5 may 2020
The Syrian state news agency SANA said the Syrian air defenses last night thwarted an Israeli missile attack on a research center in the northwestern province of Aleppo.
According to SANA, an Israeli warplane attacked military depots in Safirah area in the eastern Aleppo countryside. Syrian air defenses were also activated in response.
Efforts have started to assess the damage and losses that happened during the airstrikes, SANA added.
For years, the areas controlled by the Syrian regime have been under repeated Israeli attacks.
Syrian army says Israeli jets hit military outposts in Aleppo province
Syrian air defenses thwarted an Israeli missile attack on a research center and a military base in the northern province of Aleppo, Syrian state media said overnight Tuesday after the fifth such strike within the span of two weeks on suspected Iranian targets in the war-torn country.
The Syrian army said in a statement that Israel hit military barracks in the city of al-Safirah in the eastern Aleppo countryside. Earlier, state television had said a research center was targeted. The army said it was now assessing the damage caused by the strikes.
A regional intelligence source said Israel was stepping up raids in Syria at a time when world attention and the region, including Syria, were distracted by the coronavirus pandemic.
An Israeli army spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.
Western intelligence sources say Iranian-backed militias have long been entrenched in Aleppo province where they have bases and a command center and installed advanced weapons, part of a growing presence across government-controlled Syria.
The Scientific Studies and Research Center is one of several facilities where Western intelligence and opposition sources suspect Syria, with the help of Iranian researchers, works on developing chemical weapons they accuse Syria of having used against civilians in rebel-held areas.
Damascus and its ally, Moscow, deny they have used chemical weapons that have killed hundreds of civilians in the course of the nine-year conflict and blame jihadist rebels for such attacks.
Israel has previously struck several military research facilities believed to have been centers for chemical and biological weapons.
Israeli helicopters fired several rockets from the Golan Heights on targets inside southern Syria known to be a base for Lebanon's Hezbollah terror group, intelligence sources said.
The Syrian government does not say Iranian bases are targeted when it announces details of Israeli raids.
Major blasts in an ammunition depot near Homs city on the same day were also believed to be from an Israeli strike, a war monitor and intelligence sources said.
Israel has acknowledged in recent years it has conducted many raids inside Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011 where it sees Iran's presence as a strategic threat.
Regional intelligence sources say that Israel's escalating strikes on Syria are part of a shadow war sanctioned by Washington and part of the anti-Iran policy that has undermined in the last two years Iran's extensive military power without triggering a major escalation.
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett told Israeli media last week that Israel would step up its campaign against Iran in Syria.
Separately, a regional intelligence source said Israeli jets are believed to have hit Iranian-backed militias entrenched in the border town of Albukamal near the border with Iraq where Iraqi Shi'ite paramilitary groups have a strong foothold.
The U.S. military last January struck Iran-backed militia groups in areas in Iraq and Syria along that border area in what U.S. officials then said was a response to escalating provocations from Iran.
Iran's support, alongside Russia, has helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turn the tide against a military opposition that had seized large tracts of territory and sought to overthrow his authoritarian rule.
According to SANA, an Israeli warplane attacked military depots in Safirah area in the eastern Aleppo countryside. Syrian air defenses were also activated in response.
Efforts have started to assess the damage and losses that happened during the airstrikes, SANA added.
For years, the areas controlled by the Syrian regime have been under repeated Israeli attacks.
Syrian army says Israeli jets hit military outposts in Aleppo province
Syrian air defenses thwarted an Israeli missile attack on a research center and a military base in the northern province of Aleppo, Syrian state media said overnight Tuesday after the fifth such strike within the span of two weeks on suspected Iranian targets in the war-torn country.
The Syrian army said in a statement that Israel hit military barracks in the city of al-Safirah in the eastern Aleppo countryside. Earlier, state television had said a research center was targeted. The army said it was now assessing the damage caused by the strikes.
A regional intelligence source said Israel was stepping up raids in Syria at a time when world attention and the region, including Syria, were distracted by the coronavirus pandemic.
An Israeli army spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.
Western intelligence sources say Iranian-backed militias have long been entrenched in Aleppo province where they have bases and a command center and installed advanced weapons, part of a growing presence across government-controlled Syria.
The Scientific Studies and Research Center is one of several facilities where Western intelligence and opposition sources suspect Syria, with the help of Iranian researchers, works on developing chemical weapons they accuse Syria of having used against civilians in rebel-held areas.
