirk. If the Germans could launch an amphibious assault across the English Channel, the British Army was in no condition to repel them.

However, Operation Sealion — the Nazi German plan to invade Britain — had its own problems. The Kriegsmarine — the German Navy — was a fraction of the size of the Royal Navy, and thus too small to escort vulnerable troop transports. But Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill had to contemplate a situation he had never expected: a combined German-French battlefleet.

Technically, France had only agreed to an armistice — a permanent cease-fire — with Germany rather than surrender. France would be divided between German-occupied northern zone, and a nominally independent rump state of Vichy comprising southern France and the colonies of the French Empire. Vichy France would be allowed a meager army, and the French Navy would be confined to its home ports.

The British didn't trust French promises that its ships would be scuttled if the Germans tried to seize them. Why had France signed a separate peace with Germany after earlier pledging not to? Why didn't the French government choose to go into exile, and continue the war from its North African colonies as the British urged? London was well aware that the right-wing Vichy government — under Field Marshal Philippe Pétain, hero of the First World War — had more affection for the Third Reich than it did for Britain. With Germany master of Europe, Pétain sneered that Britain would soon "have its neck wrung like a chicken."

After Vichy rebuffed pleas to send the fleet to British ports, Churchill and his ministers decided the risk was too great. In late June 1940, the Royal Navy received orders for Operation Catapult. A task force — including the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and three battleships and battlecruisers — would be dispatched to the French naval base at Mers-el-Kebir, near the Algerian port of Oran. A powerful French squadron of four battleships and six destroyers were docked there, including the new battleships Dunkerque and Strasbourg.

The French were to be given six hours to respond to an ultimatum: sail their ships to British ports and fight the Germans, sail them to French Caribbean ports and sit out the war, demilitarize their ships at Mers-el-Kebir, or scuttle their vessels. When the local French commander tried to delay while summoning reinforcements, the British opened fire.

The ensuing battle was not the Royal Navy's most glorious. Caught in every admiral's nightmare — unprepared ships anchored in port — the French were simply smothered by British gunfire. The battleship Bretagne and two destroyers were sunk, two other battleships damaged, and 1,297 French sailors perished. The British suffered two dead.

This was no repeat of the Battle of Trafalgar, when the Royal Navy smashed a Franco-Spanish fleet off Spain in 1805. Most ships at Mers-el-Kebir were damaged rather than sunk, and the French fleet quickly relocated its scattered vessels to the heavily defended French port at Toulon (where they were scuttled in November 1942 when German troops occupied Vichy). Though Vichy didn't declare war on Britain — and only retaliated with a few minor attacks on British bases — it confirmed old French prejudices about British treachery and "perfidious Albion."

Britain's attack on Mers-el-Kebir was political as much as military. In the summer of 1940, many people — including some in the United States — believed that the British would be conquered or compelled to make peace with a victorious Germany. Churchill argued that Britain had to show its resolve to keep on fighting, not least if it hoped to persuade America to send tanks, ships and war materials via a Lend-Lease deal. Attacking a former ally may have been a demonstration of British resolve.

Israel's situation does not resemble that of Britain in 1940. Syria has never been an ally of Israel. The two nations have had an armistice since 1949, punctuated by multiple wars and clashes over the years. Britain acted out of a sense of weakness, while Israel is confident enough of its strength to hit targets in Syria.

Yet by citing Mers-el-Kebir as a precedent, Netanyahu proved a golden rule of international relations that applied in 1940 and still applies today: Nations always act in their own interests. Faced with a choice between respecting a former ally and defending Britain from invasion, Churchill chose the latter. Netanyahu didn't hesitate to do the same.

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

• F-35 combat operations have often been against terrorist and militant targets.
• Israel used the fighter jet in widespread strikes against Iran in late October.
• The success of that operation underscores the F-35's ability to battle higher-level threats.

F-35 stealth fighters have been flying combat missions in the Middle East for years now, though largely in permissive airspace against lower-level targets. The jet's recent victory against Iran's air defenses, however, highlights its ability to combat higher-level threats.

Britain's top military officer shared last week that when Israel used its fifth-generation F-35s to execute retaliatory strikes against Iran in late October, it wiped out nearly all of Tehran's air defenses and hammered its missile production sites.

The suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses through penetrating strikes — that is the kind of higher-level mission for which the jet was made.

The F-35 has historically been used against weaker targets with either limited or nonexistent air defenses. Israeli F-35s have previously battled Syrian surface-to-air missiles and antiaircraft batteries and engaged in strikes on Iranian targets, but the expensive fighter jet has largely been employed against non-state actors like ISIS, the Taliban, and the Houthis.

Israel's recent operation against Iran, which fielded very capable Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems, emphasizes how the jet is capable of engaging in combat at a higher level.

Mark Gunzinger, a retired US Air Force colonel who flew the B-52 Stratofortress bomber, told Business Insider that without the F-35, it would've probably been "a far more risky mission."

The 'power' of the F-35

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is an advanced single-engine, multi-role strike stealth fighter jet made by American defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Multiple variants of the aircraft are in use by several countries, including Israel.

Michael Bohnert, a licensed engineer at the RAND Corporation, said that the F-35 was designed to replace existing fighter jets like the F-117, F-16, and F/A-18 with increased stealth, ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), and other capabilities.

"The F-35 is a great plane conceived out of the 1990s Pax Americana," Bohnert told BI.

Israel, which operates a subvariant of the F-35A model designed for air force operations, was the first to fly the fighter jet in combat in 2018. The US military has since used it in missions across the Middle East.

The F-35 fighter faced probably its most daring operation in late October, when Israel struck Iran in response to Tehran's huge missile attack at the start of the month.

"Israel used more than 100 aircraft, carrying fewer than 100 munitions, and with no aircraft getting within 100 miles of the target in the first wave, and that took down nearly the entirety of Iran's air-defense system," said Adm. Tony Radakin, the UK's chief of defense staff.

Radakin, speaking in London at a December 4 lecture hosted by the Royal United Services Institute, said Israel demonstrated "the power" of jet and the "disproportionate advantage of modern ways of fighting" in its strikes against Iran.

His remarks appeared to mark the first confirmation from a Western government that Israel used the fifth-generation aircraft in the strikes. It was reported shortly after the operation that Israel flew its F-35s and fired air-launched ballistic missiles.

Radakin's praise of the F-35 came after Elon Musk criticized the jet and dismissed its stealth capabilities. The aircraft is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program, but it is widely considered a key warfighting capability for US allies and partners.

The F-35 is not just a fighter jet; it also acts as a bomber with penetrating ISR capabilities, a battlespace command and control platform, and an electronic warfare aircraft.

"The F-35's capabilities are not a theory — they're a reality," said Gunzinger, the director of future concepts and capability assessments at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, "and now they're proven in combat against Russian-imported S-300 surface-to-air missile batteries that have been touted as the answer to stealth."

Bohnert said the F-35 "did exactly what it was designed to do" against Iran.

In the aftermath of the strikes on Iran, an Israeli security official told BI that the hits "accurately targeted" Iran's radar and air-defense systems, putting the country at a "disadvantage."

While the F-35 demonstrated its combat prowess against Iran, the jet would face a tougher fight in a conflict between Western powers and Russia or China, which field more advanced air-defense systems and have their own fifth-generation aircraft.

And the F-35 isn't without its own challenges. The program faces rising costs and readiness issues. Mission capable rates are declining, even as program costs go up. Bohnert said it will be important to increase the aircraft's maintenance and logistics capacity for any higher-end conflict.

Still, the F-35 is demonstrating its combat potential today, as Radakin and others have said. And the fighter jet's advanced combat capabilities are not lost on Congress, where House lawmakers in their 2025 fiscal year defense spending bill called for more F-35s than what the Pentagon initially requested.

The jet's development came with more than its fair share of difficulties, but, Gunzinger said, the "F-35s today are operational and ready for the fight."

