4 sept 2018
Senior military source says some 800 missiles were launched in strikes mainly carried out by IAF; army source also says escalation of conflict more likely than long-term ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
A senior IDF source revealed on Tuesday that over the past year-and-a-half the army has carried out approximately 200 attacks in Syria.
According to the official, the strikes targeted mainly advanced weapon systems and infrastructure sites belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards located in Syrian territory.
In total, some 800 missiles and bombs were launched at targets on Syrian soil, the majority by IAF fighter jets.
Israel has repeatedly stated that it will not tolerate an Iranian military presence of any kind in Syria, which has been supporting President Bashar Assad’s regime and abetting terror proxies such as Hezbollah in the ongoing civil war.
According to regional sources, Israel began carrying out military strikes in Syria in 2013 against suspected arms transfers and deployments by Iranian forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies, both Damascus's partners in Syria's civil war.
While Israel rarely takes responsibility for such strikes, the IDF has at times admitted to hitting arms convoys heading for the Shi’ite Hezbollah organization.
In addition, sporadic errant rocket fire on Israel’s Golan Heights in Syria’s civil war, which had claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and made millions homeless, has been met by the IDF with strikes.
Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz used a speech on Tuesday to give a more general summary of Syria missions, prompted by a military briefing given to local media earlier in the day.
"Only just now it was published—in the name of military sources, so I can quote it too—that in the last two years Israel has taken military action more than 200 times within Syria itself," Katz told a conference hosted by the IDC Herzliya college.
"Understand the significance of this matter in terms of preserving the red line, preventing the things that Iran has done, is doing and is trying to do against Israel from Syria."
Asked to confirm Katz's comments, an Israeli military spokeswoman said Israel had carried out around 200 attacks within Syria over the past year and a half.
Hamas replenishing rocket stockpile
As negotiations continue between Israel and Hamas to achieve a long-term ceasefire on the southern border, which have been accompanied by an unofficial moratorium in the launching of incendiary balloons and rockets from the Gaza Strip, the IDF still believes that the talks will more likely end in an escalation of hostilities.
The most sensitive issues are still far from being resolved, such as Hamas’s demand to expand Gaza’s fishing zone, Israel’s demand that the terror group release two captive Israeli citizens and the bodies of two fallen IDF soldiers in return for the building of sea ports or airports for Gaza in the Sinai.
According to the IDF, four years after Operation Protective Edge, Hamas is still uninterested in seeking a military conflict with Israel, but it has fully replenished its rocket supply that was decimated during the 2014 summer offensive. However, the effects have proven longer lasting of the IDF’s strikes on Hamas’s naval capabilities and its underground terror network.
In addition, the IDF has recently completed a third of its subterranean anti-tunnel barrier, which by the end of the year will be finished at a length of 65 kilometers along the Gaza border.
Over the last year, the IDF has discovered and destroyed around 15 terror tunnels that had been dug into Israeli territory.
According to the IDF assessment, the terror group still has a single number of terror tunnels that are yet to be neutralized.
In addition, as IDF source say that those who suggest applying massive military pressure on the strip will lead to a cessation of terror activity, is mistaken.
“The terror accompanies Israel since the state was established and it will continue to accompany us for years to come. We are working against it in a decisive, systematic and ethical manner. Flattening entire neighborhoods will eventually lead to the dismantling of the army and society,” asserted the source.
“Those who say that more shells will stop the terror are selling delusions to the general public,” the source concluded.
A senior IDF source revealed on Tuesday that over the past year-and-a-half the army has carried out approximately 200 attacks in Syria.
According to the official, the strikes targeted mainly advanced weapon systems and infrastructure sites belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards located in Syrian territory.
In total, some 800 missiles and bombs were launched at targets on Syrian soil, the majority by IAF fighter jets.
Israel has repeatedly stated that it will not tolerate an Iranian military presence of any kind in Syria, which has been supporting President Bashar Assad’s regime and abetting terror proxies such as Hezbollah in the ongoing civil war.
According to regional sources, Israel began carrying out military strikes in Syria in 2013 against suspected arms transfers and deployments by Iranian forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies, both Damascus's partners in Syria's civil war.
While Israel rarely takes responsibility for such strikes, the IDF has at times admitted to hitting arms convoys heading for the Shi’ite Hezbollah organization.
In addition, sporadic errant rocket fire on Israel’s Golan Heights in Syria’s civil war, which had claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and made millions homeless, has been met by the IDF with strikes.
Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz used a speech on Tuesday to give a more general summary of Syria missions, prompted by a military briefing given to local media earlier in the day.
