1 june 2019
Protesters, including Lebanese nationals and Palestinian refugees, wave Palestinian and Lebanese flags during a demonstration in the medieval Beaufort Castle, known in Arabic as al-Shaqif Citadel, near Arnoun, Lebanon, May 15, 2018
US President Donald Trump's "the deal of the century" wants Palestinian refugees to be naturalized and settled in several countries, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq, Israeli daily Haaretz reports.
As the world marked the International Quds Day on Friday, political leaders warned of mysterious aspects of the much-touted US plan and its ramifications for the future of Palestinians.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said one definite prospect is that the plan seeks to do away with the issue of returning 6 million refugees to their homeland.
"To realize this goal, America is about to arrange an economic deal and get its money from the miserable Persian Gulf countries," he said in Tehran.
Haaretz said Washington is thought to be pressing Lebanon to grant citizenship to Palestinian refugees living in the country.
"In the process, this is seen as defusing the issue of a right of return of refugees to Israel, which has been a major obstacle to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the paper said.
According to UNRWA, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, about 450,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon.
Other reports have put the figure lower, prompting Lebanese groups to say that the census had been conducted under US pressure designed to underreport the real numbers because that way Lebanon could absorb a modest-sized population.
The Lebanese constitution, however, provides that the country's territory is indivisible and that refugees living there are not to receive citizenship.
The official reason for this is that the absorption of Palestinian refugees would impair their claim to a right of return.
However, the US has sugarcoated the plan with a lifeline to extract Lebanon from its economic crisis, where the country's debt is estimated at more than $85 billion (about 155 percent of GDP), Haaretz said.
According to the Israeli paper, giving Palestinians citizenship is likely to prompt the roughly 1 million Syrian refugees in the country to demand similar status.
However, Lebanon isn't the only country concerned about Washington dictating a solution to the refugee problem.
Jordan is horrified over the prospect that the United States will demand it absorb hundreds of thousands or even a million Palestinian refugees in the country, Haaretz added.
The paper cited investigative journalist Vicky Ward recounting in her new book "Kushner Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption" that the Trump administration's plan sees Jordan providing territory to the Palestinians and receiving Saudi territory in return.
The Saudis, for their part, would get the islands of Sanafir and Tiran from Egypt, it said.
"Land swaps appear to be the magic formula that the Trump administration has adopted, and not just for Jordan," Haaretz said.
According to Ward, it has been suggested that Egypt give up territory along the Sinai coast between Gaza and el-Arish, to which some of the Gaza population would be transferred. In return, Israel would give Egypt territory of equivalent size in the western Negev.
Haaretz, meanwhile, revealed lucrative projects to be funded by European countries, the US and wealthy Arab states, including an underwater tunnel which Israel would allow to be dug between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Egypt, the paper said, has been promised a whopping $65 billion to help boost its economy which is currently in shambles.
The plan also says Palestinian refugees in Syria, Iraq and other Arab countries would receive citizenship in exchange for generous assistance to the host countries.
The Israeli paper, however, cast doubt on the viability of the "plan of generous financial compensation and empty tracts of land for new housing".
"The problem is that the Palestinian refugees are the supreme symbols of Palestinian nationhood," it said.
"An American deal that blatantly relies on buying up that symbol for cash, even lots of it, can't be acceptable to the Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza," it added.
The Trump administration is set to unveil the economic portion of the so-called “deal of the century” during a conference in Manama, Bahrain, on June 25-26.
All Palestinian factions have boycotted the event, accusing Washington of offering financial rewards for accepting the Israeli occupation.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have said they will send delegations to the Manama forum and Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has said he intends to attend.
US President Donald Trump's "the deal of the century" wants Palestinian refugees to be naturalized and settled in several countries, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq, Israeli daily Haaretz reports.
As the world marked the International Quds Day on Friday, political leaders warned of mysterious aspects of the much-touted US plan and its ramifications for the future of Palestinians.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said one definite prospect is that the plan seeks to do away with the issue of returning 6 million refugees to their homeland.
"To realize this goal, America is about to arrange an economic deal and get its money from the miserable Persian Gulf countries," he said in Tehran.
