Yesterday Syrian state TV said that an Israeli airstrike occurred on its soil, at Jamraya near the Lebanese border. Israel, as is its response often is to these things, neither confirmed nor denied the charge.
Several diplomats from nations close to Israel later confirmed that an airstrike had been carried out by its airforce. The target(s) was a convoy carrying something to Lebanon, often described as rockets or some sort of anti-aircraft ordinance. Presumably these were destined for the Syrian government's allies in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
There has been no official comment on this from Israel or the United States, though some of the information about the possible targets came from American sources.
Syria has said it is a belligerent action on the part of Israel and is demanding condemnation from the UN. Similar sentiments have been given by Hezbollah and Iran stating it will have significant implications, while Russia has been more reserved and only stating that it was an unprovoked attack that Israel needs to explain.
The most open statement on this has been from a Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, who stated Syria is in its rights to retaliate.
Ali Abdul-Karim Ali, Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, said in Damascus on Thursday that Syria "has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation".
Ali said he could not predict when Syria would retaliate. It was up to the relevant authorities to prepare the retaliation and choose the time and place, he told Al Ahad, a website of Hezbollah, the Lebanese group is closely allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran.
It is unclear what the exact nature of the target of Wednesday's Israeli air raids was.
The Syrian military has denied the existence of any weapons shipment and said a scientific research facility outside Damascus was hit by the Israeli fighter jets.
Syrian state media said that the attacks targeted a military research centre near the Syrian capital, while regional security sources told the Reuters and AP news agencies that the target was a convoy of lorries allegedly carrying anti-aircraft missiles for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
In Iran, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iran's deputy foreign minister, as saying the raid on Syria will have significant implications for Israel.
Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's foreign minister, condemned the Israeli raid on state television, calling it a clear violation of Syria's sovereignty.
Iran is Syria's strongest ally in the Middle East, and has provided Assad's government with military and political backing for years.
Lodged official complaint
Later on Thursday, Syria complained to the UN over the Israeli strike.
Although Israel and Syria are technically still at war, the ministry's official complaint evoked a 1974 disengagement agreement between the neighbours, state news agency SANA said.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Iqbal Singha, commander of the UN Observer Disengagement Observer Force... and informed him of an official protest over the Israeli violation of the disengagement agreement of 1974," the ministry said.
The ministry said Israel "and the states that protect it at the UN Security Council" are responsible for the air strike, and "affirms Syria's right to defend itself and its territory and sovereignty".
The ministry called on "all the competent UN bodies to take the necessary steps given this grave Israeli violation, and to guarantee that it will not happen again."
The ministry denounced "the failure of the Security Council to take responsibility to prevent this grave Israeli attack, which poses serious threats to stability in the Middle East and security in the world".
'Barbaric aggression'
In a statement, Hezbollah condemned the attack as "barbaric aggression", saying it "expresses full solidarity with Syria's command, army and people."
Hezbollah did not mention any convoy but said the raid aimed to prevent Arab and Muslim forces from developing their military capabilities.
Russia, Syria's strongest international ally, said the Israeli raid appeared to be an unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation.
It said it is taking "urgent measures to clarify the situation in all its details".
"If this information is confirmed, we have a case of unprovoked attacks on targets in the territory of a sovereign state, which grossly violates the UN charter and is unacceptable," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Whatever the motives, this is not justified."
Late on Wednesday evening, the Syrian army confirmed that Israeli jets crossed into Syria below radar level at dawn and carried out raids against military targets.
"Israeli fighter jets violated our airspace at dawn today and carried out a direct strike on a scientific research centre in charge of raising our level of resistance and self-defence," the army's general command said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.
The attack came "after terrorist groups made several failed attempts in the past months to take control of the site", the statement added, using the term the Assad's government uses for rebel fighters.
The jets entered the Syrian airspace via Mount Hermon, or Jabal el-Sheikh in Arabic, the Syrian army said.
"They ... carried out an act of aggression, bombarding the site, causing large-scale material damage and destroying the building," Syrian state television quoted the military as saying.
The army added that two site workers were killed in the strike, and five others wounded.
News agencies quoted US and regional officials as saying that Israel had conducted an air raid inside Syria near the border with Lebanon, hitting a convoy of lorries.
The regional officials said Israel had been planning in the days leading up to the air raid to hit a shipment of weapons bound for Hezbollah.
They said the shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which would be strategically "game-changing" in the hands of Hezbollah.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the strike.
Israeli and US fears
In Israel, a parliamentarian close to Binyamin Netanyahu, prime minister, stopped short of confirming involvement in the attack. But he hinted that Israel could carry out similar missions in the future.
Among Israeli security officials' chief fears is that Hezbollah could get Syrian chemical arms and SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles.
If that were to happen, it would change the balance of power in the region and greatly hinder Israel's ability to conduct air violations in Lebanon.
The military in Lebanon, which shares borders with both Israel and Syria, said on Wednesday that Israeli fighter jets had sharply increased their activity over the country in the past week, including at least 12 sorties in less than 24 hours in the south.
Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace occur on a daily basis and Lebanese authorities routinely lodge complaints at the UN against the flights.
Source:
Agencies
This is not the first cross-border incident with Syria's civil war. There have been several instances on Syria's northern border with Turkey, which prompted that nation to request patriot missile batteries which are being deployed currently.
Troubling, to say the least. It wouldn't surprise me if it were Israel, and the whole "neither confirm nor deny" thing doesn't exactly grant much reassurance.
One day though, I'm afraid one of them will someday do something blatant and end up with something they'll regret. Either way, I think it's way past due for us to withdrawal our support from them.
You think the only people who are people, are the people who look and think like you.
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger,
You'll learn things you never knew, you never knew.