"Only just now it was published—in the name of military sources, so I can quote it too—that in the last two years Israel has taken military action more than 200 times within Syria itself," Katz told a conference hosted by the IDC Herzliya college.
"Understand the significance of this matter in terms of preserving the red line, preventing the things that Iran has done, is doing and is trying to do against Israel from Syria."
Asked to confirm Katz's comments, an Israeli military spokeswoman said Israel had carried out around 200 attacks within Syria over the past year and a half.
Hamas replenishing rocket stockpile
As negotiations continue between Israel and Hamas to achieve a long-term ceasefire on the southern border, which have been accompanied by an unofficial moratorium in the launching of incendiary balloons and rockets from the Gaza Strip, the IDF still believes that the talks will more likely end in an escalation of hostilities.
The most sensitive issues are still far from being resolved, such as Hamas’s demand to expand Gaza’s fishing zone, Israel’s demand that the terror group release two captive Israeli citizens and the bodies of two fallen IDF soldiers in return for the building of sea ports or airports for Gaza in the Sinai.
According to the IDF, four years after Operation Protective Edge, Hamas is still uninterested in seeking a military conflict with Israel, but it has fully replenished its rocket supply that was decimated during the 2014 summer offensive. However, the effects have proven longer lasting of the IDF’s strikes on Hamas’s naval capabilities and its underground terror network.
In addition, the IDF has recently completed a third of its subterranean anti-tunnel barrier, which by the end of the year will be finished at a length of 65 kilometers along the Gaza border.
Over the last year, the IDF has discovered and destroyed around 15 terror tunnels that had been dug into Israeli territory.
According to the IDF assessment, the terror group still has a single number of terror tunnels that are yet to be neutralized.
In addition, as IDF source say that those who suggest applying massive military pressure on the strip will lead to a cessation of terror activity, is mistaken.
“The terror accompanies Israel since the state was established and it will continue to accompany us for years to come. We are working against it in a decisive, systematic and ethical manner. Flattening entire neighborhoods will eventually lead to the dismantling of the army and society,” asserted the source.
“Those who say that more shells will stop the terror are selling delusions to the general public,” the source concluded.
In strike that RT reports killed 2 people and wounded at least 5, state news agency says air defenses 'downed a number of rockets fired by the Israeli enemy', claiming Iranian targets were the objective; report comes shortly after Israeli military official claims IDF attacked approximately 200 targets in Syria over the last year-and-a-half.
Fighter jets struck targets in Syria's Hama countryside, Syrian state news agency SANA said on Tuesday, in an attack Syria swiftly attributed to Israel.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the explosions were heard in the area between Masyaf and Wadi al-Uyoun near Hama city.
According to RT in Arabic, two people were killed in the attack and at least five were wounded.
The Lebanon-based and Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen news channel also reported the airstrikes, while another report issued later from Syria said that the strikes had been aimed at Iranian targets.
According to opposition officials, the targets included a center for scientific research in the Masayaf area, a storage warehouse for scientific research, and other security-related facilities.
SANA said Syrian air defences confronted and downed several rockets fired by Israeli planes near the city of Hama on Tuesday.
"Air defenses downed a number of rockets fired by the Israeli enemy in the Wadi al-Uyoun area in the Hama countryside," SANA said.
Citing a military source SANA said that Israeli aircraft had targeted "our military positions in the provinces of Tartous and Hama".
"The enemy missiles were dealt with and some of them were shot down," SANA said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abderahman said the attack had also targeted around the coastal city of Baniyas for the first time, with two rockets hitting around one kilometre from an oil refinery.
An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.
Syrian state television said air defences downed five rockets.
SANA said the planes had come at a low altitude from west of neighbouring Lebanon's coastal capital Beirut.
Al-Mayadeen news said Israeli fighter planes released countermeasures against anti-aircraft fire "and withdrew towards the sea at the same time as the sounds of explosions were heard in Hama countryside."
The alleged strike comes days after Syrian state media said loud blasts coming from an airbase early on Sunday were from an explosion at an ammunitions dump caused by an electrical problem, but an official in the regional alliance backing Damascus said they were from Israeli strikes.
Opposition leaders claimed that a weapons depot situated in the Mezzeh airbase in the capital belonging to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army was the target of the the attack.
The airbase has been targeted in a number of airstrikes in recent years that the government has blamed on Israel.
Fighter jets struck targets in Syria's Hama countryside, Syrian state news agency SANA said on Tuesday, in an attack Syria swiftly attributed to Israel.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the explosions were heard in the area between Masyaf and Wadi al-Uyoun near Hama city.
According to RT in Arabic, two people were killed in the attack and at least five were wounded.
