Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad was in Iran this week and told his counterparts that Syria will respond to Israeli attacks on Syria. “We are responding to these attacks every day,” Mekdad said, according to reports in Iranian media. He noted that the “Israeli regime’s attacks on Syria could not go unanswered,” Tasnim news said. “Those who attack Syria are the enemy of Syria and they supported the terrorists. Israel is doing this today. Maybe today’s answer is different from tomorrow and today’s answer is different from yesterday.”

He said that Syria is responding in “various ways.” He claimed Syria is pursuing “terrorists,” which apparently refers to Syria’s regime cracking down on former Syrian rebels in southern Syria near the Golan. “Some expect the response to the airstrikes, but Israel should not forget that Syria may waive such attacks, but it will not forget the essence of the issue…Israel should not be misunderstood and should know that these attacks will be answered,” he said.

These threats took place as he met Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian Foreign Minister. They focused on strategic relations between the two countries. “Iran condemns the presence of foreign forces in Syria, which was done without coordination with the Syrian government. We welcome the review of the foreign policy of some Arab and European countries and the recent visits to Damascus and the reopening of some embassies,” the Iranian said. Amir Abdullahian also said: “We had a detailed discussion about Afghanistan and we agree on the need to form an inclusive government in Afghanistan.”

Abdullahian slammed Israel and claimed that the “Zionist regime” has carried out attacks on Syria. “The fake and terrorist regime of Israel is the root of insecurity in the region and in West Asia.” He then referenced the recent peace deals between Israel and the Gulf. He also said he hoped the Iranian president would soon meet Syria’s president. Mekdad invited the Iranian president. “Economic relations between Iran and Syria were the focus of the talks, and we talked about them during the meeting with the [Iranian] President and Amir Abdullahian,” Mekdad said, adding that talks between Afghanistan and Iraq had also taken place.

This last reference is interesting. The Iranian also mentioned recent clashes on the border with Afghanistan. Iran’s IRGC has recruited Afghan Shi’ites to fight in Syria. It may be that Syria and Iraq are now paying more attention to Afghanistan. This is part of an eastern shift in which all these countries are looking to China and the east.

“I think our region will see new developments in the future,” The Iranian foreign minister said. “According to messages and statements from US officials, they have no choice but to leave the region.” The report of meeting hints that the US may withdraw from another place in the “coming weeks or months.” It is not clear if Iran and Syria think the US might leave the Tanf garrison or some other location or if this is a hint that Iran may plot new attacks against the US in Iraq or Syria.

Iran called for countries to help reconstruct Syria. The Syrian foreign minister “stated that it may be thought that Syria has overcome the past and economic problems, but this is not the case: Syria attaches special importance to relations with Iran and paves the way for Iran’s participation in economic projects. We welcome any Iranian participation in Syria.”

Iran also told Syria it was negotiating in Vienna with western governments to get sanctions lifted. The point of this is that sanctions relief could help Syria. The Iranian foreign minister added: “The three European countries did not take any initiative in these negotiations, as if they were looking to evaluate our team.” He said that “until the last moment, 3 European countries could not present an operational plan and idea.” Iran then slammed western media.

“During the negotiations, some media and lobbies tried to insinuate that Iran has started 90% enrichment.” Iran says this is “pure fabrication and lying.”

Iran has said it rejects an interim agreement in Vienna. They added that “negotiations will resume soon…we are looking for a good agreement and we expect the other side to take such an approach.” The Syrian Foreign Minister also called the UAE Foreign Minister’s visit to Damascus a courageous step, adding: “We will take the next steps based on this step…we hope that other Arab countries will.”

These are important points. It shows that Syria and Iran believe that a new dawn may be emerging amid reconciliation with the Gulf states. It also means Iran is optimistic about talks in Europe, even though it may also be preparing to lay the groundwork for a chance at failure.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/syria-fm-tells-iran-it-will-respond-to-israeli-attacks-688027

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In remarks delivered Tuesday during a visit to Israel’s Northern Command, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi spoke out in response to the launching of two rockets from Lebanese territory toward Israel’s Western Galilee region. The IDF said late Monday, early Tuesday local time, one rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome Defense System, while the other landed in an open field.