Haaretz said Washington is thought to be pressing Lebanon to grant citizenship to Palestinian refugees living in the country.
"In the process, this is seen as defusing the issue of a right of return of refugees to Israel, which has been a major obstacle to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the paper said.
According to UNRWA, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, about 450,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon.
Other reports have put the figure lower, prompting Lebanese groups to say that the census had been conducted under US pressure designed to underreport the real numbers because that way Lebanon could absorb a modest-sized population.
The Lebanese constitution, however, provides that the country's territory is indivisible and that refugees living there are not to receive citizenship.
The official reason for this is that the absorption of Palestinian refugees would impair their claim to a right of return.
However, the US has sugarcoated the plan with a lifeline to extract Lebanon from its economic crisis, where the country's debt is estimated at more than $85 billion (about 155 percent of GDP), Haaretz said.
According to the Israeli paper, giving Palestinians citizenship is likely to prompt the roughly 1 million Syrian refugees in the country to demand similar status.
However, Lebanon isn't the only country concerned about Washington dictating a solution to the refugee problem.
Jordan is horrified over the prospect that the United States will demand it absorb hundreds of thousands or even a million Palestinian refugees in the country, Haaretz added.
The paper cited investigative journalist Vicky Ward recounting in her new book "Kushner Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption" that the Trump administration's plan sees Jordan providing territory to the Palestinians and receiving Saudi territory in return.
The Saudis, for their part, would get the islands of Sanafir and Tiran from Egypt, it said.
"Land swaps appear to be the magic formula that the Trump administration has adopted, and not just for Jordan," Haaretz said.
According to Ward, it has been suggested that Egypt give up territory along the Sinai coast between Gaza and el-Arish, to which some of the Gaza population would be transferred. In return, Israel would give Egypt territory of equivalent size in the western Negev.
Haaretz, meanwhile, revealed lucrative projects to be funded by European countries, the US and wealthy Arab states, including an underwater tunnel which Israel would allow to be dug between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Egypt, the paper said, has been promised a whopping $65 billion to help boost its economy which is currently in shambles.
The plan also says Palestinian refugees in Syria, Iraq and other Arab countries would receive citizenship in exchange for generous assistance to the host countries.
The Israeli paper, however, cast doubt on the viability of the "plan of generous financial compensation and empty tracts of land for new housing".
"The problem is that the Palestinian refugees are the supreme symbols of Palestinian nationhood," it said.
"An American deal that blatantly relies on buying up that symbol for cash, even lots of it, can't be acceptable to the Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza," it added.
The Trump administration is set to unveil the economic portion of the so-called “deal of the century” during a conference in Manama, Bahrain, on June 25-26.
All Palestinian factions have boycotted the event, accusing Washington of offering financial rewards for accepting the Israeli occupation.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have said they will send delegations to the Manama forum and Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has said he intends to attend.
27 may 2019
Lebanon's Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 15, 2018
Amazon has removed a book written by Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem from its bookstore under Israeli pressure after UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis recommended it as “a necessary reading.”
The American company removed the book from its sales sites in the US and all over the world after Haim Iserovich, a reporter from the Hebrew-language Maariv daily, asked for its withdrawal.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Maariv’s sister paper Iserovich first started investigating the book after Kubis met Qassem and praised his book last week.
Kubis wrote on Twitter on May 20 that he was “grateful for an open and substantive discussion on a broad range of topics with Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem of Hezbollah. On top I received a copy of his book — a necessary reading.”
Kubis’ remark angered Tel Aviv. “We are shocked and disappointed by this meeting,” the regime's foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted.
The UN official did not specify which of the Hezbollah official's 11 books he had received, but Iserovich found that at least one of these books - “Hizbullah (Hezbollah): The Story from Within” - was being sold by Amazon.
The Maariv reporter noted that the book says Zionism violates the most basic human rights and that “Zionists took over Palestinian land, carrying out aggression against a peaceful Palestinian people.”
The reporter said that the promotion of the book on Amazon.com violates the US sanctions imposed on Qassem, which ban US citizens and businesses from having any financial contact with him.
The US has long labeled Hezbollah as a “terrorist organization”.