The Lebanon-based and Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen news channel also reported the airstrikes, while another report issued later from Syria said that the strikes had been aimed at Iranian targets.
According to opposition officials, the targets included a center for scientific research in the Masayaf area, a storage warehouse for scientific research, and other security-related facilities.
SANA said Syrian air defences confronted and downed several rockets fired by Israeli planes near the city of Hama on Tuesday.
"Air defenses downed a number of rockets fired by the Israeli enemy in the Wadi al-Uyoun area in the Hama countryside," SANA said.
Citing a military source SANA said that Israeli aircraft had targeted "our military positions in the provinces of Tartous and Hama".
"The enemy missiles were dealt with and some of them were shot down," SANA said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abderahman said the attack had also targeted around the coastal city of Baniyas for the first time, with two rockets hitting around one kilometre from an oil refinery.
An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.
Syrian state television said air defences downed five rockets.
SANA said the planes had come at a low altitude from west of neighbouring Lebanon's coastal capital Beirut.
Al-Mayadeen news said Israeli fighter planes released countermeasures against anti-aircraft fire "and withdrew towards the sea at the same time as the sounds of explosions were heard in Hama countryside."
The alleged strike comes days after Syrian state media said loud blasts coming from an airbase early on Sunday were from an explosion at an ammunitions dump caused by an electrical problem, but an official in the regional alliance backing Damascus said they were from Israeli strikes.
Opposition leaders claimed that a weapons depot situated in the Mezzeh airbase in the capital belonging to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army was the target of the the attack.
The airbase has been targeted in a number of airstrikes in recent years that the government has blamed on Israel.
3 sept 2018
Israeli Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, threatened on Monday that Israel might attack any suspected Iranian military assets in Iraq as it has already done in Syria.
Avigdor Lieberman hinted during a press conference in Jerusalem, on Monday, saying "we are certainly monitoring everything that is happening in Syria, and regarding Iranian threats we are not limiting ourselves just to Syrian territory. This also needs to be clear."
When asked if Iraq is included, he responded by saying "I am saying that we will contend with any Iranian threat, and it doesn't matter from where it comes, Israel is freed."
Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes against arms transfers and deployments by Iran and its Lebanese ally, the Hezbollah militia, fearing the threat across its border.
Lieberman confirmed that Israel will also be following any political developments in Iraq's capital, Baghdad.
Avigdor Lieberman hinted during a press conference in Jerusalem, on Monday, saying "we are certainly monitoring everything that is happening in Syria, and regarding Iranian threats we are not limiting ourselves just to Syrian territory. This also needs to be clear."
When asked if Iraq is included, he responded by saying "I am saying that we will contend with any Iranian threat, and it doesn't matter from where it comes, Israel is freed."
Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes against arms transfers and deployments by Iran and its Lebanese ally, the Hezbollah militia, fearing the threat across its border.
Lieberman confirmed that Israel will also be following any political developments in Iraq's capital, Baghdad.
1 sept 2018
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech Wednesday at the Dimona nuclear plant, the site and symbol of Israel’s nuclear weapon capacity, and warned Iran and other regional rivals against taking Israel on.
The weak crumble, are slaughtered and are erased from history while the strong, for good or for ill, survive. The strong are respected, and alliances are made with the strong, and in the end peace is made with the strong…
But our enemies know very well what Israel is capable of doing. They are familiar with our policy. Whoever tries to hurt us—we hurt them.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Iran was being “threatened with atomic annihilation by a warmonger standing next to an actual nuclear weapons factory.”
Netanyahu’s comments were widely derided on twitter as fascistic. Some quoted Adolf Hitler’s speech in Munich in 1923 at a time when he was gaining a following:
“The whole of nature is a mighty struggle between strength and weakness, an eternal victory of the strong over the weak.”
Norman Finkelstein writes, “According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism–” which is now being embraced by political leaders in the U.S. and Britain — “’drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis’ is taboo.
“Does this mean that the obvious juxtaposition of Netanyahu’s and Hitler’s words is antisemitic? Put otherwise, whose fault is it if Netanyahu sounds like Hitler?”
The weak crumble, are slaughtered and are erased from history while the strong, for good or for ill, survive. The strong are respected, and alliances are made with the strong, and in the end peace is made with the strong…
But our enemies know very well what Israel is capable of doing. They are familiar with our policy. Whoever tries to hurt us—we hurt them.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Iran was being “threatened with atomic annihilation by a warmonger standing next to an actual nuclear weapons factory.”
Netanyahu’s comments were widely derided on twitter as fascistic. Some quoted Adolf Hitler’s speech in Munich in 1923 at a time when he was gaining a following:
“The whole of nature is a mighty struggle between strength and weakness, an eternal victory of the strong over the weak.”
