Thread: Israeli jets reportedly launch strikes on Syrian military facility

Israeli jets reportedly launch strikes on Syrian military facility

By Sarah El Sirgany and Andrew Carey, CNN
Updated 12:39 PM ET, Thu September 7, 2017

(CNN)Israeli jets fired missiles at a military facility in Syria on Thursday, killing two army personnel, the Syrian army claimed.

The strikes caused material damage near Masyaf in the northwestern part of Syria near the Lebanese border, according to the Syrian army, which told state media that the missiles were fired from Lebanese airspace at 2:42 a.m. local time.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) refused to comment.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) describes the site as a scientific research facility and a short- and medium-range missile depot.

Former Israeli National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror said the site was one of the Syrian regime's centers of military research and development, which had produced missiles and, in the past, chemical weapons.

The strike marks a new level of alleged Israeli involvement in Syria since the civil war began six years ago, according to Amidror, who served as National Security Advisor between 2011 and 2013.

"It is the first time the target ... is a formal Syrian facility; not just a warehouse, but a center of research and development and [production]," he said.

In its report, Syria's state-run SANA news agency quotes Syria's military accusing Israel of propping up ISIS's "morale," and linking the reported strike with recent military wins over the terror group in the strategic Syrian town of Deir Ezzor.

"This aggression comes in a desperate attempt to raise the collapsed morale of the ISIS terrorists after the sweeping victories achieved by the Syrian Arab Army against terrorism at more than one front, and it affirms the direct support provided by the Israeli entity to the ISIS and other terrorist organizations," the Syrian army said in a statement to SANA.

'Dozens' of strikes

Syria: What Israel sees 02:41

Israel has consistently said it is not taking sides in Syria's civil war.

Even so, Israel has conducted "dozens" of strikes inside Syrian borders since 2011, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted last year. Additionally, Israel has treated thousands of Syrianswounded in the country's civil war, including rebel fighters.

Israel has repeatedly said there are red lines in Syria which prompt it to act. These include preventing Hezbollah, a key ally of the Syrian regime and an Iranian proxy, from getting its hands on advanced weaponry, and preventing Iran from establishing a permanent presence in Syria.

"[This strike] is within the framework of the [red lines] policy, but it is another level of interfering," Amidror said.

Addressing the threat posed by Iran in Syria, Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has said that Israel "reserves complete freedom of action [to protect] the security of Israeli citizens."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/07/middle...ael/index.html

I do hope this is not true.

Israeli air force jets kill two in rare targeting of Syrian chemical facility

Military science centre believed by the US to be involved in manufacture of chemical weapons targeted in 'non routine' Israeli bombing

• Bethan McKernan Beirut
• @mck_beth
• 2 days ago
• 398 comments

An Israeli F-15 fighter jet takes off during an exercise at Ovda Military Airbase in southern Israel in this file photo from 16 May 2017 REUTERS

The Israeli air force has targeted a Syrian military base in an air strike, killing two people and causing material damage, a statement from the Syrian army has said.

The bombing occurred near Masyaf in Hama province in the early hours of Thursday, army general command said, warning of the “dangerous repercussion of such hostile acts on the security and stability of the region”.

Local media said that the target was possibly a chemical facility. War monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the site was a scientific research centre, sanctioned by the US as a "non conventional weapons agency". American officials believe the base is used for the manufacture of chemical weapons - a charge the Syrian government denies.

While Israel largely stays out of the complicated conflict next door, the border region is restive and Israeli air strikes in Syrian territory usually aim to prevent weapons smuggling to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group allied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

More than 100 strikes are believed to have been carried out by Israel in Syria over the six-year-long war, although casualty reports are infrequent.

Targeting a chemical site would also be a rare decision.

Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, tweeted that the reported attack was not routine and had targeted a Syrian military scientific centre.

In pictures: US missile strike against Syria

• 7show all

"The facility at Masyaf also produces chemical weapons and explosive barrels that have killed thousands of Syrian civilians," he wrote.

Israeli officials' main worry as the Syrian conflict has evolved has become Iran’s political influence over the Assad government, making Syria a potential site for missiles aimed at Israel, as well as the presence of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah and other Shia militias which take part in the fighting.

Both Hezbollah and Iran have sworn the destruction of the Jewish state.

• READ MORE

When did protest turn to war in Syria?


An Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson declined to discuss reports of the strike in Syria, saying the army did not comment on operational matters.

On Wednesday the UN found that the Syrian government was responsible for a sarin gas attack on the rebel-held village of Khan Sheikhoun earlier this year which killed dozens of people.

The incident prompted US President Donald Trump to launch a missile strike on a Syrian air base as a "warning shot" - the first ever direct US intervention in the civil war.

The UN investigation also found that Assad has used chemical weapons on 20 separate occasions since the conflict began in 2011.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a7933571.html

A very dangerous thing.