The hostilities are the latest to rock the volatile border between Israel and Lebanon, which has undergone a severe economic decline owing to a financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and political paralysis among the country’s ruling class. Kovachi blamed the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement for the dire situation Lebanon faced.

“Lebanon is in the process of collapsing—a collapse Hezbollah has helped cause,” Kovachi said. “But we do not intend to allow, as a result of this collapse, the rocket fire that happened this morning.”

He warned of retaliation seen and unseen.

“We will respond both overtly and covertly to any violation of Israeli sovereignty from Lebanon, whoever it may be,” Kovachi said.

Shortly after the rocket barrage across the border, the IDF said it conducted artillery fire on Lebanese territory.

The attacks from both sides of the border were confirmed to Newsweek at the time by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

“Just before 4 a.m. this morning, UNIFIL radar detected the firing of rockets from an area north-west of Al Qulaylah toward Israel,” a UNIFIL spokesperson said. “Our radar subsequently detected return artillery fire by the IDF.”

The force, which is tasked with patrolling the restive border on behalf of the U.N., said it was working to prevent further escalation.

“UNIFIL is in direct contact with the parties to urge maximum restraint and avoid further escalation,” the spokesperson said. “Our liaison and coordination mechanisms are fully engaged. Together with the Lebanese Armed Forces, we have increased security in the area and have launched an investigation.”

The Lebanese Armed Forces’ Orientation Directorate later released a statement of their own regarding the series of events.

“On 07/20/2021, between the hours of 3.35 and 4.45, the area of ​​Wadi Hamul, Tel Armiz, was bombarded by the Israeli enemy artillery. No casualties or damage were reported,” the statement said. “The area was targeted with 12 155-caliber artillery shells, against the background of the enemy’s allegations that two missiles fell in the occupied territories, originating from Lebanon.”

The Lebanese military then appeared to corroborate the Israeli and UNIFIL account with the discovery of a smoking gun: three devices designed to launch 122mm Grad rockets, one of which had yet to be launched and was subsequently disabled by army units.

A Grad rocket is seen after being discovered July 20 by the Lebanese Armed Forces near Al-Qaliyah, south of Tyre, amid reports of a rocket attack toward Israel and retaliatory Israeli artillery fire against Lebanon.LEBANESE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION

The official Lebanese National News agency also reported Tuesday that Lebanese soldiers had set up checkpoints along roads in the area to check vehicle registration and identity cards.

No nation, group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which are reminiscent of three similar rocket launches conducted in May amid a raging battle between Israeli forces and Palestinian factions led by the Hamas movement in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian protesters also stormed across the security fence from Lebanon, drawing IDF artillery fire that killed at least one person.

Later on Tuesday, the Lebanese Armed Forces also accused Israel of violating Lebanon’s airspace via an “enemy reconnaissance aircraft” that flew over the southern town of Naqoura.

State-run media recorded further incidents including the firing of a smoke bomb near a shepherd in the Barakat al-Naqar locality outside the town of Shebaa and the firing of weapons in Syria’s Golan Heights, which has been under Israeli control since 1967.

The Lebanese report noted that such activity in the Golan Heights often coincides with Israeli military drills, which the IDF conducted in the disputed region Tuesday.

Like Lebanon, Syria remains technically at war with Israel since 1948, when a coalition of Arab states first went to war over Israel’s establishment on territory also claimed by Palestinians.

Two more Arab-Israeli conflicts were fought in 1967 and 1971, and Israel fought another two conflicts in Lebanon itself, initially taking on Palestinian guerillas and Hezbollah, which remains active today across southern Lebanon.

While the Israel-Lebanon border remains tense, Israel has regularly conducted airstrikes in Syria, which was struck just hours before Tuesday’s rocket launches against Israel from Lebanon.

Asked for comment at the time, the IDF told Newsweek that “we do not comment on reports in the foreign media.”