• Israel launched widespread strikes on Syria to wipe out the remnants of the Assad regime's military.
• The strikes targeted Syrian weapon stockpiles after a rebel offensive ousted President Bashar Assad.
• Israeli warplanes and missile ships destroyed Syrian aircraft, naval ships, and weapon depots.

The Israel Defense Forces launched widespread strikes across Syria over the past two days to wipe out what remained of the Assad regime's military arsenal.

The Israeli Air Force carried out about 480 strikes targeting most of the country's strategic weapon stockpiles left behind after rebels forced Syrian leader Bashar Assad to flee the country.

About 350 of the strikes were crewed aircraft targeting Syrian military assets, including aircraft, ammunition depots, storage facilities, and missile and radar systems. The Israeli Navy also destroyed several military vessels docked at two Syrian naval ports. The Israeli army seized strategic positions in the Golan Heights abandoned by Syrian troops.

Israeli officials said the extensive strikes on Syria were intended to prevent the Assad government's military infrastructure and weapons from being used by extremists and potential foes. Israel is exploiting the Assad regime's fall to enhance its security in the long term as it uses blistering force to cripple Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The fall of Assad

After a decadeslong dictatorship, rebel forces seized control of the Syrian capital of Damascus over the weekend, forcing Assad to relinquish power and flee the country.

"We declare Damascus free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad," Hassan Abdul-Ghani, commander of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, wrote in a post on social media. "To the displaced people around the world, free Syria awaits you."

Former Syrian prime minister Ghazi al-Jalali remained in the country after the collapse of the Assad regime, saying the government is willing to cooperate and support "any leadership chosen by the Syrian people."

Creating a 'sterile defense zone'

While Israel supported ousting Assad, a staunch ally of Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the situation in Syria is still "fraught with significant dangers" from the extremists now governing the country.

In the days after the dayslong rebel offensive ousted the Syrian dictator, Israel launched hundreds of strikes targeting Syrian military assets over 48 hours to prevent them "from falling into the hands of terrorist elements." HTS publicly split with the Al Qaeda affiliate from which it formed, but US officials believe it may still have links to Al Qaeda leaders.

"We have no intention of interfering in Syria's internal affairs, but we clearly intend to do what is necessary to ensure our security," Netanyahu said.

"I authorized the air force to bomb strategic military capabilities left by the Syrian army so that they would not fall into the hands of the jihadists," he said, adding that Israel "would like to form relations with the new regime in Syria."

The IDF said the strikes were part of a larger-scale mission known as Operation Bashan Arrow, intended to create a "sterile defense zone" by neutralizing potential threats from the neighboring country.

Sinking Syrian warships

Israeli forces attacked key Syrian naval facilities in the port cities of Al-Bayda and Latakia late Tuesday, where more than a dozen Syrian naval vessels were docked.

Photos of the decimated port showed half-submerged Syrian warships. Some of the damaged vessels were Osa-class missile boats, Soviet-era vessels whose 30mm turrets and mounted missile launchers could be seen in the wreckage.

The Syrian navy, the smallest branch of the country's armed forces, operated over a dozen of the high-speed — albeit outdated — vessels developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s.

Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz said Israeli Navy missile ships "destroyed Syria's navy overnight and with great success." It's not clear how many Syrian vessels were destroyed by Israeli warships in the overnight attack.

Satellite images of Latakia, a former stronghold of Assad, showed the charred wreckage of the naval ships. The IDF wrote in a post on X that "dozens of sea-to-sea missiles" with "significant explosive payloads" were also destroyed.

Destroying Syrian military aircraft

The IAF carried out an airstrike on the Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus, once a key stronghold of the Assad regime's air force.

At least three major Syrian army air bases were attacked by Israeli warplanes, damaging dozens of helicopters and fighter jets, The Times of Israel reported. Locals living near the bases said they heard several explosions after the Israeli strikes appeared to ignite the ammunition stored there, the Associated Press reported.

Dismantling Syrian military infrastructure

In addition to decimating Syria's aerial and naval fleet, the IDF said it carried out strikes on 130 military assets, such as firing positions, antiaircraft batteries, missile and radar systems, and weapons production sites.

Crippling Syria's chemical weapons infrastructure

Israeli forces also destroyed the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center in Damascus, a key facility thought to be testing and operating the country's covert chemical and biological weapons programs under the Assad regime.

The Barzeh facility was previously bombarded in 2018 by US, UK, and French forces in response to a poison sarin gas attack in Douma, Syria. The US found Assad's government responsible for the April 2018 chemical warfare attack that killed at least 40 people and injured over 100.

However, the head of the center's polymers department told Reuters at the time that the facility, now reduced to rubble, was used to research medicinal components that couldn't be imported, such as anti-venom and cancer treatments.

'Changing the face of the Middle East'

The fall of the Syrian regime weakens Iran's regional influence and could pose logistical and strategic challenges to Iran's regional proxies like the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

"The collapse of the Syrian regime is a direct result of the severe blows with which we have struck Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran," Netanyahu said during a Monday press conference. "The axis has not yet disappeared, but as I promised — we are changing the face of the Middle East."

Despite the widespread strikes across Syria, Israeli military officials said the country's armed forces were operating beyond the Israeli-occupied demilitarized buffer zone in Golan Heights but not toward the Syrian capital.

"IDF forces are not advancing towards Damascus. This is not something we are doing or pursuing in any way," IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said at a briefing. "We are not involved in what's happening in Syria internally, we are not a side in this conflict, and we do not have any interest other than protecting our borders and the security of our citizens."

Katz, Israel's defense minister, said the country was advancing beyond Golan Heights to impose a "security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructures" in southern Syria.

"With regard to what will be in the future, I'm not a prophet," Katz said. "It is important right now to take all necessary steps in the context of the security of Israel."

• Russia faces the prospect of losing key bases in Syria but still has moves left.
• Keeping its bases may come down to lucrative deals with the now victorious groups it had attacked.
• These bases are critical to Russian influence in the Middle East and would not be easily replaced.

Syria has been central to Russian plans to project power across the Middle East — as evidenced by the recent signing of a 49-year lease for Syrian bases.

But after the ouster of the ally it propped up, Syrian President Bashar Assad, Russian officials face the likelihood its days in Syria are numbered.

"Russia's certainly doing everything in its power to maintain a presence in Syria while preparing for the possibility that this is the end," Ben Dubow, a nonresident senior fellow with the Democratic Resilience Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis, told Business Insider.

Moscow is doing so by "not only leaving their ships out at sea but, according to [Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham's] official Telegram channel, disbursing weapons to local Alawite groups," Dubow said. "Reaching out to the new leadership is both an act of desperation and an acceptance of the new reality."

This is a look at the dimming options Russia now faces.

Reduced footprint

Shortly after Assad fled to Russia, a deal was reportedly reached with the interim authorities, led by the victorious Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham Islamist movement, guaranteeing the security of these bases, and the armed opposition presently has no plans to attack them. Still, it's far from clear that the future leadership in Damascus is willing to tolerate a long-term Russian military presence.

For now, some Russian warships are anchored outside the Tartus base as a precaution, and there are other Russian military movements in Syria.

"There is quite a lot of military equipment that has been hastily withdrawn to the coastal region or is being withdrawn at the moment from various remote regions," Anton Mardasov, a nonresident scholar with the Middle East Institute's Syria program, told BI. "So, the ships that are going to Syria from the Baltic Fleet and the military transport planes that are coming to Hmeimim may be taking out this excess equipment."

Alongside its Tartus naval base, Russia also has a sizable airbase in Latakia named Hmeimim, which it has used as a launchpad to conduct airstrikes throughout Syria since intervening in the country's bloody civil war in 2015.

"It may not be a question of a complete evacuation of the bases right now," Mardasov said. "Rather, a new government, possibly appointed after March 2025, should issue a decree denouncing or legitimizing Damascus' past treaty with Moscow."