Damascus and its ally, Moscow, deny they have used chemical weapons that have killed hundreds of civilians in the course of the nine-year conflict and blame jihadist rebels for such attacks.
Israel has previously struck several military research facilities believed to have been centers for chemical and biological weapons.
Israeli helicopters fired several rockets from the Golan Heights on targets inside southern Syria known to be a base for Lebanon's Hezbollah terror group, intelligence sources said.
The Syrian government does not say Iranian bases are targeted when it announces details of Israeli raids.
Major blasts in an ammunition depot near Homs city on the same day were also believed to be from an Israeli strike, a war monitor and intelligence sources said.
Israel has acknowledged in recent years it has conducted many raids inside Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011 where it sees Iran's presence as a strategic threat.
Regional intelligence sources say that Israel's escalating strikes on Syria are part of a shadow war sanctioned by Washington and part of the anti-Iran policy that has undermined in the last two years Iran's extensive military power without triggering a major escalation.
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett told Israeli media last week that Israel would step up its campaign against Iran in Syria.
Separately, a regional intelligence source said Israeli jets are believed to have hit Iranian-backed militias entrenched in the border town of Albukamal near the border with Iraq where Iraqi Shi'ite paramilitary groups have a strong foothold.
The U.S. military last January struck Iran-backed militia groups in areas in Iraq and Syria along that border area in what U.S. officials then said was a response to escalating provocations from Iran.
Iran's support, alongside Russia, has helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turn the tide against a military opposition that had seized large tracts of territory and sought to overthrow his authoritarian rule.
1 may 2020
Israel was stepping up its raids on pro-Iranian targets in Syria at a time when world attention and the region, including Syria, was distracted with tackling coronavirus, a regional intelligence source said; Israel regards Iran as its biggest threat
Israeli helicopters fired several rockets from the Golan Heights on targets inside southern Syria, Syrian state media reported on Friday, the latest in what intelligence sources say is an increase of strikes against Iranian-backed militias.
Opposition sources in the area said several militia posts near Quneitra were targeted in the attack, which reports said caused only material damage.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.
Bases and convoys run by Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, which has a strong presence in the Syrian Golan Heights, have been hit by Israel in recent years.
Israel was stepping up its raids in Syria at a time when world attention and the region, including Syria, was distracted with tackling coronavirus, a regional intelligence source said.
Two weeks ago, an Israeli drone attack targeted a car carrying forces from Hezbollah in southern Syria along the border with Lebanon without causing casualties.
A few days later, Israel struck central Syria near the ancient city of Palmyra, in what regional intelligence sources said were Iranian-backed outposts and a command center.
Israel has acknowledged in recent years it had conducted many raids inside Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011.
After Syria announced last Monday it had intercepted airstrikes by Israel near the capital Damascus, Israeli defense minister Naftali Bennett told Israeli media that Israel would step up its campaign against Iran in Syria.
Bennett appeared to confirm Israel was behind that airstrike on what Western intelligence sources said were Iranian bases.
“We have moved from blocking Iran’s entrenchment in Syria to forcing it out of there, and we will not stop,” Bennett said in a statement.
“We will not allow more strategic threats to grow just across our borders without taking action, We will continue to take the fight to the enemy’s territory,” Bennett said.
The Syrian army later said Monday’s strike killed three Syrian civilians and injured several others from shrapnel that hit their homes. Israel says Iran’s military presence in Syria, where its militias are fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s forces, is a strategic threat and claims Tehran seeks a permanent presence along its northern borders.
The threat of direct confrontation between arch-enemies Israel and Iran has long simmered in Syria, with Israel regarding Iran as its biggest threat.
Assad has said Iranian forces are welcome to stay in Syria after years of military victories in which Iran and Russian have played a key role in bringing back most of the country under his control.
Israeli helicopters fired several rockets from the Golan Heights on targets inside southern Syria, Syrian state media reported on Friday, the latest in what intelligence sources say is an increase of strikes against Iranian-backed militias.
Opposition sources in the area said several militia posts near Quneitra were targeted in the attack, which reports said caused only material damage.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.
Bases and convoys run by Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, which has a strong presence in the Syrian Golan Heights, have been hit by Israel in recent years.
Israel was stepping up its raids in Syria at a time when world attention and the region, including Syria, was distracted with tackling coronavirus, a regional intelligence source said.
Two weeks ago, an Israeli drone attack targeted a car carrying forces from Hezbollah in southern Syria along the border with Lebanon without causing casualties.
