Israeli warplanes strike Syria in escalation
5 05 2013 Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around the Syrian capital on Sunday, setting off a series of explosions as they targeted a shipment of highly accurate, Iranian-made guided missiles believed to be on their way to Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, officials and activists said.
The
attack, the second in three days, signaled a sharp escalation of
Israel’s involvement in Syria’s bloody civil war. Syria’s state media
reported that Israeli missiles struck a military and scientific research
center near the Syrian capital and caused casualties.
An
intelligence official in the Middle East, who spoke on condition of
anonymity in order to disclose information about a secret military
operation to the media, confirmed that Israel launched an airstrike in
Damascus early Sunday but did not give more precise details about the
location.
The
target was Fateh-110 missiles, which have very precise guidance systems
with better aim than anything Hezbollah has in its arsenal, the
official told reporters.
The
airstrikes come as Washington considers how to respond to indications
that the Syrian regime may have used chemical weapons in its civil war.
President
Barack Obama has described the use of such weapons as a “red line,” and
the administration is weighing its options, including possible military
action. Iran condemned the airstrikes but gave no other hints of a
possible stronger response from Tehran or its allies.
Israel
has said it wants to stay out of the brutal Syria war, but Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated the Jewish state would
be prepared to take military action to prevent sophisticated weapons
from flowing from Syria to Hezbollah or other extremist groups.
Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in mid-2006 that ended in a stalemate.
Syria’s
state news agency reported that explosions went off at the Jamraya
military and scientific research center near Damascus and said “initial
reports point to these explosions being a result of Israeli missiles.”
They
said there were casualties but did not give a number. Damascus-based
activist Maath al-Shami said the strikes occurred around 3 a.m.
“Damascus
shook. The explosion was very, very strong,” said al-Shami adding that
one of the strikes occurred near the capital’s Qasioun mountain that
overlooks Damascus.
He
said the raid near Qasioun targeted a military position for the elite
Republican Guards that is in charge of protecting Damascus, President
Bashar Assad’s seat of power.
Mohammed
Saeed, another activist who lives in the Damascus suburb of Douma, said
“the explosions were so strong that earth shook under us.” He said the
smell of the fire caused by the air raid near Qasioun could be felt
miles away.
Israel
has said it will not allow sophisticated weapons to flow from Syria to
the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, an Iranian-backed Assad ally and a
heavily armed foe of the Jewish state.
Amos
Yadlin, a former head of Israel’s military intelligence, said the
strike is a signal to Tehran that Israel is serious about the red lines
it has set.
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