Did Israel bomb an Iranian base in Syria? Illustrative image of F-35. Image courtesy of the Department of Defense website. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
A Syrian state news group is reporting that Israeli ground-to-ground missiles were launched Saturday night at a military base in Syria in the countryside around the capital of Damascus. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) report claimed that Syrian missile defenses shot down two of the missiles, but that the military base suffered “material damage” in the Israeli attack.
The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz cited news outlets supportive of the Syrian regime in reporting that Israel targeted an Iranian military base near al-Kiswa, which appears to be the same location of an Iranian base under construction named in a BBC report last month. The Ha’aretz report cited Syrian state TV in saying the Israeli strike was launched by Israeli fighter jets.
The day after the alleged Israeli missile strike, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated in a video to an American policy conference on Sunday his warning that Israel would not allow Iranian bases in nextdoor Syria. “We will not allow a regime hell-bent on the annihilation of the Jewish state to acquire nuclear weapons,” said Netanyahu. “We will not allow that regime to entrench itself militarily in Syria, as is seeks to do, for the express purpose of eradicating our state.”
Israeli military strikes targeting foreign fighters in Syria have been occurring for years, as Israeli has reportedly struck advanced weapons in Syria bound for the Hezbollah terrorist group on multiple occasions.
Former IDF spokesman and retired Lt. Col. Peter Lerner commented on the latest attack on Twitter: “Israel, as usual, isn’t confirming the alleged strike of an Iraninan forward position. If true, it’s part of the ongoing game of chess to curb Iranian presence in reach of Israel.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, December 3, 2017)