A few days later, Israel struck central Syria near the ancient city of Palmyra, in what regional intelligence sources said were Iranian-backed outposts and a command center.
Israel has acknowledged in recent years it had conducted many raids inside Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011.
After Syria announced last Monday it had intercepted airstrikes by Israel near the capital Damascus, Israeli defense minister Naftali Bennett told Israeli media that Israel would step up its campaign against Iran in Syria.
Bennett appeared to confirm Israel was behind that airstrike on what Western intelligence sources said were Iranian bases.
“We have moved from blocking Iran’s entrenchment in Syria to forcing it out of there, and we will not stop,” Bennett said in a statement.
“We will not allow more strategic threats to grow just across our borders without taking action, We will continue to take the fight to the enemy’s territory,” Bennett said.
The Syrian army later said Monday’s strike killed three Syrian civilians and injured several others from shrapnel that hit their homes. Israel says Iran’s military presence in Syria, where its militias are fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s forces, is a strategic threat and claims Tehran seeks a permanent presence along its northern borders.
The threat of direct confrontation between arch-enemies Israel and Iran has long simmered in Syria, with Israel regarding Iran as its biggest threat.
Assad has said Iranian forces are welcome to stay in Syria after years of military victories in which Iran and Russian have played a key role in bringing back most of the country under his control.
27 apr 2020
The alleged Israeli attack in the Damascus region overnight, in which four militants were killed, targeted military bases belonging to Iran, Hezbollah and other Tehran-backed militias, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Monday.
Meanwhile, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported that three civilians were also killed and four had been wounded, including a baby, by shrapnel from the missiles in the suburbs of Damascus.
Earlier, Sana reported that Syrian air defenses intercepted "hostile targets" over the capital of Damascus, shooting down all the missiles before they reached their targets.
SANA added that the air defense system had intercepted "Israeli aggression" coming from Lebanese airspace. Israel has also in the past used Lebanon's airspace to launch attacks on Syria.
The report comes exactly a week after another alleged Israeli strike in the city of Palmyra in eastern Homs province in central Syria.
A news flash on state media did not give any details of the aerial attack on the ancient city in eastern Homs where Iranian backed-militias are dug in on its outskirts according to Western intelligence sources.
The attack was the second in less than a month attributed to Israel, which has reportedly launched in recent years hundreds of attacks on Iranian-backed militias and their bases in Syria, where they have a large presence across the country.
Israel rarely confirms attacks and it did not comment on the latest missiles strike. Israel has said, however, that it has been behind a series of airstrikes mainly targeting Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces in Syria that are alongside Syrian government forces.
Meanwhile, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported that three civilians were also killed and four had been wounded, including a baby, by shrapnel from the missiles in the suburbs of Damascus.
Earlier, Sana reported that Syrian air defenses intercepted "hostile targets" over the capital of Damascus, shooting down all the missiles before they reached their targets.
SANA added that the air defense system had intercepted "Israeli aggression" coming from Lebanese airspace. Israel has also in the past used Lebanon's airspace to launch attacks on Syria.
The report comes exactly a week after another alleged Israeli strike in the city of Palmyra in eastern Homs province in central Syria.
A news flash on state media did not give any details of the aerial attack on the ancient city in eastern Homs where Iranian backed-militias are dug in on its outskirts according to Western intelligence sources.
The attack was the second in less than a month attributed to Israel, which has reportedly launched in recent years hundreds of attacks on Iranian-backed militias and their bases in Syria, where they have a large presence across the country.
Israel rarely confirms attacks and it did not comment on the latest missiles strike. Israel has said, however, that it has been behind a series of airstrikes mainly targeting Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces in Syria that are alongside Syrian government forces.
21 apr 2020
Archive: Syrian air defenses
Syrian air defenses responded to an Israeli aerial attack on the city of Palmyra in eastern Homs province in central Syria and downed several "hostile targets," the country's state media said on Monday night.
A news flash on state media did not give any details of the aerial attack on the ancient city in eastern Homs where Iranian backed-militias are dug in on its outskirts according to Western intelligence sources.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
The attack is the second in less than a month attributed to Israel, which has reportedly launched in recent years hundreds of attacks on Iranian-backed militias and their bases in Syria, where they have a large presence across the country.
Last week, an Israeli drone was said to have fired two missiles at and near an SUV carrying members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in Syria close to the border with Lebanon.
