Last night’s talk shows zeroed in on Israeli airstrikes on Syria — with the Israeli military claiming to have wiped out around 70% of Syria’s military capabilities, including army bases, the naval fleet, and air defense systems, the Times of Israel reports.

“This is the greatest catastrophe to occur in the past 50 years. What Israel achieved in just three days, it hasn’t achieved over the past 50 years,” said military commentator Samir Farag in a phone call with Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime 17:52). He pointed out that Israel exploited the collapse of the Syrian army to seize the remaining areas of the Golan Heights, already occupied since 1967, including the demilitarized zone and Mount Hermon. He also noted that Israel annulled the disengagement agreement signed between the two countries in 1974.

“The occupation of Mount Hermon gives Israel a strategic advantage, as it enables it to strike Damascus with ease due to its high elevation. This is Israel’s greatest victory in 50 years,” Farag added, explaining that “Mount Hermon is the key to Syria.” With Israel’s expansion of its presence into Syria, its forces are now only “within 25 kilometers of Damascus,” he added.

However, there was little to no sympathy for Assad on the airwaves, with political thinker Mostafa El Feki telling that Sherif Amer that “the oppressive Bashar al-Assad regime is not to be mourned, as it hasn’t fired a single shot at Israel since 1973” (watch, runtime at 21:58).

“The United States had no prior knowledge of Israel’s intention to launch military strikes on Syria,” said Michael Mitchell, the regional spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told Sherif Amer (watch, runtime 6:01). “Israel did not notify us of its intention to carry out the strikes,” Mitchell added.

The nation’s hosts also touched on Egypt’s condemnation of Israel’s actions in its buffer zone with Syria, stating that Israeli forces’ seizure of Syrian land constitutes “an occupation of Syrian territory,” a “blatant violation” of sovereignty, and a breach of the 1974 disengagement agreement between the two countries, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

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