The Syrian Defense Ministry, however, swiftly blamed the attack on Israel and said most of the incoming missiles were downed by anti-air defenses as they targeted Aleppo province’s Al-Safira region.

On Tuesday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry lashed out at Israel over its alleged involvement in the air raid, accusing the country of aiding militant groups such as the Islamic State and Nusra Front, violating international law, and disrespecting the Eid al-Adha Islamic holiday.

“The Syrian Arab Republic considers this aggression as an Israeli declaration of bankruptcy and a declaration of the defeat of the Western-Israeli subversive project,” the statement said, “and warns ‘Israel’ of the dangerous repercussions resulting from persisting in its attacks under false pretexts, and of its continuous support for armed terrorist organizations, and of its continued occupation of Arab lands, including in the occupied Syrian Golan.”

The ministry called on the U.N. Security Council “to assume its responsibilities within the framework of the United Nations Charter, the most important of which is to maintain international peace and security, to condemn and be held accountable for the blatant Israeli attacks, to take firm and immediate measures to prevent their recurrence and to oblige Israel to respect its resolutions, and to hold it accountable for its terrorism and crimes against the Syrian people.”

Israel has accused Syria of harboring Iran-backed forces setting up forward operating bases and transferring weapons throughout their stated mission of supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his decade-long civil war against rebels and jihadis.

Israel’s ally, the United States, is also active in Syria and has conducted airstrikes against suspected Iran-backed militias in response to rocket attacks against U.S. positions in Iraq. While Washington maintains a partnership with Baghdad, it has severed ties with Assad’s government in Damascus and instead works with a mostly Kurdish militia known as the Syrian Democratic Forces.

As for Lebanon, the U.S. has joined Israel in expressing frustration over the influence of Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah in the country.

On Tuesday, the White House extended a 14-year national emergency with respect to Lebanon “to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” according to a statement that echoed past renewals.

This threat was blamed on “the actions of certain persons to undermine Lebanon’s legitimate and democratically elected government or democratic institutions; to contribute to the deliberate breakdown in the rule of law in Lebanon, including through politically motivated violence and intimidation; to reassert Syrian control or contribute to Syrian interference in Lebanon; or to infringe upon or undermine Lebanese sovereignty.”

“Such actions,” the statement asserted, “contribute to political and economic instability in that country and the region.

And the White House, like in prior years, took particular aim at Hezbollah and Iran.

“Certain ongoing activities, such as Iran’s continuing arms transfers to Hizballah — which include increasingly sophisticated weapons systems — serve to undermine Lebanese sovereignty, contribute to political and economic instability in the region, and continue to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” the statement said.

Israeli soldiers take part in a military drill near Moshav Odem in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on July 20. Israel seized the territory from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed it in a 1981 move not recognized internationally except for the U.S.JALAA MAREY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

As Lebanon’s woes continued to mount, the country’s political plight took yet another apparent turn for the worse on Thursday when Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri offered his resignation to President Michel Aoun. Hariri has twice before served as premier and ultimately resigned from his post both times.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described Hariri’s latest decision to step down as “yet another disappointing development for the Lebanese people.”

“It is critical that a government committed and able to implement priority reforms be formed now,” the top U.S. diplomat said. “The government must also start preparing for the 2022 parliamentary elections, which should be held on time and conducted in a free and fair manner.”

Blinken issued an appeal to Lebanese leaders to overcome their differences for the common cause of salvaging the country.

“Lebanon’s political class has squandered the last nine months. The Lebanese economy is in free-fall, and the current government is not providing basic services in a reliable fashion,” he said. “Leaders in Beirut must urgently put aside partisan differences and form a government that serves the Lebanese people. That is what the people of Lebanon desperately need.”