In May 2018, the US and Persian Gulf allies imposed additional sanctions on the Hezbollah leadership, targeting the group’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy as well as three other officials with the movement.
Hezbollah was established following the 1982 Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon.
The movement waged a resistance campaign against Israeli forces and pushed them out of southern Lebanon in May 2000.
Since then, the group has grown into a powerful military force. Israel also suffered a humiliating defeat from Hezbollah during a 33-day war in July 2006.
Amazon has removed a book written by Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem from its bookstore under Israeli pressure after UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis recommended it as “a necessary reading.”
The American company removed the book from its sales sites in the US and all over the world after Haim Iserovich, a reporter from the Hebrew-language Maariv daily, asked for its withdrawal.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Maariv’s sister paper Iserovich first started investigating the book after Kubis met Qassem and praised his book last week.
Kubis wrote on Twitter on May 20 that he was “grateful for an open and substantive discussion on a broad range of topics with Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem of Hezbollah. On top I received a copy of his book — a necessary reading.”
Kubis’ remark angered Tel Aviv. “We are shocked and disappointed by this meeting,” the regime's foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon tweeted.
The UN official did not specify which of the Hezbollah official's 11 books he had received, but Iserovich found that at least one of these books - “Hizbullah (Hezbollah): The Story from Within” - was being sold by Amazon.
The Maariv reporter noted that the book says Zionism violates the most basic human rights and that “Zionists took over Palestinian land, carrying out aggression against a peaceful Palestinian people.”
The reporter said that the promotion of the book on Amazon.com violates the US sanctions imposed on Qassem, which ban US citizens and businesses from having any financial contact with him.
The US has long labeled Hezbollah as a “terrorist organization”.
In May 2018, the US and Persian Gulf allies imposed additional sanctions on the Hezbollah leadership, targeting the group’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy as well as three other officials with the movement.
Hezbollah was established following the 1982 Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon.
The movement waged a resistance campaign against Israeli forces and pushed them out of southern Lebanon in May 2000.
Since then, the group has grown into a powerful military force. Israel also suffered a humiliating defeat from Hezbollah during a 33-day war in July 2006.
10 may 2019
“Lebanon would never survive if half a million Palestinian refugees and 1.6 million Syrian refugees remained in the country,” according to the Lebanese president, Michel Aoun.
Aoun’s remarks came during a meeting held at the presidential palace in Beirut, on Thursday evening, with a delegation from the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), headed by its Secretary-General, Souraya Bechealany.
Aoun called on the MECC to help the Lebanese government resolve the Syrian refugee issue “by persuading western countries to accept the refugees return to their countries as soon as possible.”
He also pointed out that “Israel has declared that the Palestinian refugees would remain where they are,” and warned that if the refugees remained in Lebanon, “its demographics would change completely.”
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said in a 2017 report that there are about 174,422 Palestinian refugees that currently live in 12 camps and 156 Palestinian communities across Lebanon’s five districts.
The UN, which runs services in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, considers them among the most crowded urban areas in the world.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon reached a total of 997,000 at the end of November 2017, excluding the Syrians who are not registered with UNHCR.
Aoun’s remarks came during a meeting held at the presidential palace in Beirut, on Thursday evening, with a delegation from the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), headed by its Secretary-General, Souraya Bechealany.
Aoun called on the MECC to help the Lebanese government resolve the Syrian refugee issue “by persuading western countries to accept the refugees return to their countries as soon as possible.”
He also pointed out that “Israel has declared that the Palestinian refugees would remain where they are,” and warned that if the refugees remained in Lebanon, “its demographics would change completely.”
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said in a 2017 report that there are about 174,422 Palestinian refugees that currently live in 12 camps and 156 Palestinian communities across Lebanon’s five districts.
The UN, which runs services in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, considers them among the most crowded urban areas in the world.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon reached a total of 997,000 at the end of November 2017, excluding the Syrians who are not registered with UNHCR.
7 feb 2019
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has warned that Israel may deplete his country’s potential offshore oil and gas reserves after the Tel Aviv regime awarded energy exploration licenses near a disputed maritime boundary in Mediterranean waters.