A bare minimum force in Syria would "deprive" Russia of its capacity to counter NATO on its southern flank, Mardasov said.

Renewed access

Russia signed an extendable 49-year lease agreement with Assad's regime in 2017 for these bases, seemingly entrenching its forces in the Middle Eastern country for generations to come. The treaty even granted the Russian military legal immunity for its personnel in the country, meaning they would not be held accountable for killing Syrians.

"I can't speak to whether the 2017 agreements are binding, but at this point, only Russia could enforce them, and there's no sign they have the will or capacity to do so," Dubow said. "If Damascus orders Russia to leave, Moscow would be hard-pressed to withstand a siege."

Russia's best hope may be to try to extend its access until new deals can be made with the new Syrian leaders. The offers will likely have to be very lucrative to win over a Syrian opposition inured to Russian airstrikes and ruthless mercenaries.

Russia would likely offer money and other economic incentives, such as discounted refined fuel products, in return for Syria's new rulers tolerating its military presence.

But these would likely be short-term arrangements.

"In the long run, it is unlikely Russia's use of the facilities can be preserved considering considerable antipathy to Russia among Syria's new authorities after Russia's years of support to the Assad regime," said Matthew Orr, a Eurasia analyst at the risk intelligence company RANE.

Syria's interim authorities could even benefit from a continued Russian presence in the short term, he said. That could counterbalance the US presence on the other side of the country and serve as a bargaining chip in negotiations with other powers.

Complete withdrawal

Russia's choices are stark if it can't reach a deal. It can try to guard bases in an uneasy stand-off with HTS-led forces, which comes with risks of its troops being harmed or captured and subjected to trials that would humiliate Russia. Or it can airlift out its forces and materiel.

Orr, the RANE analyst, doesn't anticipate a hasty Russian withdrawal from Syria. Instead, Russia is probably preparing "for an orderly withdrawal from the facilities, likely after failed attempts to negotiate their preservation in the coming months," Orr told BI.

"Their loss would harm Russia's power projection because they are crucial logistical points for Russian military operations in Africa, the Middle East, and Russia's global naval operations, and Russia does not have immediately available alternatives to the facilities."

Tartus remains Moscow's only naval facility in the Mediterranean, making it vital for any extended Russian Navy deployment south of the Black Sea and Turkish Straits. Along with Hmeimim, it serves as a hub for supporting Russian military and mercenary deployments in Africa.

Moscow has had access to Tartus since the Soviet era in the 1970s. Furthermore, Russia invested in its expansion in the 2010s, making its potential loss all the more painful.

One alternative Russian port outside of Syria could be Tobruk in eastern Libya, which is controlled by the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar. CEPA's Dubow is skeptical that the Libyan port near Egypt could be any substitute.

"Tobruk would not come close to making up for Tartus and Latakia," Dubow said. "It's both smaller and much further from Russia. Even a significant reduction of Russian presence in Syria would immensely damage Russia's power projection capacity."

In this case, could Russia's loss be Turkey's gain? Turkey is close to the HTS-led coalition, but it too may lack the cachet to win permanent bases.

"The Turkish Navy doesn't need the Tartus base, and the possibility will depend on security conditions on the ground, which are still unclear many months from now, so it doesn't seem likely in the near term," RANE's Orr said.

"But in general, the Tartus port is something that if there is a unified government in Syria, they will definitely try to leverage for security and economic ties with a great power, or remove the base as part of geopolitical balancing between powers."

Paul Iddon is a freelance journalist and columnist who writes about Middle East developments, military affairs, politics, and history. His articles have appeared in a variety of publications focused on the region.

Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather was out shopping in London this week when he and his entourage were seemingly targeted by an angry mob that, according to reports, were furious over his support for Israel. 

Several videos posted to social media showed the former boxing champion surrounded by a group of people while shopping at Hatton Gardens in London. The crowd, seemingly more agitated, followed Mayweather into the street. 

Videos showed the angry group shouting expletives as Mayweather’s security attempted to get him into a black SUV and away from the scene.  

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

According to reports, it was Mayweather’s support of Israel that agitated the crowd. 

A source told The Sun that someone had questioned Mayweather over his support while shopping, to which the American boxer doubled down. The source added that someone then "took a swing" at Mayweather. 

"Floyd took a few hits during it, but his security was trying to push people back," the source told the outlet.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER SHARES MESSAGE OF SUPPORT AFTER HAMAS ATTACKS: 'I STAND WITH ISRAEL'

Floyd addressed the reports with a statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday. He denied being "touched in any way."

"Let me set the record straight... there's no truth to the rumors going around. I wasn't punched or touched in any way. What you're seeing is just my security doing their job to keep things under control.

"I was in the UK for a quick 48-hour stop to do some shopping, and unfortunately, people let jealousy and negativity fuel false stories," he continued. "I'm perfectly fine, and there's really nothing more to it."

The dustup comes just days after Mayweather announced the "Mayweather Israel Initiative," aimed at offering support to orphans. 

"​​Over the next year, every orphan in Israel will be visited by the Floyd Mobile and receive special birthday gifts. To all the widows and orphans: keep your heads held high as we honor the cherished memories of those who have passed," he wrote in a post on Instagram. 

Mayweather, 47, has been outspoken about his support for Israel. He has taken several trips there and in October met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

"It was an honor to meet with you today. Your strength and courage are unmatched, and your commitment to protecting the Jewish people and citizens of Israel is truly inspiring. Keep using your voice and never back down," he said in a post at the time. 

"This week in Israel has been deeply emotional for me. Visiting injured soldiers, meeting families of fallen heroes, and connecting with the people of Israel has been a humbling experience." 

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• Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria since Bashar Assad's ouster.
• Its forces have also advanced into the Golan Heights, a previously demilitarized zone in southwestern Syria.
• Israel's defense minister said it intended to create a "defense zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria."

Israel says it has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria in the days since Bashar Assad's regime collapsed.

On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had "struck most of the strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria" in 48 hours as part of a push to stop the weapons "falling into the hands of terrorist elements."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday welcomed the toppling of Assad but said the moment is "fraught with significant dangers."

Assad's downfall followed a surprise rebel offensive led by the Islamist opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which traces its roots to Al-Qaeda.

Per Tuesday's IDF statement, the Israeli military had conducted strikes on targets including antiaircraft batteries, Syrian Air Force airfields, and weapons production sites.

It said the strikes took out "numerous" strategic assets, including cruise and Scud missiles, tanks, radars, and attack helicopters.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which gathers data from on-the-ground sources in Syria, said on Tuesday that it had documented nearly 310 Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory since Assad's government collapsed on December 8.

The Israeli navy also hit two ports, one in Al-Bayda and one in Latakia, the IDF said.

The IDF did not say how many ships were struck, but Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the mission had been a "great success" and that the navy had destroyed the Syrian fleet overnight, CNN reported.

The IDF declined to clarify what proportion of Syria's military capability had been taken out when approached by Business Insider for comment.

Katz said that Israel intended to create a "sterile defense zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria," adding that it's "in order to prevent terrorism in Syria from taking root," per The Guardian's translation.

The US and Turkey have also been reported to be carrying out airstrikes in Syria since Assad's fall.

Washington has targeted ISIS camps and operatives in Syria with precision strikes, President Joe Biden said on Sunday.

Jonathan Lord, a former political-military analyst at the Pentagon, previously told Business Insider the US military was hitting as many targets as possible as it was "rightly worried that ISIS could slip through the cracks in the chaos."

For its part, Ankara has reportedly launched a drone strike on a military site in an area held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Force, which it views as a terror group.

Troops on the ground

The strikes come as Netanyahu announced that he had sent forces into the Golan Heights, a formerly demilitarized buffer zone in southwestern Syria.

In a video address on Sunday, Netanyahu described this as a "temporary defensive position" designed "to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel."

Israel has denied reports that its forces have advanced beyond the buffer zone.