A Hezbollah flag flutters on the Lebanese side of the border fence with Israel, near the northern Israeli settlement of Shtula on July 20. Israel shelled Lebanon early that same day in response to earlier rocket attacks, the Israeli army said, as the United Nations urged all sides to show “maximum restraint.”JALAA MAREY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/israel-threatens-lebanon-over-rocket-attacks-syria-warns-israel-against-airstrikes-1611665?piano_t=1

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Troops from the 71rst armored battalion took part in the destruction of a forward post belonging to the Syrian Arab Army in May.  (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

The post IDF remains on alert on its border with Syria first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

CAIRO/AMMAN – The Syrian army said Israel conducted a rocket attack Sunday evening on targets in the vicinity of Damascus.

A Syrian army statement said the attack came from the Golan Heights and that it downed most of the missiles.

An Israeli military spokesman declined to comment.

In a briefing to supporters of his party on Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel was taking action “almost weekly” to prevent Iranian entrenchment in Syria.

Regional intelligence sources say Iran’s Quds Force and the militias it backs have spread in Syria in recent years, including a strong presence in a string of underground bases in the southern outskirts of Damascus.

In recent years, Israel has regularly attacked what it says are Iranian-linked targets in Syria and stepped up such strikes this year in what Western intelligence sources describe as a shadow war to reduce Iran’s influence.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government has never publicly acknowledged there are Iranian forces operating on his behalf in Syria’s civil war, only that Tehran has sent military advisers.

Western intelligence sources say Israeli strikes this year have undermined Iran’s extensive military power in Syria without triggering a major increase in hostilities.

Source: https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/syrian-army-says-israel-attacks-areas-around-southern-damascus

The post Syrian Army Says Israel Attacks Areas Around Southern Damascus first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Israeli Air Force says it attacked about 50 targets in Syria over the course of 2020.

Israel seldomly admits to strikes in Syria, most of which are targeted against Shi’ite groups and institutions linked to or backed by its arch enemy Iran.

Tehran, too, regards Israel as an arch enemy and is deeply involved in the Syrian civil war, backing President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel wants to prevent Iran from gaining too strong an influence in the region, especially in countries on its borders, like Syria.

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This December 11, 2017 photo shows Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Syrian President Bashar Assad watching troops march at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Israel should stop its “arbitrary” strikes in Syrian territory, which are against the region’s interests and could spark new chaos, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

The comments by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova came days after a flare-up between Israel and Iran on the Syrian frontier.

“We have not changed our position on this issue, which is based on the principles of international law,” Zakharova said at a press briefing. “The practice of arbitrarily launching strikes on the territory of a sovereign state, in this case Syria, should be simply excluded.”

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She warned that such strikes encourage an “atmosphere of hostility in the region” and “do not serve the long-term national interests of any of the Middle Eastern states, including, of course, Israel… We urge everyone to think about the possible consequences of provoking a new round of chaos in the Middle East.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova in Moscow on January 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

She added that Syria should not “become an arena for settling geopolitical accounts.” Israel has said repeatedly that its airstrikes on military and terror targets in the war-ravaged nation are aimed at curbing Iran’s efforts to entrench itself militarily in the country.

On Sunday, Israel reportedly conducted a rare daylight missile attack on Iranian targets in Syria. In response, Iran fired a surface-to-surface missile at the northern Golan Heights, which was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system over the Mount Hermon ski resort, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Hours later, in the predawn hours of Monday morning, the Israel Air Force launched retaliatory strikes on Iranian targets near Damascus and on the Syrian air defense batteries that fired upon the attacking Israeli fighter jets, the army said.

An explosion, reportedly during Israeli airstrikes near Damascus on January 21, 2019. (screen capture: YouTube)

Twenty-one people were killed in the Israeli raids in Syria early Monday, 12 of them Iranian fighters, a Britain-based Syrian war monitor said on Tuesday.

A Syrian mobile anti-aircraft battery vehicle as seen through the targeting camera of an incoming Israeli missile, on January 21, 2019. (IDF)

Photographs published by ImageSat Tuesday indicated storehouses and radar systems at Damascus International Airport were destroyed in the strikes.