Speaking after a meeting with visiting Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in Beirut on Thursday, Berri said Israel has “licensed two companies to start drilling by April 2020 at most,” warning that the move threatened “to drain a whole basin" and a large part of Lebanon's oil wealth before the country even starts to drill.
The senior Lebanese legislator went on to say that he had raised the issue with the Italian prime minister earlier in the day, and the latter “had shown readiness to back Lebanon up on all fronts.”
The speaker said it was important to warn Italian energy company Eni of the Israeli “violations” against Block 9.
Berri further noted that he is going to raise the matter with French President Emmanuel Macron that how Israel is seeking to steal Lebanon’s oil.
On Wednesday, Lebanon's parliament speaker said the Israeli regime was violating Lebanon's sovereignty in a “dangerous” manner by licensing a company to "exploit an area" for oil and gas resources near a disputed sliver of water.
“(It is) a dangerous matter. Israel has licensed and exploited an area adjacent to the Lebanese southern maritime borders," Berri was quoted by lawmakers from Amal party as saying on Wednesday after a meeting.
"This is an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty and targets our oil wealth and waters," he added.
Ali Bazzi, an Amal lawmaker, said Israel pressed on with the "violation" despite the fact that the firms on the Lebanese side have stayed away from the disputed border.
The Lebanese government announced in February last year that it had signed gas exploration and production contracts for two energy blocks, including the disputed Block 9, with a consortium of France's Total, Italian Eni and Russia's Novatek oil and gas companies.
Back in December 2017, the cabinet of Prime Minister Saad Hariri granted licenses to a consortium of three international companies to carry out exploratory drilling in Lebanon’s Block 4 and Block 9 and determine whether they contain oil and gas reserves.
Israeli officials, who claim sovereignty over Block 9, reacted angrily to the announcement.
Lebanon's Berri says Israel oil exploration in disputed waters 'dangerous'
Speaking after a meeting with visiting Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in Beirut on Thursday, Berri said Israel has “licensed two companies to start drilling by April 2020 at most,” warning that the move threatened “to drain a whole basin" and a large part of Lebanon's oil wealth before the country even starts to drill.
The senior Lebanese legislator went on to say that he had raised the issue with the Italian prime minister earlier in the day, and the latter “had shown readiness to back Lebanon up on all fronts.”
The speaker said it was important to warn Italian energy company Eni of the Israeli “violations” against Block 9.
Berri further noted that he is going to raise the matter with French President Emmanuel Macron that how Israel is seeking to steal Lebanon’s oil.
On Wednesday, Lebanon's parliament speaker said the Israeli regime was violating Lebanon's sovereignty in a “dangerous” manner by licensing a company to "exploit an area" for oil and gas resources near a disputed sliver of water.
“(It is) a dangerous matter. Israel has licensed and exploited an area adjacent to the Lebanese southern maritime borders," Berri was quoted by lawmakers from Amal party as saying on Wednesday after a meeting.
"This is an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty and targets our oil wealth and waters," he added.
Ali Bazzi, an Amal lawmaker, said Israel pressed on with the "violation" despite the fact that the firms on the Lebanese side have stayed away from the disputed border.
The Lebanese government announced in February last year that it had signed gas exploration and production contracts for two energy blocks, including the disputed Block 9, with a consortium of France's Total, Italian Eni and Russia's Novatek oil and gas companies.
Back in December 2017, the cabinet of Prime Minister Saad Hariri granted licenses to a consortium of three international companies to carry out exploratory drilling in Lebanon’s Block 4 and Block 9 and determine whether they contain oil and gas reserves.
Israeli officials, who claim sovereignty over Block 9, reacted angrily to the announcement.
Lebanon's Berri says Israel oil exploration in disputed waters 'dangerous'
The Israeli army arrested a Lebanese national on Wednesday evening for illegally crossing the border between Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 and Lebanon.
“The army arrested the suspect for infiltrating Israel from Lebanon," Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said in a statement quoted by Anadolu News Agency.
The Lebanese citizen whose name was not given was arrested as he attempted to creep into Israeli-occupied territories.
The Lebanese national's reason for crossing the border remains unclear.