An anonymous Syrian source previously told Reuters that troops had reached Qatana, a town close to the Syrian capital Damascus.

Business Insider could not independently confirm the report. The IDF declined to comment.

Several Arab countries have criticized the move into the Golan Heights.

Egypt's foreign ministry said on Monday that it constituted "an exploitation of the state of fluidity and vacuum in Syria to occupy more Syrian territories," the Egypt Independent reported.

The Arab League said that Israel was "taking advantage of the developments in the internal situation in Syria," per CNN.

Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, confirmed at a press briefing on Monday that the Israeli military had entered the Golan Heights and was stationed in at least three locations there.

Dujarric said that peacekeepers at the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force had told Israel that such actions would violate the 1974 disengagement agreement and that there should be no military forces or activities in the area.

Netanyahu said that the agreement had "collapsed" and that "the Syrian army abandoned its positions."

• American warplanes pounded Syria with airstrikes as the Assad regime fell on Sunday.
• They hit dozens of targets in support of the anti-ISIS mission, which officials say will continue.
• The US isn't the only military conducting strikes amid the uncertain situation in Syria.

The US military has carried out extensive airstrikes in Syria since the Assad regime collapsed over the weekend, and it's not the only country on the hunt for targets in this uncertain moment.

American, Israeli, and Turkish forces have all been involved in bombing targets across Syria over the past few days in actions said to be in support of their respective national security interests.

For the US, this means continuing to go after the Islamic State, as it has done for years, but with an intensity to keep the group at bay. The Biden administration has stated that this mission will continue despite uncertainty about the future of Syria's leadership.

The US has repeatedly said that it is committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS. "We don't want to give ISIS an opportunity to exploit what's going on," White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday, adding, "They love nothing more than ungoverned space."

Widespread military action in Syria

As rebel forces reached Damascus on Sunday and Syrian President Bashar Assad fled the country, US Air Force B-52 bombers, F-15 fighter jets, and A-10 attack aircraft bombed ISIS targets in central Syria. The widespread strikes hit the terrorist group's leaders, operatives, and camps, said US Central Command, which oversees Middle East operations.

A senior administration official, speaking to reporters, described the combat operation as "significant" and said the American warplanes dropped around 140 munitions to hit 75 targets. The US military said the goal of the strikes was to prevent ISIS from reconstituting in central Syria.

Jonathan Lord, a former political-military analyst at the Pentagon, told Business Insider the US military is "rightly worried that ISIS could slip through the cracks in the chaos," so it is hitting as many targets as possible.

Retired Gen. Joseph Votel, who oversaw US military operations in the Middle East in the 2010s as the Centcom commander, told BI that it's "good" the US is sending a clear message and taking action to prevent ISIS from exploiting the void in central Syria.

He added that it's important for the US to maintain a small presence in eastern Syria, calling it "a very effective and efficient way to keep tabs on this threat."

The widespread bombing since Sunday has, however, not been limited to just US actions. Israel has carried out over 300 airstrikes across neighboring Syria, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.

Israel has targeted the remnants of Assad's former military, including aircraft, ammunition depots, weapons storage facilities, warships, radar systems, and additional assets, the SOHR said. Israeli officials have said these strikes are intended to prevent weaponry from falling into the hands of potential foes.

"Israel is taking no chances with their security and not waiting to find out if the new Syrian government is friendly or hostile," said Lord, who is now the director of the Middle East Security program at the Center for a New American Security think tank.

The Israeli military has also sent its ground forces across the Syrian border beyond a United Nations-monitored buffer zone that separates the two countries. The UN has criticized the move, which Israel said is a measure to protect its citizens amid the uncertainty in Damascus.

Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official, told BI that the actions are a "combined effort to try to minimize as much as possible the risk of growing military challenges following the current situation in Syria."

He said the Israeli approach likely includes diplomatic efforts to complement the airstrikes and buffer zone operation.

Meanwhile, a Turkish drone attacked a military site in an area held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the SOHR said on Tuesday. Ankara, which views the nearby SDF as a terror group, has targeted Kurdish forces for years. The US frequently works closely with the SDF on counter-ISIS operations.

"The Turks have a legitimate counter-terrorism threat that they, too, have a right to deal with," Kirby, the White House spokesperson, said in response to a reporter's question about action against Kurdish groups.

The widespread military actions come on the heels of the shock collapse of the Syrian Army amid a stunning, only dayslong rebel offensive that removed Assad from power. The longtime dictator had relied extensively on military support from Russia, Iran, and Lebanese Hezbollah to keep opposition forces in check.

US officials are blaming the fall of the Assad regime on the reality that these three actors have been weakened and distracted lately by their respective conflicts with Ukraine and Israel. Russia, in particular, used to exercise significant control over Syrian airspace, but the future of Moscow's military footprint in the country is now unclear.

A top Israeli diplomat insisted his nation is "not getting involved" in Syria’s domestic politics after the nation launched an aggressive campaign of airstrikes and seized control of a buffer zone in Syria.

"We are not getting involved in what's happening domestically inside Syria. But we have concerns about our border," Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News Digital. 

"It’s been a quiet border, relatively, but we hope it will continue to be the same." 

Israel has launched an assault on military and chemical weapons sites within Syria, fearing they could fall into the wrong hands after the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad and his government over the weekend. 

The ouster left a power vacuum that leaves Israel and the U.S. to wonder which forces may seize dominance in the nation and how friendly they might be. 

HERE IS WHO IS VYING FOR POWER IN SYRIA AFTER THE FALL OF BASHAR AL-ASSAD

In that vacuum, Israel moved troops into the Golan buffer zone for the first time since it was established after the 1973 Mideast war. 

Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have condemned the Israeli incursion, accusing it of exploiting the situation. 

Danon seemed hopeful the next Syrian government would not be under the thumb of Iran but warned "bad actors" had been involved in the overthrow of Assad.

"Iran was heavily invested in Syria. And I'm sure that today it will change, and the Iranians will not be welcome anymore in Syria. So, on that front, I think it's an achievement. But, at the same day, we have to look what's happening on other fronts," said Danon. 

"We have to remember that it's not like a peaceful revolution. You know, they walked with al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. So, we have to pay attention to that."

NETANYAHU KNOCKS OBAMA, JOHN KERRY IN FIRST APPEARANCE AT CORRUPTION TRIAL

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was the key faction behind the fall of Damascus and the fleeing of Assad and now controls the capital city. But the Islamist militant group was founded as an offshoot of al Qaeda, and its leader has a $10 million bounty on his head. 

The group in recent years has worked to soften its image and lobbied to be delisted as a terrorist organization by the U.S.

Israel has also taken control of Mount Hermon, the highest point on the border between the two countries and a blind spot in its defenses that Iran had been exploiting to send low-flying drones. 

"That was a defensive, temporary act," said Danon. "We want to see what’s happening there." 

The ambassador said Israel hopes Syria will have a "better future," but its only goal is to "not allow terrorists to be on the fence." 

"For more than 50 years, the Assad family tortured the Syrian people, massacred hundreds of thousands of civilians. So, we are the one humanitarian point of view. We do hope that they will have a better life."

In his first appearance in court for corruption charges, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid bare his stark disagreements with former President Barack Obama over Iran and a Palestinian state. 

"Obama made it clear to me that U.S. policy was going to take a sharp turn against the ideas I believed in," Netanyahu recounted of his interactions with the U.S. in the early days of the Obama administration. 

"He saw Iran not as a threat but as an opportunity and saw a vital need for us to return to the '67 lines and establish a Palestinian state here."

Netanyahu took the stand for about four hours Tuesday morning in Tel Aviv District Court. The trial was moved from Jerusalem for undisclosed security reasons and convened in an underground courtroom, according to Reuters. He recalled his rocky relationship with Obama – how they failed to see eye to eye on an appropriate course of action for Palestinians.

