The Israeli Air Force attacked a Syrian antiaircraft battery on Monday that Israel said had fired a missile at its planes while they were on a reconnaissance mission over neighboring Lebanon. No Israeli planes were hit, the Israeli military spokesman Lt.-Col. Jonathan Conricus said. The counter-strike took place two hours later and “incapacitated” the antiaircraft…
Image copyright REUTERS Image caption The official declaration that Raqqa has been recaptured is expected soon US-backed forces in Syria say they now control so-called Islamic State’s one-time capital of Raqqa, with only a few dozen militants remaining in the city. The Syrian Democratic Forces say they have retaken al-Naim square, where IS once held public executions….
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionKurdish and Arab fighters have been pushing back IS since June A deal has been struck to evacuate civilians by bus from the Syrian city of Raqqa, where so-called Islamic State (IS) is surrounded by a US-led coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters. Under the agreement arranged by local officials, a convoy is…
We should consider the initiative a way to deal with the threat from Iran and its creation, Hezbollah. And if Iran opposed the foray, its isolation in the Arab and Muslim Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is right: Iran is the greatest threat to Israel. Today this threat seems distant, but it would only take a…
Israel’s military carried out a massive exercise in September simulating conflict with Hezbollah, the largest drill in nearly two decades. (Jalaa Marey/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images) JERUSALEM — Israel has flexed its military muscles in recent months as the regional balance of power has pitched further in favor of its most bitter adversaries: Iran and its Lebanese proxy…
MOSCOW, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Russia said on Thursday it had warned the United States it would target areas in Syria where U.S. special forces and U.S.-backed militia were operating if its own forces came under fire from them, something it said had already happened twice. Russia was referring to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),…
Israel sent a clear message to the Trump Administration that it will not hesitate to again attack neighboring Syria if forces embroiled in a bloody civil war there cross two red lines. Speaking at a pre-Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) gathering that included a large number of senior US officials, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Ron…
This article first appeared on the Council on Foreign Affairs site. Last week, Israel bombed a site in Syria, from Lebanese air space. This was the so-called Scientific Studies and Researchers Center in Masyaf, a city in central Syria, and it was hit because it is a military site where chemical weapons and precision bombs…
Syrian military appears to confirm media reports of attack on research centre near Mediterranean coast in night-time raid. Israeli jets have reportedly bombed a Syrian government facility in north-west of the country believed to be associated with Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons programme. The strikes were initially reported by Hebrew and Arab media sources on Thursday…
BEIRUT — The Syrian army broke a three-year siege by the Islamic State on an enclave of the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zour on Tuesday, offering a fresh boost to the fortunes of President Bashar al-Assad and his once-flagging army. After weeks of fierce fighting along the desert roads stretching east toward the city,…