In recent months, the Israeli army has waged a wide-ranging campaign along the Lebanese border with aim of uncovering alleged tunnels believed to have been dug by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
“The army arrested the suspect for infiltrating Israel from Lebanon," Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said in a statement quoted by Anadolu News Agency.
The Lebanese citizen whose name was not given was arrested as he attempted to creep into Israeli-occupied territories.
The Lebanese national's reason for crossing the border remains unclear.
In recent months, the Israeli army has waged a wide-ranging campaign along the Lebanese border with aim of uncovering alleged tunnels believed to have been dug by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
23 jan 2019
|
The Lebanese security authorities on Tuesday announced the arrest of a person accused of being involved in the attempted assassination of a senior Hamas official in early 2018.
In a statement, the Lebanese army said that the intelligence directorate was able to arrest, on January 21, 2019 in Sharhabil area of Sidon city, Hussein Ahmed Battu, whose mission was to monitor and gather information about Hamas official Mohamed Hamdan before the failed attempt to assassinate him on January 14, 2018 through detonating his car. According to the army’s statement, the detainee confessed to working as a spy for the Israeli intelligence apparatus, Mossad, since 2014 and that he met with his handlers outside Lebanon and received from them equipment |
he used to monitor the Hamas official.
He also confessed that he started to monitor Hamdan in the summer of 2017 and provided his handlers with the needed information that led up to the day when another group was assigned by the Mossad to assassinate the target.
He also confessed that he started to monitor Hamdan in the summer of 2017 and provided his handlers with the needed information that led up to the day when another group was assigned by the Mossad to assassinate the target.
22 jan 2019
IDF strike on Iranian targets in Syria, January 2019
Opinion: Just like last May, the IDF set up the Iranians in Syria with a well-laid plan to take out their military installations, but while it celebrates this achievement, it should also beware of unforeseen consequences.
Iran's Ra'ad was originally a medium-range rocket, upgraded and equipped with navigation and guidance systems. It comes from a family of upgraded rockets that are at the center of a determined campaign by Israel to prevent high quality munitions from reaching Hezbollah.
Sunday's rocket fire at Mount Hermon revealed the fact that the Iranians are apparently holding an arsenal of Ra'ads in Syria. And despite the bombing raids by the Israel Air Force, there remains the concern that some of these missiles may yet reach – or have already reached – their destination in Lebanon, which would lead to a fundamental change in the threat from the north. For while only one rocket was fired on Sunday, that was likely down to the limitations on this particular model and its truck-mounted launcher.
But the Iranians have again fallen into a well-hidden trap laid by Israel: The events of the past two days are an almost exact replica of Operation House of Cards from May 2018. In both cases, the Iranians tried to punish Israel for bombing Revolutionary Guards targets in Syria.
In Operation House of Cards, Israel tracked Iran's preparations to avenge the killing of Iranian soldiers at a Syrian airport on February 4, 2018. It took the Iranians three months to organize the plan, all the while under the watchful eye of Israel. And in early May, Israel carried out its preliminary attack at al-Kiswah base near Damascus, ostensibly to destroy missiles aimed at its territory.
After the attack, the Iranians had no option but to respond, launching rockets a few days later from the Damascus region towards the Golan Heights.
Israel had stage-managed this chain of events thanks to its intelligence. The Iranian rockets did not cause any damage, but did provide a pretext as well as legitimacy for what followed: Israel used its own response to the Iranian violation of its sovereignty to eliminate the bulk of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria in one fell swoop. The Iranians fell for Israel's poker face.
This sequence played out again over last two days: At the end of December, Israel reportedly attacked Damascus airport, killing a number of Iranian fighters. And in this instance too, the Iranians plotted their revenge under Israel's watchful eye, setting up a surface-to-surface missile in an autonomous Iranian area among Syrian bases in al-Kiswah.
On Sunday, just as in the first attack in May, the Israel Air Force struck the area. The Iranians, just as in the first attack in May, were pushed into a pre-planned response, firing their missile at Mount Hermon. Israel had predicted this response, and had an Iron Dome battery in place to shoot down the rocket. It also used this attack as an opportunity for "revenge". Just as in the first attack in May, the Syrians reported parallel air and surface-to-surface strikes on targets in Damascus, several hours later and under the cover of darkness.