"I had to face great pressure to create a Palestinian state," Netanyahu said. "[Obama] demanded it during the first meeting, he said: 'Not even one brick will you build over the Green Line.' I responded: 'Half of Jerusalem is over the Green Line; for instance, the Gilo neighborhood.' Obama said: 'Gilo too.' He demanded a total construction freeze, massive pressure. I had to deal with this, I had to deflect it, and it was no small matter."

NETANYAHU TO TESTIFY IN CORRUPTION TRIAL AMID MULTIPLE CONFLICTS

Netanyahu called to mind a disagreement with then-Secretary of State John Kerry, who was urging Israeli forces to withdraw from Judea and Samaria. 

"Kerry explained to me that my fear of placing security in Judea and Samaria in Palestinian forces' hands was unfounded because the Americans were training Palestinian forces and we could withdraw." 

He also said Obama had recommended Israel take notes from the U.S. policy in Afghanistan, and Netanyahu predicted it would not age well. 

"Obama suggested I make a secret visit to Afghanistan to see how American forces were training local forces. I told him the moment you leave Afghanistan, these forces will collapse under Islamist forces, and that's exactly what happened."

The corruption trial, which stems from a 2019 indictment for alleged breach of trust, accepting bribes and fraud, takes place against the backdrop of Israel’s war with Hamas. Netanyahu must attend court three times a week while it is ongoing. 

Netanyahu, 75, is the first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime. 

The charges include: accepting gifts from Israeli Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan in exchange for advancing his interests, failing to report a bribery attempt from newspaper "Yediot Aharonot" publisher Arnon Mozes, who wanted Netanyahu to allow a bill outlawing free newspapers to pass and offered him favorable coverage in exchange, and accepting an offer in which Shaul Elovitch, the owner of Israeli telecom conglomerate Bezeq, would grant Netanyahu favorable media coverage in exchange for favorable regulatory changes. 

ICC REJECTS ISRAELI APPEALS, ISSUES ARREST WARRANTS FOR BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, YOAV GALLANT

Netanyahu said he is not in office for personal gain, and directly responded to allegations he asked for a constant supply of luxury items like champagne and cigars. 

"Absolute lies," he said. "I work 17-18 hours a day... It's around-the-clock work into the early hours of the night. There's almost no time to see family. I didn't see the children, and that's a hefty price to pay," Netanyahu said, adding that his rare leisure time is spent reading history or economics books. 

The prime minister argued that if he had been concerned about better media coverage, he could have just moved toward granting Palestinians statehood.

"Had I wanted good coverage, all I would have had to have done would be to signal toward a two-state solution… Had I moved two steps to the left I would have been hailed," he said. 

The court had been granting Netanyahu delays in his testimony throughout the 14-month-long war in Gaza, but last week ruled he must start testifying. In the lead-up to his court date, Netanyahu classified the charges against him as a witch hunt and railed against law enforcement and the media. 

"The real threat to democracy in Israel is not posed by the public’s elected representatives, but by some among the law enforcement authorities who refuse to accept the voters’ choice and are trying to carry out a coup with rabid political investigations that are unacceptable in any democracy," he said in a statement on Thursday.

"Netanyahu is on trial for allegedly using his political power to improve his media coverage. His defense: the coverage was not positive but hostile, and I did not attempt to change it for the benefit of Netanyahu the citizen but for the benefit of the State of Israel in response to Obama’s hostile stance," Amit Segal, chief political analyst for Israel's Channel 12, told Fox News Digital of the prime minister's testimony. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the fall of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria on Sunday and argued that it was a "direct result" of Israeli attacks on Iran and Hezbollah.

Netanyahu made the remarks in a public address shortly after news broke that Assad had fled Damascus on Saturday night with his family. Islamist rebels took over the city on Sunday. Netanyahu cautioned that the fall of the Assad regime is nevertheless "fraught with significant dangers."

"This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers. This collapse is the direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad's main supporters. It set off a chain reaction of all those who want to free themselves from this tyranny and its oppression," Netanyahu said.

SYRIAN DICTATOR BASHAR ASSAD FLEES INTO EXILE AS ISLAMIST REBELS CONQUER COUNTRY

The Israeli leader also noted that the fall of the Syrian regime also prompted action by the Israel Defense Forces, who were forced to take positions abandoned by the Syrian Army near the border with Israel.

"But it also means that we have to take action against possible threats. One of them is the collapse of the Separation of Forces Agreement from 1974 between Israel and Syria. This agreement held for 50 years. Last night, it collapsed," he continued. "The Syrian army abandoned its positions. We gave the Israeli army the order to take over these positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel. This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found."

ISLAMIST REBELS IN SYRIA CATCH ASSAD, PUTIN, IRAN REGIMES OFF GUARD GIVING US NEW MIDEAST HEADACHE

Netanyahu closed by offering a "hand of peace" to people in Syria, including to "Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel."

"Equally, we send a hand of peace to all those beyond our border in Syria: to the Druze, to the Kurds, to the Christians, and to the Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel. We're going to follow events very carefully. If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that's our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel," Netanyahu finished.

• Syria's embattled president is losing ground to advancing rebels after years of stalemate.
• In the past, Iran orchestrated the interventions that stopped the opposition forces' momentum.
• "I'm not sure Iran can muster the numbers in time to turn this situation around," an analyst said.

Since the early stages of Syria's bloody civil war that began in 2011, Iran has supported Syria's strongman president, Bashar Assad. Now with the loss of Syria's second city, Aleppo, to Assad's opponents, Tehran has vowed to continue this support — but it almost certainly has less to offer than a decade ago.

Syrian rebel forces spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militant group seized Aleppo in a shock offensive last week, surprising the world and returning the Syrian conflict to the headlines for the first time in years. The rebels did not stop there. Advancing in the face of Russian and Syrian airstrikes, they overran Syria's fourth-largest city, Hama, on Thursday.

"The Syrian government has lost a lot of terrain, including the city of Aleppo. You can't really overstate the seriousness of that," Aron Lund, a fellow with Century International and a Middle East analyst at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, told Business Insider. "Aleppo is a huge city, a really large urban area that will be difficult to retake once lost if Assad is unable to move on it before the insurgents dig in."

Earlier in the Syrian conflict, Iran helped orchestrate interventions on Assad's side by its powerful Lebanese proxy Hezbollah in 2013, and Russia in 2015.

These decisive interventions helped him turn the tide, culminating in a ferocious, scorched-earth campaign against opposition groups in east Aleppo in 2016.

The latest offensive has prompted some outside intervention. Hundreds of Iran-backed militiamen in Iraq are entering Syria. Russia has carried out airstrikes to impede the opposition's advance. However, these are small-scale compared to past interventions. And Hezbollah isn't intervening for now.

"I'm not sure Iran can muster the numbers in time to turn this situation around," Lund said. "Hezbollah, which was Tehran's primary instrument in Syria over the past decade, is now stuck in Lebanon, tending to its wounds and trying to get back on its feet after being mauled by Israel over the course of a two-month war."

Hezbollah is estimated to have upwards of 100,000 fighters and a vast missile arsenal, but those have been battered by Israel's airstrikes and occupation of southern Lebanon.

"The Lebanon ceasefire is really brittle, and as long as conflict could re-erupt at any moment, I don't think Hezbollah has the manpower to spare," Lund said. "Even if they're able to send some men Assad's way, I doubt it would be a game-changing number."

Iran's other options are mobilizing more Iraqi militias or sending personnel from its own Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps paramilitary or its regular army.

"It's possible that Iran will try to send more arms and ammunition," Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and founder and former director of the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council, told BI.

"It is also probably counting on Russian airstrikes to stall the HTS offensive and it is clearly having back-channel talks with Turkey," Slavin said. "The Turks may be angling to get Iran to turn a blind eye to new attacks on the Kurds in return for urging HTS to hit pause."