Satellite images purporting to show damage to Damascus International Airport in January 20 raids by Israel, released by ImageSat International, on January 22, 2019. (ImageSat International)

The IDF said Monday that Iranian troops in Syria launched their missile at the Golan in a “premeditated” attack aimed at deterring Israel from conducting airstrikes against the Islamic Republic’s troops and proxies in Syria.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said Israel was “committed to fighting… the Iranian army in Syria.”

During a visit to the Shizafon army base in the south of the country, the prime minister told soldiers: “Iran is the main enemy, and has declared its intention to destroy us with nuclear weapons, which we are committed to thwarting… But Iran is also building forces around us, and they have established a front in Lebanon through Hezbollah, and they have established a southern fortress in Gaza, which is maintained by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. And now they wish to build a third fortress in the Golan Heights, based on the establishment of the Iranian military.”

Israel in recent years has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria against targets linked to Iran, which alongside its proxies, and Russia is fighting on behalf of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. A number of the strikes have targeted the Damascus airport in a bid to halt weapons transfers from Iran to its militias in Syria and Lebanon. The strikes are coordinated with Russia.

However, the number of airstrikes in Syria attributed to Israel has dropped in recent months, after a Russian military plane was downed by Syrian air defenses during an Israeli attack on Latakia last September, killing all 15 servicemen aboard.

Russia blamed the Israeli military for that incident — a charge rejected by Jerusalem — and has supplied Syria with the advanced S-300 air defense system. The systems were delivered to Syria late last year, but they are not yet believed to be in use, as the Syrian air defense teams still need to be trained to operate them.

Military officials Moscow and Jerusalem have been engaged in talks to restore trust over the incident.

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.

Source:  https://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-says-israel-must-halt-its-arbitrary-airstrikes-in-syria/

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In past weeks, Israeli forces raided Syrian border fortifications on the contact line in Syria’s Golan Heights, Israeli Brigadier General Roman Gofman told TASS on Friday.

“We conducted an operation against Syrian fortifications, built directly at the border and partially on our territory. That’s why we attacked them and carried out an operation,” said Gofman, who is the commander of the Israel Army Forces 210th Division stationed on the Golan Heights.

“Soldiers, who attacked those positions, returned immediately after blowing them up. They did not stay there when the raids were over.”

The operation was conducted in two stages: One facility was destroyed during the first stage, and two more – during the second one. The operation did not involve any confrontation, he further noted.

Israel does not currently consider Syria a threat, but it is afraid Hezbollah fighters could reinforce their positions on the northern side of the Golan Heights, he added.

The biggest threat is the establishment of a front line from Iran and (Hezbollah) in southern Syria to face Israel, the general explained.

On Oct.21, an Israeli strike hit the province of Quneitra in southern Syria, with a war monitor saying the attack targeted a base for pro-Iran militias.

A missile hit a school in al-Huriyyah village in Quneitra’s northern countryside, hosting groups loyal to the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, amid confirmed reports of casualties.

Israel rarely affirms carrying out similar strikes, but it regularly says that it will continue to block “Iran’s attempts to consolidate its military presence in Syria and send advanced weapons to the Lebanese Hezbollah.”

Israel will not allow Hezbollah or Iran to set up on the Golan Heights border, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told Israel Radio on Wednesday.

Gantz remarks were made after Israel revealed it had carried out a ground attack in Syrian territories last September, during which it destroyed two army outposts, under the pretext of fear that Hezbollah would use them against it.

Source: Israel Reveals Reasons Behind Destroying Syrian Border Fortifications in Golan | Asharq AL-awsat

Source: https://www.syriahr.com/en/190864/

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Read more: BulgarianMilitary.com 24/7 – War in Syria: Who controls what and what happens

The Israeli attack took place south of Damascus, according to local sources and the Syrian national news agency SANA.

According to sources, Israel has struck several arms depots located near the airport in Damascus. There were two soldiers killed and seven wounded in the attack.

“The aggressive attack came from Mount Hermon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Syrian anti-aircraft gunners, who opened fire on air targets, managed to hit several enemy missiles,” a source told SANA.

The Syrian army has Pantsir-C1 mobile air defense systems and the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. Both systems are Russian and some are believed to be located near Damascus to protect the capital.

