Did Assad give Syria’s military secrets to Israel to save himself, family?

Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad exchanged his country’s military secrets with Israel for passage out of the country, according to Turkish media reports. Assad allegedly gave coordinates of weapon depots to Israel, which then bombed them even as the rebel forces were taking control of Damascus. The reports reveal how Israel got the precise location of each and every weapon depot and key military facilities.

It was reported that he feared his plane being shot down by Israeli fighter jets and wanted a safe passage out of Syria.

Israel has been bombing Syrian military posts continuously since December 8 in post-Assad Syria.

Abdulkadir Selvi, a political commentator for Turkish daily, Hurriyet, said a reliable source told him Assad gave a list with “the location of weapons depots, missile systems, and warplanes as a guarantee that Israel would not target him during his flight”.

The information shared with Hurriyet was reported by The Sun, a UK-based tabloid.

The Sun’s report seems more like an allegation that lacks crucial details.

Israel started airstrikes on Syrian military points right after the fall of Assad’s government. This made Selvi conclude that his sources were correct.

Selvi also revealed he found out other details about Assad’s departure which “particularly concern Israel’s role,” but he hasn’t delved into further details.

Rebel forces in Syria launched their attacks in late November and even stormed the capital Damascus and claimed victory.

This led to Assad fleeing on a chopper to Russia, where Russian President Vladimir Putin offered refuge to him.

Here on, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) carried out several strikes on these “weapon depots”.

Israel has stated that it is doing this to stop the weaponry from falling into the hands of “extremist forces” in Syria.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) even stated that Israel attacked a weapons base in Tartus, northwestern Syria.

A blast was reported here. The SOHR discussed said this blast had the same intensity as a 3.0-magnitude earthquake.

Israel also launched attacks across Syria with warplanes.

However, Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has not taken a confrontational approach with Israel.

“The Israelis have clearly crossed the disengagement line in Syria, which threatens a new unjustified escalation in the region,” he stated.

“The general exhaustion in Syria after years of war and conflict does not allow us to enter new conflicts ,” he added.

Assad also spoke for the first time, following his escape from Syria.

“Upon arrival at the Khmeimim airbase that morning, it became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen,” he said.

Earlier reports revealed how Assad was heading home before he had to escape to the airport to head for Moscow.

Assad had not even informed his closest advisors about his escape to Russia, a Reuters report said. He was extracted by Russian spies. The plane had a switched transponder to avoid any tracking of the former Syrian President, reported Bloomberg.

The reports that say that Assad handed over sensitive information for his and his family’s safety do not provide crucial details. It is also unlikely that Russia, which played a crucial role in propping up the Assad regime and then extricating him, would have allowed this to happen.