HTS is not a Turkish-controlled proxy like the self-styled Syrian National Army coalition of opposition militias that is also advancing across Aleppo province. However, Turkey has closely coordinated its army's deployment in Syria's Idlib with HTS, which has been the predominant power in that northwestern Syrian province for years now.

"Iran is also looking to cultivate a relationship with Trump, which further limits its freedom of maneuver in the region," Slavin said.

"Iran is in a terrible situation currently without the necessary military, economic, and political capacity to spare," Arash Azizi, senior lecturer in history and political science at Clemson University, told BI.

"Its myriad of problems includes the fact that many Iraqis are reluctant to get involved in a renewed war in Syria."

While Iran will undoubtedly remain committed to supporting Assad, it's unlikely to prove capable of organizing a 2016-style counteroffensive to recapture Aleppo.

"That would require a lot of planning and a lot of diplomatic bargaining with Turkey and other powers," Azizi said.

Century's Lund recalled that the last time Iran intervened to help Assad recapture Aleppo, it did so in close collaboration with Russia.

"If they're going to replicate that success now, the Russians would probably need to bring the air component," Lund said. "Iran has no air force to speak of and if Iranian jets were to show up in Syria, Israel would go after them immediately."

Russian jets and air defenses afford Iran some protection since Israel is more hesitant to clash with Russian forces than they are with Syrian or Iranian ones.

But it remains to be seen how much airpower Russia can spare with its fighters and bombers engaged in the invasion of Ukraine.

"It's worth noting that the Syrian conflict is so small-scale compared to Ukraine that even a relatively small contribution of assets could have an impact there," Lund said.

The Iraqi militiamen entering Syria are more likely to serve as a holding force to help Assad avoid losing more territory.

"Assad needs to hold onto the capital and its immediate environs if he has a chance to survive as Syrian leader," Stimson's Slavin said.

Since Syria doesn't have a sizable Shia minority like Lebanon, Iran has been unable to stand up a local proxy as effective or powerful as Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

Any efforts Iran may take to help Assad coincide with its own priorities to seek an acceptable deal with President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration. "Iran also wants to at least try for a deal with Trump, so a more aggressive regional posture will not work as regional issues will be on the table this time along with the nuclear file," Slavin said.

As this crisis unfolds, it's striking how "unimportant and absent" the US has been, Azizi noted.

"The US has forces on the ground and also airpower that it has used to attack certain forces on Syrian territory," Azizi said. "But it's clearly not a main player and doesn't seem to have a clear, strategic goal or any particular focus on Syria."

And it remains unclear what President-elect Trump will do about Syria upon reentering office in January.

"As with most other matters, President Trump remains unpredictable," Azizi said.

Paul Iddon is a freelance journalist and columnist who writes about Middle East developments, military affairs, politics, and history. His articles have appeared in a variety of publications focused on the region.

• The UK's top military officer confirmed Israel used F-35s during its October strikes against Iran.
• Adm. Tony Radakin said the operation demonstrated the "power" of fifth-generation aircraft.
• His remarks came after Elon Musk criticized the F-35 and its manufacturer, Lockheed Martin.

Israel showed the "power" of the F-35 stealth fighter jet during its late October retaliatory strikes against Iran, Britain's top military officer said on Wednesday.

Adm. Tony Radakin, the UK's chief of defense staff, disclosed that Israel used its F-35s to carry out the widespread October 26 strikes against military sites across Iran, including air-defense systems and missile-manufacturing facilities.

It appeared to mark the first confirmation from a Western government that Israel had used its fifth-generation aircraft in the operation, which came in response to a massive Iranian missile attack at the start of the month. It was reported at the time that Israel flew its F-35s and fired air-launched ballistic missiles.

"Israel used more than 100 aircraft, carrying fewer than 100 munitions, and with no aircraft getting within 100 miles of the target in the first wave, and that took down nearly the entirety of Iran's air-defense system," Radakin said during a Royal United Services Institute lecture in London.

"It has destroyed Iran's ability to produce ballistic missiles for a year and left Tehran with a strategic dilemma in how it responds. That is the power of fifth-generation aircraft, combined with exquisite targeting and extraordinary intelligence," Radakin said. "And that was all delivered from a single sortie."

He said the operation demonstrated the "disproportionate advantage of modern ways of fighting." Business Insider contacted the Israel Defense Forces about Radakin's remarks but has yet to receive a response.

The F-35 is a single-engine, multi-role stealth aircraft made by the US defense contractor Lockheed Martin. There are several variants of the fighter jet, which took its first flight nearly 20 years ago and is now flown by a handful of countries around the world.

Israel was the first to use the F-35 in combat in 2018. It operates just under 40 F-35I jets, a subvariant of the F-35A model, though this fleet is set to expand to 75 in the coming years.

The F-35I is Israel's only fifth-generation aircraft. It also has older, American-made F-16 and F-15 fighter jets.

Radakin's praise of the fifth-generation platform came after Elon Musk criticized the F-35, which is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program but widely considered a cornerstone of US airpower. The SpaceX CEO and advisor to President-elect Donald Trump took to social media last month to rag on the aircraft over its design and brush off its stealth capabilities. Airpower experts quickly pushed back on some of his remarks.

In the waning days of the Biden administration, President-elect Trump is bucking his predecessor's "don't" doctrine as a deterrent to foreign adversaries, instead issuing tough warnings before even taking office. 

"If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity," Trump warned Hamas on his Truth Social account Monday. 

"Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action!" Trump added. 

War broke out in the Middle East on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. Terrorists killed more than 1,100 people and kidnapped more than 200, with Hamas still holding 101 hostages, including seven Americans, in Gaza more than a year after the war began. 

BIDEN SAYING 'DON'T' AND OTHER THREATS SEEMINGLY FAIL TO DETER IRAN AS MORE US MIDEAST BASES HIT

The White House and Israeli government have worked for months to secure a hostage release deal, but have been unsuccessful. 

Trump's tough language against Hamas, which included warning those responsible for holding the hostages that they "will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America," stands in stark contrast to President Biden's "don't" doctrine regarding the war in Israel. 

After the war began last year, Biden delivered remarks from Israel where he warned adversaries of Israel and the U.S. "don't" attack Israel. 

REPUBLICANS SLAM BIDEN’S ‘DON’T’ DETERRENCE: ‘EVERY TIME HE SAYS DON’T, THEY DO’

"And my message to any state or any other hostile actor thinking about attacking Israel remains the same as it was a week ago: Don’t. Don’t. Don’t," he said. 

War continued despite the warning, including from Iranian proxies against Israel. 

This year, Biden doubled down on his warning of "don't" aimed at Iran. When asked by reporters about Iran's expectation to attack Israel in April, he said his message to Tehran is: "Don't." 

"We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed," he added. 

Again in August, Biden warned Iran against attacking Israel with the one-word threat.  

TRUMP PROMISES 'HELL TO PAY' IN MIDDLE EAST IF HOSTAGES ARE NOT RELEASED BEFORE HE TAKES OFFICE

Biden's common response to deter foreign adversaries from attacking Israel is viewed as a failed policy, with conservative security experts and others slamming the message as weak. 

"The Administration keeps saying 'don't' to Iran – but then does nothing to impose costs. This weakness means the risk from Iran continues to grow," former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted in August. 

"Well, he said, ‘Don’t’ multiple times, and ‘Don’t’ isn’t a national security policy," Pompeo added later in a comment to Fox News. "It’s not even a deterrent.

"So much for President Biden telling bad guys ‘Don’t’ actually being an effective deterrent. Every time he says 'Don’t,' they do," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote in a post in April, after Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel. 

‘WAR FOLLOWED US’: A SYRIAN FAMILY FLED BEIRUT AFTER ISRAELI BOMBARDMENT TO FACE REPRESSION, BOMBING AT HOME 

"Biden's approach with Iran and the Middle East is backwards," Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., wrote on X. "Now as we risk entering WWIII, the US must stand by Israel's commitment to democracy. The president must stand firm, and stop coddling Iran immediately."