Norman Finkelstein writes, “According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism–” which is now being embraced by political leaders in the U.S. and Britain — “’drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis’ is taboo.
“Does this mean that the obvious juxtaposition of Netanyahu’s and Hitler’s words is antisemitic? Put otherwise, whose fault is it if Netanyahu sounds like Hitler?”
30 aug 2018
After PM Netanyahu says, "Our enemies know very well what Israel is capable of, they know our policy, and anyone who tries to harm us—we will harm them," during his speech at Negev Nuclear Research Center, Iran's Foreign Affairs Minister Zarif slams him tweeting 'Beyond shameless is the gall.'
Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday, calling him a "warmonger," in reference to the prime minister's remarks during his speech at the Negev Nuclear Research Center.
"Iran, a country without nuclear weapons, is threatened with atomic annihilation by a warmonger standing next to an actual nuclear weapons factory. Beyond shameless is the gall," Zarif tweeted.
Earlier on Wednesday, during a ceremony to rename the Negev Nuclear Research Center after the late Israeli statesman Shimon Peres, Netanyahu warned the country's enemies that Israel has the means to destroy them. "Those who threaten to wipe Israel out, put themselves in a similar danger, and in any event will not achieve their goal."
"Our enemies know very well what Israel is capable of, they know our policy, and anyone who tries to harm us—we will harm them," the prime minister added.
Netanyahu stressed the necessity for Israel to stand strong in the face of its enemies. "In the Middle East, and in many parts of the world, there is a simple truth—there is no place for the weak. The weak are collapsing, slaughtered, erased from history, and the strong, for better or for worse, are the ones who survive. The strong are respected, the strong enter into alliances, and ultimately the strong make peace."
Netanyahu also referred to the agreement between Iran and Syria saying, "the IDF will continue acting with full determination and with full might against Iran's attempts to station forces and advanced weapons systems in Syria, and no agreement between Syria and Iran will deter us, nor will any threat frighten us."
In addition, the prime minister addressed the Iranian presence in Syria: "We are working to prevent Iran's military entrenchment in Syria. We will not let go of this goal, just as we did not let go of the effort to bring about the cancellation of the nuclear deal with Iran, which was perceived as impossible when I first placed it on the international agenda a few years ago."
Referring to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments about Iran's economic struggles, the prime minister said: "We will continue to apply pressure on the dangerous and extremist regime in Iran. Just yesterday we saw the outcome of this pressure in the words of the Iranian president, who said that many people in Iran have lost their faith in the country's future and its power because of renewed economic sanctions," he concluded.
Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday, calling him a "warmonger," in reference to the prime minister's remarks during his speech at the Negev Nuclear Research Center.
"Iran, a country without nuclear weapons, is threatened with atomic annihilation by a warmonger standing next to an actual nuclear weapons factory. Beyond shameless is the gall," Zarif tweeted.
Earlier on Wednesday, during a ceremony to rename the Negev Nuclear Research Center after the late Israeli statesman Shimon Peres, Netanyahu warned the country's enemies that Israel has the means to destroy them. "Those who threaten to wipe Israel out, put themselves in a similar danger, and in any event will not achieve their goal."
"Our enemies know very well what Israel is capable of, they know our policy, and anyone who tries to harm us—we will harm them," the prime minister added.
Netanyahu stressed the necessity for Israel to stand strong in the face of its enemies. "In the Middle East, and in many parts of the world, there is a simple truth—there is no place for the weak. The weak are collapsing, slaughtered, erased from history, and the strong, for better or for worse, are the ones who survive. The strong are respected, the strong enter into alliances, and ultimately the strong make peace."
Netanyahu also referred to the agreement between Iran and Syria saying, "the IDF will continue acting with full determination and with full might against Iran's attempts to station forces and advanced weapons systems in Syria, and no agreement between Syria and Iran will deter us, nor will any threat frighten us."
In addition, the prime minister addressed the Iranian presence in Syria: "We are working to prevent Iran's military entrenchment in Syria. We will not let go of this goal, just as we did not let go of the effort to bring about the cancellation of the nuclear deal with Iran, which was perceived as impossible when I first placed it on the international agenda a few years ago."
