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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | ||||||
| Israel Targeted Iranian Missiles in Damascus Strike | ||||||
| 2013-05-05 | ||||||
| BERIUT, Lebanon — A series of powerful explosions rocked the outskirts of Damascus early Sunday morning, which Syrian state television said was the result of Israeli missile attacks on a Syrian military installation. If true, it would be the second Israeli airstrike in Syria in two days and the third this year. The airstrike that Israeli warplanes carried out in Syria overnight on Thursday was directed at a shipment of advanced surface-to-surface missiles from Iran that Israel believed was intended for Hezbollah, American officials said Saturday. That strike was aimed at disrupting the arms pipeline that runs from Iran via Syria to Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese organization, and it highlighted the mounting stakes for Hezbollah and Israel as Syria becomes more chaotic. Iran and Hezbollah have both backed President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war, now in its third year. But as fighting in Syria escalates, they also have a powerful interest in expediting the delivery of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in case Mr. Assad loses his grip on power and Syria ceases to be an effective channel for funneling weapons from Iran.
In Lebanon, some analysts said they believed that a strong Hezbollah could also emerge as a powerful ally for Mr. Assad if he is forced to abandon Damascus, the Syrian capital, and take refuge in a rump Iranian-backed state on the Syrian coast, a region that abuts the Hezbollah-controlled northern Bekaa Valley.
Israel, for its part, has repeatedly cautioned that it will not allow Hezbollah to receive “game changing” weapons that could threaten the Israeli heartland even if a new Syrian government takes power. As the Obama administration On Friday, SANA, the official Syrian news agency, reported an attack on the Damascus airport by Syrian rebels firing rockets at an aircraft and fuel dump — an account that American officials say may have been intended to obscure the fact that the target was a warehouse full of missiles. An American official, who asked not to be identified because he was discussing intelligence reports, said the targeted shipment consisted of Iranian-made Fateh-110’s — a mobile, accurate, solid-fueled missile that has the range to strike Tel Aviv and much of Israel from southern Lebanon, and that represents a considerable improvement over the liquid-fueled Scud missile. Two prominent Israeli defense analysts said the shipment included Scud D’s, a missile that Syrians have developed from Russian weapons with a range of up to 422 miles — long enough to reach Eilat, in southernmost Israel, from Lebanon. Syrian forces loyal to Mr. Assad have used Fateh-110 missiles against the Syrian opposition. Some American officials are unsure whether the new shipment was intended for use by Hezbollah or by the Assad government, which is believed to be running low on missiles in its bloody civil war. But one American official said the warehouse that was struck in the Israeli attack was believed to be under the control of operatives from Hezbollah and Iran’s paramilitary Quds Force. Hezbollah is now believed to have more missiles and fighters than it had before its 2006 battle with Israel, when Hezbollah missiles forced a third of Israel’s population into shelters and hit as far south as Haifa. A Pentagon official said in 2010 that Hezbollah’s arsenal was believed to include a small number of Fateh-110s, and additional shipments would add to Hezbollah’s striking power. In carrying out Friday’s raid, Israeli warplanes fired air-to-ground weapons, apparently staying clear of Syrian airspace and operating in the skies over neighboring Lebanon.
In late January, Israel carried out a similar airstrike in Syria, which it also refused to publicly confirm, that used similar tactics, including a route over Lebanon, according to a former senior American official. The January attack was against a convoy carrying SA-17 antiaircraft weapons, which were supplied by Russia. The transfer of those weapons to Hezbollah would jeopardize the Israeli Air Force’s ability to operate over Lebanon. On Sunday, the Syrian government said the missile struck a military complex at Jamraya, a base Damascus said Israel attacked in January. Large blasts sent towering plumes of flame and smoke into the night sky above Mount Qasioun, which towers over downtown Damascus, according to residents and video posted by opposition activists. The area is home to an array of Syrian military facilities, including the headquarters of the Army’s Fourth Division, as well as military research centers. Jamraya is on the far side of the mountain. Syria’s Ikhbariya television, a state-owned channel, asserted that Israeli had carried out the strikes. “The new Israeli attack on the Center for Scientific Research in Jamraya in the Damascus suburbs confirms the organic link between terrorist groups and the Israeli enemy,” the station said. The government has long said that the uprising against it was fueled by foreign-backed “terrorists” and served Israeli and American interests. Israeli officials had no comment on the explosions. Nor did American officials, who signaled that the United States did not carry out the attack. “They are definitely going after military facilities on or around Qasioun,” said Andrew J. Tabler, an expert on Syria as the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “There are a lot of research and military facilities there that are tied into the command and control structure of the regime.” “It is unprecedented and something all of Damascus can see,” he added, stressing that it would likely have an important political impact in Syria.
“The Israelis, justifiably, have to guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry to terrorist organizations like Hezbollah,” he told the Spanish-language TV station Telemundo.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #11 D *** NG IT, its just a mere or lowly 50,000 missles to Hamas + Paleo Islamic Jihad - Iran fails to see the problem. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2013-05-05 22:28 |
| #10 Terrain makes better borders than straight lines drawn by 19th century Englishmen 20th century Brits and Frogs. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-05-05 14:49 |
| #9 *sets hook, locks reel and drag and starts reeling in...* |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-05-05 14:43 |
| #8 would cross a pink blur "salmon line" Hey! |
| Posted by: Steve White 2013-05-05 14:06 |
| #7 the use of such weapons, the White House has said, would cross a |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-05-05 09:41 |
| #6 Mitch (#4) - I always like maps, so I google mapped Bekka Valley and with the terrain feature turned on, it looks like Rt. 4 runs from Homs straight down the Bekka Valley. Terrain makes better borders than straight lines drawn by 19th century Englishmen. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2013-05-05 09:08 |
| #5 This kind of thing would never occur if we had a President like Jimmy Carter in office. Oh wait ...... my bad. |
| Posted by: jpal 2013-05-05 07:23 |
| #4 The Bekaa Valley is *not* adjacent to the Alawi heartland, Mount Lebanon and the back-country of Tripoli lie in between. That's part of why Homs is so important, and why there's a nasty sub-war that keeps breaking out in Tripoli and environs. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2013-05-05 07:04 |
| #3 "There are a lot of research and military facilities there that are tied into the command and control structure of the regime." Hummm.... hitting the Hq of the 4th Division? That's borderline intervention. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2013-05-05 07:00 |
| #2 Prez Obama's 'israel was justified' comment Will be retracted, anon. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-05-05 02:59 |
| #1 Prez Obama's 'israel was justified' comment would not be made except that the saudis, qataris, arabemirates and a few others have told Obama bluntly that they want israel or the usa to take out Iran asap |
| Posted by: lord garth 2013-05-05 00:34 |