"I guess Biden's speechwriters have him down to one word now. At least he can remember it. Worse when referring to the hospital carnage he calls Hamas the other team," Fox News' Greg Gutfeld quipped after the war in Israel broke out last year, mocking Biden's use of the word "don't." 

Trump had campaigned on ending the wars in both Ukraine and Israel, both of which began under the Biden administration, and claimed that neither war would have been launched if he had been president. 

"The Ukraine situation is so horrible, the Israeli situation is so horrible. We are going to get them solved very fast," Trump said on the campaign trail in January. 

Israeli officials celebrated Trump's tough stance against terrorists in the Middle East and his demand for hostages to be released by next month. 

"Thank you and bless you Mr. President-elect," President Isaac Herzog of Israel said in a post on social media. "We all pray for the moment we see our sisters and brothers back home!"

The nation's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, added, "How refreshing it is to hear clear and morally sound statements that do not create a false equivalence or call for addressing ‘both sides.’ This is the way to bring back the hostages: by increasing the pressure and the costs for Hamas and its supporters, and defeating them, rather than giving in to their absurd demands."

Trump will be inaugurated as the nation's 47th president on Jan. 20, with his team celebrating that he's already following through on his campaign promises. 

"President Trump is working towards international peace. In anticipation of the incoming Trump administration, Iran has called off its reprisal attack on Israel and negotiations to end the war in Gaza and Russia's war in Ukraine have accelerated. One former NATO Supreme Allied Commander says America's enemies are 'concerned, they're nervous – [and] they ought to be,'" the Trump War Room said in an email this week titled "Promises Kept – And President Trump Hasn't Even Been Inaugurated Yet."

• Rebels in northern Syria have scored remarkable victories in recent days.
• The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group now controls Syria's largest city, Aleppo.
• It comes as Syria's powerful allies, Iran and Russia, are distracted with other conflicts.

With Russia and Iran distracted by regional conflicts, a stagnant 13-year-long civil war in Syria has exploded into renewed violence.

In a lightning offensive launched last week, rebel groups led by the militant Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by surprise.

They seized control of the city of Aleppo — the first time rebels have controlled the city since 2016 — and pushed further south toward the city of Hama.

It's the most intense outbreak of fighting in the war since Syrian government forces, backed by Iran and Russia, drove rebels back to their strongholds in the north eight years ago, and a stalemate developed.

Syrian government forces and their Russian allies are battling to hold back the offensive, with Russia launching airstrikes on Aleppo and the western city of Idlib on Sunday as Syrian government forces regroup, according to monitoring group The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The offensive comes with the powerful allies who've helped prop up Assad's government for years distracted and embroiled in costly wars of their own.

"He [Assad] was able to survive the civil war because of all the assistance he got, and that's gone," Joshua Landis, head of the Middle East studies program at the University of Oklahoma, told The New York Times.

"Israel has changed the balance of power in the region by going on this all-out war on the axis of resistance."

"Now Assad is all alone," he said.

There have long been signs that violence may erupt. Charles Lister, a senior fellow and director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism and Extremism programs at the Middle East Institute, wrote this month that the "frozen" conflict in Syria was fraying at the seams.

"Assad's regime is arguably weaker and more vulnerable than ever before — with a broken economy, a destroyed infrastructure, a divided nation, a security apparatus ruled by organized crime, and no light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

Iran and its powerful Lebanese proxy Hezbollah provided Syrian government forces with crucial financial and military support as the rebellion that swept Syria in 2011 erupted into a brutal civil war.

It came as part of the "Arab Spring" rebellions that overthrew governments in Tunisia and Egypt in the early 2010s and appeared poised to depose the Assad regime.

The Iranian government has long seen Syria as one of its crucial regional allies and has been determined not to let rebel groups, some backed by rivals Turkey and the Gulf states, topple it.

But Iran is now embroiled in a costly confrontation with Israel, its longtime regional foe.

In the wake of the October 7, 2023, attack by Iranian proxy Hamas, Israel has devastated the militant group in its enclave in Gaza and badly weakened Hezbollah in attacks in Lebanon, where a fragile truce was recently brokered.

Israel has also launched direct attacks on Iran in October, reportedly striking sites connected to Iran's nuclear program, in response to massive Iranian missile attacks on Israel.

It's a situation that has placed the region on the brink of an all-out war and means that Tehran can little afford to become embroiled in another costly conflict in Syria.

Meanwhile, Russia, whose 2015 entry into the Syrian Civil War was crucial in propping up the Assad regime, has problems of its own.

Its four-year invasion of Ukraine has come at a vast cost in manpower, military equipment, and economic prosperity.

International sanctions have dented the oil and gas exports the country relies on, and it's also unlikely to desire the distraction of another Syrian campaign.

As rebels seek to exploit Assad's weaknesses, it may not be a conflict they have the luxury of ignoring.

• Israel's potent air defenses are increasingly threatened by low-flying drones.
• Two retired Israeli generals say it needs new defenses against this "low sky" layer.
• Israel pioneered targeting air defenses with drones in a stunning victory four decades ago.

Israel's air and missile defense system is arguably the best in the world, having proven this year it can down Iranian ballistic missiles and Hamas-fired rockets. Its Iron Dome is the epitome of this success and is only one of many systems. But while these can protect Israeli cities, they have an increasingly glaring problem — they can't protect themselves from low-flying drones, two retired Israeli brigadier generals warn.

"We have to defend our air defense," wrote Eran Ortal and Ran Kochav in a blog for the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Defense at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv, Israel.

Ortal and Kochav fear that enemy drones could knock out air defense systems such as the vaunted Iron Dome, enabling ballistic missiles, manned aircraft and artillery rockets to strike Israel without being intercepted. "The Israeli Air Force does continue to rule the skies, but under the noses of the advanced fighter jets, a new air layer has been created."

The authors call this the "low sky" layer. "The enemy has found a loophole here. The Air Force (and, within it, the air defense corps) is required to defend against the combined and coordinated threats of missiles, unmanned aircraft systems and rockets."

Over the past year, Israel's air and missile system has achieved remarkable success against a range of projectiles launched by Iran, Hamas and other Iranian proxies, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, artillery rockets and mortar shells. For example, Israel — with the assistance of the US, Britain and other nations — reportedly intercepted 99% of some 300 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and large attack drones launched by Iran in April 2024.

However, Israel has struggled against small exploding drones launched by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon. More than a hundred Israeli soldiers and civilians have been killed or wounded by these UAVs, including 67 who were wounded when a drone hit a building in northern Israel in October. Still, the situation is a far cry from the Ukraine war, where hordes of small drones have rendered battlefield maneuver almost impossible.

Nonetheless, Ortal and Kochav worry that Israeli air defenses were designed in the pre-drone era, when the threat to Israel came from aircraft and ballistic missiles, a critique that also applies to Western- and Russian-made systems. "This array was built over the years under the premise of Israeli air superiority. The air defense itself was not supposed to be hunted."

"The enemy is able to penetrate deep into Israel and engage the air defense system in one lane while other aircraft take advantage of the diversion and penetrate in another, more covert lane. It can identify targets and strike immediately using armed or suicide UAS. Above all, it strives to locate, endanger, and destroy key elements of the air defense system itself."

Israel relies on a multilayer defense system, with long-range Arrow interceptors targeting ballistic missiles above the Earth's atmosphere, the medium-range David's Sling handling ballistic and cruise missiles about 10 miles high, and the short-range Iron Dome stopping cruise missiles, short-range rockets and artillery and mortar shells at low altitude. All depend on the production and reloading of missiles adequate to the threat.

The problem is that these three systems can't protect each other. "The degree of mutual assistance and protection between the layers is relatively limited," Ortal and Kochav wrote. To optimize the allocation of a limited supply of interceptor missiles, "each tier was designed to deal with a specific type of missile or rocket. Iron Dome can't really assist Arrow batteries or support their missions. This limitation is equally true among the other layers."