Israel and Syria have been at war almost the entire time since Israel was founded. Israel told Syria that they wouldn't tolerate certain actions such as a covert nuclear program or transfer of modern weapons to Lebanon. In 2007 Syria tried to get a nuclear program started and Israel stopped it. Now Syria wants to transfer modern Russian aa missile systems to Lebanon (probably in exchange for support in their fight against the FSA) and Israel again stops them. Not really surprising.
The potential for escalation is there, but Syria knew about the risks. They just figured they could get away with this one due to the fog of war. And Israel bets that Assad will avoid a war as long as he has to fight his own population.
And Israel bets that Assad will avoid a war as long as he has to fight his own population.
Wouldn't striking Israel make him a good guy amongst them? Certainly the jihadists hate Israelis more than they hate Shias.
Besides that, Syria wouldn't benefit anything from striking Israel - though they might do it if they at some point when they don't have anything to lose anymore. Just like Saddam Hussein hit Israel with missiles in 1991.
Last edited by Rikupsoni; January 31st, 2013 at 02:16 PM.
Either way, I think it's way past due for us to withdrawal our support from them.
Israel has one of the best armies on earth, they have a good domestic arms industry, and the funds to buy arms internationally. They don't need any international support. All US support does is tie regional opinions of Israel to us when they do something provocative. US relations in the middle east would be much better if we did not support Israel, but kept buying their oil.
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Wouldn't striking Israel make him a good guy amongst them? Certainly the jihadists hate Israelis more than they hate Shias.
Assad is more important to them than Israel at this point. Assad attacking Israel would simply speed up his downfall. There would not be much sympathy from anyone if he got killed in an airstrike.
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though they might do it if they at some point when don't have anything to lose anymore. Just like Saddam Hussein hit Israel with missiles in 1991.
I could see them attacking as a way to draw the whole region into their conflict. Saddam did not attack Israel as a last ditch effort. He was hoping to draw them into the conflict which would have pushed the majority of the Arab members out of the alliance due to their disagreement with Israel at the time.
Wouldn't striking Israel make him a good guy amongst them? Certainly the jihadists hate Israelis more than they hate Shias.
Besides that, Syria wouldn't benefit anything from striking Israel - though they might do it if they at some point when they don't have anything to lose anymore. Just like Saddam Hussein hit Israel with missiles in 1991.
The FSA would probably appreciate an attack because of their hatred against Jews but also because they'd realize that Isreal would destroy lots of Assad's regular forces, thereby making their revolution easier. I don't think Assad is the fanatical type who'd attack Israel as a last resort thing or out of spite. He is relatively secular and, from what I have read about him, the (brutally) rational type of dictator. My guess is that he'll hide in the Shia heartland of Syria and flee to Iran or Russia if that doesn't work out. But you never know what the military dudes actually in charge of the situation might be thinking or how quickly everything will turn to crap once the rebels get their hands on chemical weapons.
An important thing to point out here is politics is generally very multifaceted and more complicated than drawing people into simple camps. Assad's government might be "secular" but that has not stopped it from building ties with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Iranian government, and for a while, Hamas in order to secure itself in the region.
Historically Syria has made such ties based on necessity and regional interests. In the long civil war in Lebanon, it initially supported the progressive and socialist elements in that war, but later shifted to the more conservative Maronite factions when it became more appropriate. Syria was interested in influence in Lebanon, not so much those that were ideologically convenient. Ironically this put Syria on the same side as Israel in a sense as they both saw these radical groups and their Palestinian allies as their enemy, but both were simultaneously working for influence in that country. Syria saw that opportunity when the Maronite-led government requested aid from Syria, but of course as wars like those were the battle lines were fluid and in time Syria took a different role.
Even with its Ba'athist camp it was actively trying to oppose Iraq at different areas. Iraq and Syria during this period did not even have formal relations with one another, and Iraq was aware that Syria was hosting several anti-government groups in its borders.
There's also a fact that a lot of people have not forgotten what the elder Assad did in a similar insurrection back in the late 70s and early 80s.
In the end there's a lot of pragmatic concerns at play here beyond all the ideological rhetoric and positions. If you look at a copy of the complaint the Syrian ambassador to the UN lodged against Israel, it also includes an accusation that it has stated before before- that Israel and others have been actively backing subversive terror groups in their country, specifically the more religious inspired ones.
This is intentional in a sense because they want to discredit the opposition in their country as not actually being Syrian but a foreign invention. This is their line on the whole crisis, that Syria is fighting foreign interference in their country and these people aren't even Syrian to begin with according to them. Syria has accused the US, several European countries, Arab Gulf countries, and Israel of all either simultaneously or on their own supporting the "Islamist" groups.
Israel has one of the best armies on earth, they have a good domestic arms industry, and the funds to buy arms internationally. They don't need any international support. All US support does is tie regional opinions of Israel to us when they do something provocative. US relations in the middle east would be much better if we did not support Israel, but kept buying their oil.
Its much in the interests of US to keep a state of tension between israel and the Arab states. Talk about stationing large number of troops in Arabian states for their defense.
But above all, the biggest advantage of such a situation is that you keep the Arabian states under your influence. Play the bad-cop role by supporting israel in matters of disputes and play good-cop role with assuring them of your verbal support and providing them with armies for their protection.
We know what happened when Zulfiqar Bhutto of Pakistan and Abdullah of KSA tried to manipulate the position of Arab as the oil-providers for the world. The US doesn't want it happening again. And they will make sure of that. Support of Israel is a good means to ensure it.
Its all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days
Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays
Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays
And one by one back in the Closet lays
That is putting it mildly. The Turkish foreign minister criticized Assad for not striking back at Israel due to alleged secret agreements with the Israeli government.
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Syria calls Israel out on airstrike 
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