Despite Israel's apparent control of the situation, a sense of failure could well make Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Quds Force in Syria, respond irrationally. The Iranians in Syria are at a disadvantage to Israel – and the only way it can harm Israel from Syria is through terrorism. Indeed, the rocket fire on Mount Hermon is a form of targeted terrorist attack, inasmuch as it was an attempt to kill as many Israelis as possible and to damage national morale. Iran can launch terror attacks from the Syrian border through its proxies or within Israel via Palestinian cells in Gaza and the West Bank. But here too, its infrastructure is capable of major impact.
Iran views terror attacks against Israeli targets abroad as problematic in light of its sensitive relations with European countries. But it could conduct an effective campaign against Israel from the Lebanese front through Hezbollah, or from Iran or western Iraq. Yet all of these options, in particular the Lebanon option, would be a declaration of war on Israel that a country like Lebanon simply cannot afford.
Opinion: Just like last May, the IDF set up the Iranians in Syria with a well-laid plan to take out their military installations, but while it celebrates this achievement, it should also beware of unforeseen consequences.
Iran's Ra'ad was originally a medium-range rocket, upgraded and equipped with navigation and guidance systems. It comes from a family of upgraded rockets that are at the center of a determined campaign by Israel to prevent high quality munitions from reaching Hezbollah.
Sunday's rocket fire at Mount Hermon revealed the fact that the Iranians are apparently holding an arsenal of Ra'ads in Syria. And despite the bombing raids by the Israel Air Force, there remains the concern that some of these missiles may yet reach – or have already reached – their destination in Lebanon, which would lead to a fundamental change in the threat from the north. For while only one rocket was fired on Sunday, that was likely down to the limitations on this particular model and its truck-mounted launcher.
But the Iranians have again fallen into a well-hidden trap laid by Israel: The events of the past two days are an almost exact replica of Operation House of Cards from May 2018. In both cases, the Iranians tried to punish Israel for bombing Revolutionary Guards targets in Syria.
In Operation House of Cards, Israel tracked Iran's preparations to avenge the killing of Iranian soldiers at a Syrian airport on February 4, 2018. It took the Iranians three months to organize the plan, all the while under the watchful eye of Israel. And in early May, Israel carried out its preliminary attack at al-Kiswah base near Damascus, ostensibly to destroy missiles aimed at its territory.
After the attack, the Iranians had no option but to respond, launching rockets a few days later from the Damascus region towards the Golan Heights.
Israel had stage-managed this chain of events thanks to its intelligence. The Iranian rockets did not cause any damage, but did provide a pretext as well as legitimacy for what followed: Israel used its own response to the Iranian violation of its sovereignty to eliminate the bulk of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria in one fell swoop. The Iranians fell for Israel's poker face.
This sequence played out again over last two days: At the end of December, Israel reportedly attacked Damascus airport, killing a number of Iranian fighters. And in this instance too, the Iranians plotted their revenge under Israel's watchful eye, setting up a surface-to-surface missile in an autonomous Iranian area among Syrian bases in al-Kiswah.
On Sunday, just as in the first attack in May, the Israel Air Force struck the area. The Iranians, just as in the first attack in May, were pushed into a pre-planned response, firing their missile at Mount Hermon. Israel had predicted this response, and had an Iron Dome battery in place to shoot down the rocket. It also used this attack as an opportunity for "revenge". Just as in the first attack in May, the Syrians reported parallel air and surface-to-surface strikes on targets in Damascus, several hours later and under the cover of darkness.
Despite Israel's apparent control of the situation, a sense of failure could well make Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Quds Force in Syria, respond irrationally. The Iranians in Syria are at a disadvantage to Israel – and the only way it can harm Israel from Syria is through terrorism. Indeed, the rocket fire on Mount Hermon is a form of targeted terrorist attack, inasmuch as it was an attempt to kill as many Israelis as possible and to damage national morale. Iran can launch terror attacks from the Syrian border through its proxies or within Israel via Palestinian cells in Gaza and the West Bank. But here too, its infrastructure is capable of major impact.