Given that the Russian Panzer-C1 has recently suffered serious damage, including from Turkish drones in Syria and Ribia, the question of the effectiveness of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system remains open, which is supposed to have no problems with interception of missiles.

Of course, the participation of the Israeli F-35 stealth planes in the Israeli attack was possible. If so, the Russian S-300 system would not be able to intercept this fighter in Syrian airspace, as it does not have the radar and firepower of the Russian S-400.

Russia has located S-400 systems, but they are mostly in a defensive shield around Russia’s Kmeimim military

This is not the first Israeli attack in recent weeks on Syrian military positions.

There is hardly a week in which Israel strikes an air strike on Syria. Very often these air strikes are aimed at military bases in Hamas or Iran in Syria.

But there are also cases in which the Israeli army decides to strike at Syrian army positions. Such was the case on August 4 this year, when the Israel Defense Forces launched a series of attacks on positions of Syrian government forces in southern Syria.

The Israeli military command notes then that the strikes were carried out by combat aircraft and helicopters in response to an earlier attempted terrorist attack on the border between the countries.

Official Syrian media report that no one has been killed as a result of these Israeli attacks.

Earlier same day night, Syrian media reported that the country’s air defense forces were repelling air attacks in the Damascus area. It is assumed that Israel also conducted them.

Earlier on Monday [August 3 – ed.], the Israeli military killed four people who tried to plant explosive devices on the Syrian-Israeli border.

War in Syria

In February, Turkey lost at least 62 troops killed in Syria, nearly 100 soldiers were wounded, dozens of Turkish armored vehicles were destroyed and more than ten drones, including drone, were shot down. Washington has repeatedly accused Moscow of involvement in the deaths of Turkish soldiers, Russia rejects these allegations.

In early March, the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, concluded an agreement according to which a ceasefire came into force in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad later said that if the US and Turkish military did not leave the country, Damascus would be able to use force.

The reason for the Russian-Turkish negotiations was a sharp aggravation of the situation in Idlib, where in January a large-scale offensive by the Syrian army against the positions of the armed opposition and terrorists.

Government forces recaptured nearly half of the Idlib de-escalation zone and left behind a number of Turkish observation posts. After that, Ankara sharply increased its military contingent in the region and launched the operation “Spring Shield” to push the Syrian troops. Turkey is also supported by militants loyal to it.

Source: https://bulgarianmilitary.com/2020/09/01/israel-carried-out-a-large-scale-air-attack-and-hit-positions-on-the-syrian-army/

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One of Israel’s largest attacks is reported by Syrian sources to have swept across 10 targets across the country early Monday, July 1. They included Damascus Mezza military airport; Iranian and Hizballah military facilities at Al Kiswa south of Damascus; the base of the Syrian 1^stDivision; the Syrian military “research” institute at Jumriyah; military facilities at Siniya; and a chain of Hizballah bases in the Qalamoun Mts straddling the Syrian -Lebanese frontier, as well as bases in the Homs district.

The attacks were said to have been conducted by Israeli jets from Lebanese air space and naval vessels. Syrian sources reported that four people were killed in the attack and its air defense systems intercepted some of the incoming Israeli missiles. They described powerful explosions and huge fires at Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hizballah bases in the Qalamoun Mts and ambulances streaming to the scene.

DEBKAfile’s military sources add that Israel delayed this latest round of attacks on Iranian and Hizballah positions in Syria to give US and Russian diplomacy a chance to reach understandings on the Syria situation. When their effort ran into the ground last week, the Israeli military was ordered to go forward. A large-scale operation became urgent when Iran and Hizballah were discovered to be preparing to embark on an operation against Israel, as part of Tehran’s campaign against US Middle East allies in retaliation for the Trump administration’s sanctions. Israel’s wide-ranging strikes on the 1^st of July aimed at preempting that Iranian-Hizballah operation before it got off the ground.

Source: https://www.debka.com/damascus-israeli-air-naval-forces-hit-10-syrian-iranian-hizballah-targets/

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