Israeli drone strikes on Syrian military posts kill 18, also launches multiple attacks in southern Lebanon

RFE/RL
Mon, 09 Sep 2019 07:43 UTC

FILE PHOTO:A picture taken early on January 21, 2019 shows Syrian air defence batteries responding to Israeli missiles targeting Damascus.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on September 9 that the overnight raids carried out by unidentified warplanes took place in the region of Al-Bukamal near the Iraqi border.

The Observatory said the strikes targeted posts, military vehicles, and arms depots, causing extensive damage.

The number of deaths was likely to increase, it said.

A local activist collective in eastern Syria, the Sound and Pictures, also reported the air strikes, saying they hit an arms depot for Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, a grouping of mostly Iran-backed Shi'ite militias.

Iran, along with Russia, has given Syrian President Bashar al-Assad crucial backing throughout the Syrian war that began with a government crackdown on protesters in March 2011.

Israel views Iran as its greatest threat and has allegedly struck Iran-linked targets in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon in recent weeks.

Comment: Israel is going all out in its war of aggression throughout the Middle East: Israel's many wars: Escalating conflict in the Middle East could be intended to involve the United States

Israel's military said on September 9 that several rockets were fired toward the country from the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, adding that "all failed to hit Israeli territory."

The army said the rockets were launched "by Shi'ite militia operatives operating under the Iranian Quds Force," the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) foreign arm.

Meanwhile, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia movement Hizballah said its fighters had shot down an unmanned Israeli drone over southern Lebanon early in the day and seized it.

Israel's military said one of its drones "fell inside southern Lebanon during routine operations," without giving a reason.

Comment: Sputnik reports:

The statement comes after some Syrian media outlets reported earlier that at least 18 militia members had been killed in a drone strike in eastern Syria. The unmanned aerial vehicles reportedly attacked militias near the city of Al Bukamal, close to the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Israel has conducted scores of air attacks against Syria over the past few years, saying that the strikes were aimed at countering alleged Iranian presence in the country.

Damascus condemns the attacks as a blatant violation of international law, while Iran insists that its presence in Syria has been limited to military advisers helping Damascus fight terrorist groups. Tehran denies the Jewish state's right to exist, promising to wipe it off the political map should it take any action against Iran.

Israel-Lebanon Tensions

The IDF's Monday statement comes amid an escalation of Israel-Lebanon tensions which were preceded by the Israeli military launching massive mortar, artillery and air strikes against multiple targets in southern Lebanon, following a Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack targeting IDF positions along the border.

While Lebanese President Michel Aoun made it clear that Lebanon will have every right to respond if Israel renews its military "aggression" against the country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel has suffered no injuries, "not even a scratch" in the back and forth barrage of fire between the IDF and Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Commenting on the security situation in the area, Netanyahu stressed that he had instructed the military to "be prepared for any scenario" in accordance with developments on the ground.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin took to Twitter to warn "all those who seek to harm us" that Israel was "ready and willing to defend Israel's citizens wherever they are, without hesitation."

Tel Aviv has repeatedly claimed that Hezbollah - whose primary goal is the destruction of the Jewish state - is a proxy of Iran and that it receives weapons and equipment from Tehran, which the latter denies.

See also:

• Are Israel and the US prepping for war in the Middle East?
• Taliban's Kabul attack inadvertently tanked Afghan peace talks