Iran views terror attacks against Israeli targets abroad as problematic in light of its sensitive relations with European countries. But it could conduct an effective campaign against Israel from the Lebanese front through Hezbollah, or from Iran or western Iraq. Yet all of these options, in particular the Lebanon option, would be a declaration of war on Israel that a country like Lebanon simply cannot afford.
13 jan 2019
The Israeli military claimed on Sunday that the sixth and final tunnel dug by Hezbollah for cross-border attacks has been unraveled by Israeli troops, saying it was wrapping up its operation along the Lebanese border.
The Israeli military spokesman said in a statement that the final tunnel was running from Ramyeh village, south of Lebanon, into Palestinian territory occupied in 1948.
Israel launched the “Operation Northern Shield” early last month to detect and destroy what it alleged is a vast network of Hezbollah tunnels aimed for militants to sneak across the border and carry out attacks.
The spokesman said the latest tunnel, originating from the Lebanese border town of Ramyeh, was 55 meters deep and ran 800 meters inside Lebanese territory and also “dozens” of meters into Israel. It included stairs, a rail system and a wide a passageway that allowed for the movement of equipment and a large number of forces.
The tunnel would be destroyed in the coming days, he said, adding that while more tunnels still existed on the Lebanese side of the border, this effectively marked the end of the military operation.
“We have achieved the goal that we set out to achieve a month and a half ago,” he said. “According to our intelligence, there are no longer any cross-border attack tunnels into Israel.”
He said the U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, had been updated on the latest development.
The military said its forces would stay deployed along the border area to monitor for any other possible underground activity, and said it holds the Lebanese government responsible for everything happening in its territory.
The Israeli military spokesman said in a statement that the final tunnel was running from Ramyeh village, south of Lebanon, into Palestinian territory occupied in 1948.
Israel launched the “Operation Northern Shield” early last month to detect and destroy what it alleged is a vast network of Hezbollah tunnels aimed for militants to sneak across the border and carry out attacks.
The spokesman said the latest tunnel, originating from the Lebanese border town of Ramyeh, was 55 meters deep and ran 800 meters inside Lebanese territory and also “dozens” of meters into Israel. It included stairs, a rail system and a wide a passageway that allowed for the movement of equipment and a large number of forces.
The tunnel would be destroyed in the coming days, he said, adding that while more tunnels still existed on the Lebanese side of the border, this effectively marked the end of the military operation.
“We have achieved the goal that we set out to achieve a month and a half ago,” he said. “According to our intelligence, there are no longer any cross-border attack tunnels into Israel.”
He said the U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, had been updated on the latest development.
The military said its forces would stay deployed along the border area to monitor for any other possible underground activity, and said it holds the Lebanese government responsible for everything happening in its territory.
12 jan 2019
Syrian state news agency says Israeli jets hit ammunition warehouse at Damascus airport, adding most Israeli missiles intercepted by Syrian air defenses; Syrian Observatory says Israel also targeted Hezbollah missile deport in Al-Kiswah area.
Syrian air defenses intercepted missiles reportedly fired by Israeli fighter jets on Friday night, according to state news agency SANA, causing damage but no casualties.
SANA reported that "over eight targets" exploded over the capital of Damascus, saying Syrian air defenses intercepted most of the Israeli missiles.
An ammunition warehouse at the Damascus airport was reportedly hit, but a Syrian Transport Ministry official said to SANA airport activity continues as normal.
"At 11:15 before midnight Israeli warplanes coming from Al-Jalil area launched many missiles towards Damascus area and our air defenses intercepted them and downed most of them," a Syrian military source said to SANA.
Syrian state media broadcast footage of what it said were the air defenses firing, with bright lights seen shooting across the night sky. Explosions were heard in one of the videos.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the attack targeted missile depots that belong to Hezbollah in the Al-Kiswah area as well as the Damascus airport.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the attack was broader than usual, targeting areas ranging from the eastern Damascus suburb of Dmeir to Al-Kiswah south of capital all the way to the village of Dimas in the west near the Lebanon border. It also said Israeli fighter jets were also operating in Lebanese airspace.