Jerusalem on Saturday accused Hezbollah of "provocative" activity along the Lebanese-Israeli frontier and said it would make a complaint to the UN Security Council.
In a statement, Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Hezbollah of multiple attempts to breach the border Friday night.
He said Israel "thoroughly condemns" the incident and expects the Lebanese government to prevent such threats.
On Friday night, the Israeli military fired flares along the volatile frontier after signs of a possible border breach. It said it later found damage to the fence in three locations.
Syrian air defenses responded to an Israeli aerial attack on the city of Palmyra in eastern Homs province in central Syria and downed several "hostile targets," the country's state media said on Monday night.
A news flash on state media did not give any details of the aerial attack on the ancient city in eastern Homs where Iranian backed-militias are dug in on its outskirts according to Western intelligence sources.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
The attack is the second in less than a month attributed to Israel, which has reportedly launched in recent years hundreds of attacks on Iranian-backed militias and their bases in Syria, where they have a large presence across the country.
Last week, an Israeli drone was said to have fired two missiles at and near an SUV carrying members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in Syria close to the border with Lebanon.
Jerusalem on Saturday accused Hezbollah of "provocative" activity along the Lebanese-Israeli frontier and said it would make a complaint to the UN Security Council.
In a statement, Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Hezbollah of multiple attempts to breach the border Friday night.
He said Israel "thoroughly condemns" the incident and expects the Lebanese government to prevent such threats.
On Friday night, the Israeli military fired flares along the volatile frontier after signs of a possible border breach. It said it later found damage to the fence in three locations.
24 feb 2020
Salim Ahmad Salim, 24
Ziad Ahmad Mansour, 23
The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, has reported that two of its fighters were killed, late on Sunday at night, after Israeli war jets fired missiles into an area in the Syrian capital, Damascus. video
The Brigades stated that its slain fighters have been identified as Salim Ahmad Salim, 24, and Ziad Ahmad Mansour, 23.
It added that the Israeli offensive on the Arab Syrian capital “is just another example of Tel Aviv’s failure in facing the Palestinian fighters in occupied Palestine.
“This new aggression will not deter us, as it is only another incentive for us to continue our fight for liberation and independence,” the Brigades added, “Our struggle against the Israeli occupation will continue until we achieve our legitimate goals,” and vowed a fierce retaliation.
In related news, Israeli fighter jets fired, on Sunday evening, many missiles into sites run by the Al-Quds Brigades in several areas in the besieged Gaza Strip, after the fighters fired homemade shells into nearby settlements in retaliation to the death of Mohammad Ali Hasan an-Na’em, 27, from Khan Younis, who was killed by army fire before the soldiers crushed his body with the blade of their bulldozer, then grabbed the corpse with the blade and swinging the body back and forth in the air.
Medical sources have confirmed that at least four Palestinians were injured.
On Saturday evening, the soldiers abducted a Palestinian merchant, identified as Amer Baraka, at the Erez Terminal, in northern Gaza. He is the third merchant to be taken prisoner at the terminal since the beginning of this year.
Ziad Ahmad Mansour, 23
The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, has reported that two of its fighters were killed, late on Sunday at night, after Israeli war jets fired missiles into an area in the Syrian capital, Damascus. video
The Brigades stated that its slain fighters have been identified as Salim Ahmad Salim, 24, and Ziad Ahmad Mansour, 23.
It added that the Israeli offensive on the Arab Syrian capital “is just another example of Tel Aviv’s failure in facing the Palestinian fighters in occupied Palestine.
“This new aggression will not deter us, as it is only another incentive for us to continue our fight for liberation and independence,” the Brigades added, “Our struggle against the Israeli occupation will continue until we achieve our legitimate goals,” and vowed a fierce retaliation.
In related news, Israeli fighter jets fired, on Sunday evening, many missiles into sites run by the Al-Quds Brigades in several areas in the besieged Gaza Strip, after the fighters fired homemade shells into nearby settlements in retaliation to the death of Mohammad Ali Hasan an-Na’em, 27, from Khan Younis, who was killed by army fire before the soldiers crushed his body with the blade of their bulldozer, then grabbed the corpse with the blade and swinging the body back and forth in the air.
Medical sources have confirmed that at least four Palestinians were injured.
On Saturday evening, the soldiers abducted a Palestinian merchant, identified as Amer Baraka, at the Erez Terminal, in northern Gaza. He is the third merchant to be taken prisoner at the terminal since the beginning of this year.