Referring to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments about Iran's economic struggles, the prime minister said: "We will continue to apply pressure on the dangerous and extremist regime in Iran. Just yesterday we saw the outcome of this pressure in the words of the Iranian president, who said that many people in Iran have lost their faith in the country's future and its power because of renewed economic sanctions," he concluded.
|
Speaking at renaming ceremony of the Negev Nuclear Research Center, PM says: ‘anyone who tries to harm us will be harmed'; Referring to the Iran-Syria deal: 'We are determined to prevent Iran's military buildup in Syria, no agreement will deter us.’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona on Wednesday and warned the country's enemies that Israel has the means to destroy them, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to the country's assumed nuclear arsenal. "Those who threaten to wipe us out, put themselves in a similar danger, and in any event will not achieve their goal," the prime minister said during |
a ceremony to rename the nuclear research center after the late Israeli statesman Shimon Peres.
"Our enemies know very well what Israel is capable of, they know our policy, and anyone who tries to harm us—we will harm them," Netanyahu added.
The prime minister stressed the necessity for Israel to stand strong in the face of its enemies: "In the Middle East, and in many parts of the world, there is a simple truth: there is no place for the weak. The weak are collapsing, slaughtered, erased from history; and the strong, for better or for worse, are the ones who survive. The strong are respected, the strong enter into alliances, and ultimately the strong make peace."
Netanyahu also referred to the agreement between Iran and Syria saying,"the IDF will continue acting with full determination and with full might against Iran's attempts to station forces and advanced weapons systems in Syria, and no agreement between Syria and Iran will deter us, nor will any threat frighten us."
“We are working to prevent Iran's military buildup in Syria. We will not let go of this goal, just as we did not let go of the effort to bring about the cancellation of the nuclear agreement with Iran, which was perceived as impossible when I first placed it on the international agenda a few years ago," he added.
Israel has carried out scores of attacks against suspected Iranian and Hezbollah emplacements or arms transfers in Syria, while Russia, Damascus's big-power backer, has turned a blind eye.
The prime minister credited the Peres, his predecessor and a Nobel Peace laureate, with setting up the nuclear reactor in the 1950's as part of a vision of "normalization between core countries in the Arab world and the State of Israe.l"
"On the political level, we will continue to apply pressure against the dangerous and extremist regime in Iran. Only yesterday we saw the fruits of this pressure in the words of the Iranian president, who said that many Iranians have lost faith in Iran's future and its strength because of the renewed economic sanctions," he added.
The prime minister also discussed the deepening relations with the moderate Arab states: "The process of normalization of major Arab countries with the strong State of Israel is happening before our very eyes, on a scale that would have been impossible to imagine just a few years ago; a process that will hopefully result in peace. But it is impossible to deny the fact that there remain many enemies in this region and beyond.
“I am not merely using empty slogans, I am describing a consistent, clear and determined policy. This is our strategy and it is backed up with appropriate preparation and ready for the moment an order is issued," Netanyahu concluded.
"Our enemies know very well what Israel is capable of, they know our policy, and anyone who tries to harm us—we will harm them," Netanyahu added.
The prime minister stressed the necessity for Israel to stand strong in the face of its enemies: "In the Middle East, and in many parts of the world, there is a simple truth: there is no place for the weak. The weak are collapsing, slaughtered, erased from history; and the strong, for better or for worse, are the ones who survive. The strong are respected, the strong enter into alliances, and ultimately the strong make peace."
Netanyahu also referred to the agreement between Iran and Syria saying,"the IDF will continue acting with full determination and with full might against Iran's attempts to station forces and advanced weapons systems in Syria, and no agreement between Syria and Iran will deter us, nor will any threat frighten us."
“We are working to prevent Iran's military buildup in Syria. We will not let go of this goal, just as we did not let go of the effort to bring about the cancellation of the nuclear agreement with Iran, which was perceived as impossible when I first placed it on the international agenda a few years ago," he added.
Israel has carried out scores of attacks against suspected Iranian and Hezbollah emplacements or arms transfers in Syria, while Russia, Damascus's big-power backer, has turned a blind eye.
The prime minister credited the Peres, his predecessor and a Nobel Peace laureate, with setting up the nuclear reactor in the 1950's as part of a vision of "normalization between core countries in the Arab world and the State of Israe.l"
"On the political level, we will continue to apply pressure against the dangerous and extremist regime in Iran. Only yesterday we saw the fruits of this pressure in the words of the Iranian president, who said that many Iranians have lost faith in Iran's future and its strength because of the renewed economic sanctions," he added.
The prime minister also discussed the deepening relations with the moderate Arab states: "The process of normalization of major Arab countries with the strong State of Israel is happening before our very eyes, on a scale that would have been impossible to imagine just a few years ago; a process that will hopefully result in peace. But it is impossible to deny the fact that there remain many enemies in this region and beyond.
“I am not merely using empty slogans, I am describing a consistent, clear and determined policy. This is our strategy and it is backed up with appropriate preparation and ready for the moment an order is issued," Netanyahu concluded.