Nor are Israel's air defenses built for survivability, such as creating decoy missile batteries and radars to protect the real ones or frequently relocating systems. "The degree of mobility, protection and hiding ability of the Israeli air defense system is inadequate. Unlike similar systems in the world, our air defense system was not built with synchronization as a critical goal."

Their solution? The creation of a fourth layer focused on point protection of the radar, missile launchers and troops that operate them against rockets and drones that have penetrated the first three layers. Air defenses must be camouflaged and should be mobile enough to change location before the enemy can target them.

Ironically, Israel itself was one of the pioneers of using drones to suppress air defenses. Stung by heavy losses from Soviet-made surface-to-air missiles in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel used drones in during the 1982 Lebanon War. By using unmanned aerial vehicles that mimicked manned aircraft, Israel lured Syrian air defense radars into coming online so they could be destroyed by anti-radiation missiles. The Israeli Air Force destroyed 29 out of 30 anti-aircraft missile batteries in the Bekaa Valley without loss and downed more than 60 Syrian aircraft.

Israel's Air Force became so dominant that the ground forces discarded their tactical anti-aircraft weapons (though the IDF recently reactivated the M61 Vulcan gatling cannon for counter-UAV defense on the northern border). Meanwhile, the IDF's air defense corps switched its focus from anti-aircraft to missile defense.

"The working assumption was, and remains to this day, that Israel's Air Force rules the skies," wrote Ortal and Kochav. "The job of air defense, therefore, is to focus on missiles and rockets. This assumption is no longer valid."

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

President Biden on Friday picked up a copy of a book that described Israel as a colonial power in the face of Palestinian resistance despite his repeated support for the Jewish state. 

Biden was spotted by the press leaving Nantucket Bookworks holding a copy of "The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017" by Columbia University professor emeritus Rashid Khalidi, the New York Post reported. 

"I do not speak to the Post (or the Times for that matter), so this is not for publication, but my reaction is that this is four years too late," Khalidi told the Post of Biden holding his book. 

The newspaper noted it did not agree to any terms conditioning Khalidi's response as off the record or on background.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Khalidi and the White House.

The book argues that "the modern history of Palestine can best be understood in these terms: as a colonial war waged against the indigenous population, by a variety of parties, to force them to relinquish their homeland to another people against their will." 

It was not clear if Biden purchased the book or if it was given to him. 

Khalidi, who is of Palestinian and Lebanese descent, called the first Trump administration a "mouthpiece" for Israel and has criticized Israel over the humanitarian toll in Gaza after Hamas killed about 1,200 people inside Israel Oct. 7, 2023, in addition to kidnapping hostages, including Americans. 

"It’s perfectly unclear, reading the Israeli press, what their political objective is. I mean, ethnic cleansing. That’s not a political objective. They’re doing that. They’re driving the population of the Northern Gaza Strip into the Southern Gaza Strip. But what their political objective is, is, to me, entirely unclear, in the writings of, as far as one can tell, from the Israeli press," he said on the "Intercepted" podcast in November 2023.

Biden has repeatedly declared his support for Israel but has been criticized by Israeli supporters for putting conditions on U.S. aid to the Middle East ally and pausing shipments of heavy munitions to Israel earlier this year.

Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian supporters, who nicknamed Biden "Genocide Joe," have increasingly criticized him and Netanyahu over civilian casualties in Gaza. Biden has also reportedly criticized his Israeli counterpart behind closed doors, the Post reported. 

The book, published in 2020 before Trump brokered relationships between Israel and five Muslim countries, criticized Trump for moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day war. 

In the book, Khalidi wrote about Israel's alleged discriminatory policies against Palestinians.

"Settler-colonial confrontations with indigenous peoples have only ended in one of three ways: with the elimination of full subjugation of the native population, as in North America; with the defeat and expulsion of the colonizer, as in Algeria, which is extremely rare; or with the abandonment of colonial supremacy, in the context of compromise and reconciliation, as in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Ireland," he wrote.

He also praised the first intifada by Palestinians against Israel, which occurred from 1987 to 1993 and left more than 2,000 people dead, the Post wrote. 

"The First Intifada was an outstanding example of popular resistance against oppression and can be considered as being the first unmitigated victory for the Palestinians in the long colonial war that began in 1917," the book says.

• Israel is expected to soon deploy its top missile-defense system, Arrow 3, to Germany.
• Arrow's chief engineer told BI that the system had already proved its worth in combat.
• The transfer, planned for next year, comes amid growing concerns in Europe over Russian missiles.

Germany is expected to receive a top Israeli missile-defense system that helped protect the Middle Eastern country from two massive Iranian attacks earlier this year.

Israel is set to deploy the Arrow 3, a highly advanced system designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside the Earth's atmosphere, on German soil in 2025 as part of a $3.5 billion deal announced last fall in what officials said was the country's largest-ever defense export.

The transfer comes as Europe and NATO allies like Germany face a rising Russian missile threat to its eastern flank. Just last week, Moscow used a new intermediate-range ballistic missile to strike Ukraine.

Arrow 3 made its combat debut just a year ago in the early days of Israel's ongoing war with Hamas. But the system's chief engineer told Business Insider that it had proved its worth against two massive Iranian missile barrages in April and October of this year.

"Arrow 3 is the right answer for Germany, and, also, it'll be a part of an even greater system to German allies in Europe," Boaz Levy, the CEO of the state-run Israel Aerospace Industries, said in a recent interview.

The Arrow systems are a product of IAI and the US manufacturer Boeing. They were developed because Israel needed a way to defend itself from longer-range ballistic missiles. Together, they make up the upper echelon of the country's air-defense network.

Arrow 2, which was first deployed in 2000, can intercept targets in the upper atmosphere. It was followed in 2017 by Arrow 3, which can eliminate targets in space and up to 1,500 miles away — well beyond the ranges of the US's Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems. Both systems use a two-stage solid-fueled interceptor to engage incoming ballistic missiles.

Israel confirmed the first operational use of Arrow 3 in November of last year after it was used to take down a missile fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen. But the system saw its most serious tests against two massive Iranian attacks this year.

In mid-April, Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones — including some 120 ballistic missiles — at Israel, which, along with partner forces like the US and the UK, shot down nearly all the munitions.

Six months later, in early October, Iran fired a much larger salvo of ballistic missiles — about 200 — at Israel. Most of the projectiles were intercepted, including by American warships.

Earlier this month, the Israeli defense ministry said Arrow "proved effective" in both Iranian attacks. Levy declined to provide specific figures on its performance. But he said the system performed as intended, adding that "the results that we received over those attacks are really phenomenal."

"We believe that the system proved its capability during these two attacks," he said.

Arrow's demonstrated capability in the Middle East conflicts will make it a valuable asset to Germany as Europe grows increasingly concerned with the Russian missile threat. Moscow's war against Ukraine and its widespread employment of ballistic missiles has prompted NATO countries to seek ways to bolster their air defenses.

Unease over Russian missile capabilities was underscored last week after Moscow launched an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine. A Pentagon spokesperson described the weapon as a "new type of lethal capability" deployed on the battlefield and called it a "concern" to the US.

When Arrow 3 eventually arrives in Germany, it will complement NATO's existing network of systems capable of ballistic-missile defense, including the American-made MIM-104 Patriot battery that has been a workhorse in Ukraine.

In a statement earlier this month, Israel's defense ministry said it has started coordinating joint preparations with Berlin for the initial deployment of Arrow 3 next year. It did not provide a specific date.

Levy said the deployment to Germany was just a starting point, but it comes at a crucial time as missile attacks become more common in conflicts.

"We should expect to have missile attacks in future wars, and that's why a country that wants to defend its assets needs to have such a sophisticated system," Levy said. "Arrow was designed for that."

"I believe that more customers will come," he added.