Israel strikes widely in Syria, sending signal of aggressive post-Trump posture

Israel strikes widely in Syria, sending signal of aggressive post-Trump posture

by Joseph Anthony
108 views

Israel launched air raids against what it called a wide range of Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria on Wednesday, sending a signal that it will pursue its policy of striking across the border despite U.S. President Donald Trumpโ€™s election defeat.

Israel said it was retaliating for what it called an Iranian-sponsored operation in which Syrians planted explosives near an Israeli military base in the occupied Golan Heights.


Israel has frequently attacked what it says are Iranian-linked targets in Syria in recent years, and stepped up such attacks over the past year in what Western intelligence sources describe as a shadow war to reduce Iranโ€™s influence.
But Wednesdayโ€™s attacks struck a far wider range of targets than usual, and the Israeli military was more forthcoming about the details than it has been in the past, suggesting a clear intention to send a public message.
Trump, who lost his re-election bid on Nov. 3, has been a strong backer of Israeli military intervention against Iranian forces in Syria. President-elect Joe Biden has said he will try to revive a nuclear agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned.
The Syrian state news agency reported that three military personnel were killed and one wounded in โ€œIsraeli aggressionโ€.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said eight targets were hit, belonging to the Syrian army or Iranโ€™s Quds Force, in areas stretching from the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights to the Damascus periphery.
They included an Iranian headquarters at Damascus international airport, a โ€œsecret military siteโ€ that hosted Iranian military delegations, and the 7th Division of the Syrian armed forces, he said. Syrian surface-to-air defences were hit after firing at Israeli planes and missiles, Conricus said.
Western countries say the Quds Force of Iranโ€™s elite Revolutionary Guards is responsible for supporting Tehranโ€™s allies in proxy conflicts across the Middle East.
A former Syrian military commander told Reuters the attacks also targeted a base of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiโ€™ite group Hezbollah in Syria close to the Lebanese border, alongside bases in the southern Damascus area and outposts in the Syrian-controlled Golan Heights where Hezbollah has a presence.
Conricus made no mention of Hezbollah targets.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said at least ten people were killed including five Iranians from the elite Quds Force, as well as at least two Shiโ€™ite militiamen who may have been Lebanese or Iraqi. A commander in an alliance of regional forces backing Damascus denied there were Iranians or Lebanese among the casualties.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assadโ€™s government has never publicly acknowledged that there are Iranian forces operating on his behalf in Syriaโ€™s civil war, saying Tehran only has military advisors on the ground.
Western intelligence sources say Israeli strikes this year have undermined Iranโ€™s extensive military power in Syria without triggering a major increase in hostilities.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

Chijos News is an independent online publication that provides readers with the latest breaking Nigerian news, world news, entertainment, sports, business, and many more.

@2024 – Chijosnews.com. All Rights Reserved.

-
00:00
00:00
Update Required Flash plugin
-
00:00
00:00