Tel Aviv, December 8 (RHC / Prensa Latina)-- According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the fall of the government of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a direct result of his army's attacks against Iran and Lebanon, according to statements released here today.

The sequence of Israeli air and ground attacks against Gaza and the capital and other cities in Lebanon have caused a total of more than 50,000 deaths to date, most of them children and women and unarmed civilians, according to universally accepted figures.

"The Assad regime is a central part of the 'axis of evil' and its fall creates important opportunities for Israel," the prime minister told reporters during a visit to the Golan Heights, Syrian territory occupied by Tel Aviv, accompanied by the newly appointed Defense Minister, Israel Katz.

The Golan Heights have been occupied by Tel Aviv since 1973 and, in 1981, were annexed in a decision unknown to the international community, except the United States.