Israel has mounted attacks in Syria as part of its effort to counter the influence carved out there by Iran, which has supported President Bashar Assad in the war that erupted in 2011.
The last Israeli attack reported by Syrian state media was on December 25, when a missile attack wounded three Syrian soldiers. It was the most extensive airstrike since a Russian intelligence plane was accidentally shot down during an Israeli strike.
An Israeli official said the air force had attacked several Iranian targets in three main locations. He said the targets were primarily storage and logistics facilities used by Iran to ship weapons to Hezbollah.
Russia criticized Israel's "provocative" strike, saying it directly threatened two civilian flights. Russia's Ministry of Defense, which did not specify which flights had been threatened, added that Syrian air defenses had destroyed 14 of 16 Israeli missiles launched by six F-16 jets against unspecified targets near Damascus.
Lebanon's acting Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos confirmed Russia's account, saying the two airplanes in Lebanese airspace "narrowly" escaped Israeli warplanes, averting a "human catastrophe." Fenianos said Lebanon will present a complaint to the UN Security Council.
Russia said the Syrian military didn't fully engage its air defense assets to avoid accidentally hitting the passenger jets, adding that Syrian air traffic controllers redirected the Damascus-bound plane to a Russian air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.
An Israeli official said it was Syrian air defenses that endangered the civilian planes, by firing 30 missiles in response to the airstrike. He also said that Iranian forces are operating less than 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Israeli border, contrary to Russian assurances.
A senior Israeli official said in September Israel had carried out more than 200 attacks against Iranian targets in Syria in the last two years.
Syrian air defenses intercepted missiles reportedly fired by Israeli fighter jets on Friday night, according to state news agency SANA, causing damage but no casualties.
SANA reported that "over eight targets" exploded over the capital of Damascus, saying Syrian air defenses intercepted most of the Israeli missiles.
An ammunition warehouse at the Damascus airport was reportedly hit, but a Syrian Transport Ministry official said to SANA airport activity continues as normal.
"At 11:15 before midnight Israeli warplanes coming from Al-Jalil area launched many missiles towards Damascus area and our air defenses intercepted them and downed most of them," a Syrian military source said to SANA.
Syrian state media broadcast footage of what it said were the air defenses firing, with bright lights seen shooting across the night sky. Explosions were heard in one of the videos.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the attack targeted missile depots that belong to Hezbollah in the Al-Kiswah area as well as the Damascus airport.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the attack was broader than usual, targeting areas ranging from the eastern Damascus suburb of Dmeir to Al-Kiswah south of capital all the way to the village of Dimas in the west near the Lebanon border. It also said Israeli fighter jets were also operating in Lebanese airspace.
Israel has mounted attacks in Syria as part of its effort to counter the influence carved out there by Iran, which has supported President Bashar Assad in the war that erupted in 2011.
The last Israeli attack reported by Syrian state media was on December 25, when a missile attack wounded three Syrian soldiers. It was the most extensive airstrike since a Russian intelligence plane was accidentally shot down during an Israeli strike.
An Israeli official said the air force had attacked several Iranian targets in three main locations. He said the targets were primarily storage and logistics facilities used by Iran to ship weapons to Hezbollah.
Russia criticized Israel's "provocative" strike, saying it directly threatened two civilian flights. Russia's Ministry of Defense, which did not specify which flights had been threatened, added that Syrian air defenses had destroyed 14 of 16 Israeli missiles launched by six F-16 jets against unspecified targets near Damascus.
Lebanon's acting Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos confirmed Russia's account, saying the two airplanes in Lebanese airspace "narrowly" escaped Israeli warplanes, averting a "human catastrophe." Fenianos said Lebanon will present a complaint to the UN Security Council.
Russia said the Syrian military didn't fully engage its air defense assets to avoid accidentally hitting the passenger jets, adding that Syrian air traffic controllers redirected the Damascus-bound plane to a Russian air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.
An Israeli official said it was Syrian air defenses that endangered the civilian planes, by firing 30 missiles in response to the airstrike. He also said that Iranian forces are operating less than 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Israeli border, contrary to Russian assurances.
A senior Israeli official said in September Israel had carried out more than 200 attacks against Iranian targets in Syria in the last two years.
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