Al Qaeda leader commends Israeli strike on Syria

Arutz Sheva
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 19:19 UTC

© Youtube

Saleh Al-Hamwi

A former leader of Syria's Al Qaeda branch commended Israel for striking Syria on Saturday, after the Assad regime shot down an Israeli F-16I fighter jet.

On Saturday, the IAF identified an unmanned Iranian aircraft [ a drone] entering [entered] Israeli airspace. The aircraft remained in Israeli airspace for a minute and a half before being shot down. In response, four IAF F-16I [fighter jets] attacked the drone's control center deep in Syria. While they were operating, Syria fired dozens of surface-to-air missiles, hitting one of the F-16I fighters, forcing the pilot and navigator to eject once they reached Israeli territory.

Meanwhile, the IAF responded to the attack on the F-16 by beginning a large-scale operation against Iranian targets in Syria, destroying at least four sites and additional facilities as Syria fired surface-to-air missiles towards the planes, activating Israel's air raid sirens on the northern border.

The strikes were praised by Saleh Al-Hamwi, a founder of Syria's Jabhat Al Nusra. Jabhat Al Nusra, or Nusra Front, is an Al-Qaeda offshoot in Syria and are one of the Assad regime's opponents in the bloody civil war.

Al-Hamwi tweeted that "we welcome any Israeli aerial or naval bombardment against the regime and Iran in Syria. We urge them to do more. And we say to Israel: Your silence over Iran's intervention in Syria will turn against you. It's inevitable. Act with haste to uproot them".

According to Al-Hamwi, Iran had laid a trap for Israel by readying its anti-aircraft surface to air missiles around the area from where the UAV was launched. "Iran sent a drone and penetrated Israeli airspace with the prior knowledge that Israel would respond and bomb the launch site of the UAV. The decision was made in advance to bring down any Israeli fighter plane that would bomb the airport," wrote the jihadist.

IAF Chief of Staff Tomer Bar had said on Saturday afternoon said, "The Iranian drone was a very advanced model. It remained in Israeli airspace for a minute and a half." The incident was the most serious since the civil war in Syria began in 2011, and the largest IAF operation against Syria since 1982.

Comment: Al-Hamwi's hindsight is 20/20.

An Iranian drone allegedly crossed into Israeli territory where it was promptly shot down by an IDF helicopter. The Israeli Air Force then retaliated for the incursion by dispatching its fighter jets to hit government and Iranian targets in Syria, only for one of its F-16s to crash to the ground after coming under heavy anti-aircraft fire. See: Israeli airstrikes in Syria - was it 'a dialogue by fire'?

According to The Times of Israel:

Hamwi was a founder of the Nusra Front in 2012. In July 2015, the jihadist group said it dismissed him for not falling in line with the group's internal politics. He is now reportedly affiliated with the hardline Islamist group Ahrar il-Sham.

During Israel's widespread retaliatory offensive on Saturday in Syria, the IDF said, it hit four Iranian positions and eight Syrian sites, causing significant damage.

Israel also said it destroyed the Syrian military's main command and control bunker in its most devastating assault in the country in decades.

Saturday's exchange marked Israel's most serious engagement in neighboring Syria since fighting there began in 2011. The events also seemingly marked the first direct combat between Israel and Iran.