Israel raid hits missile depot in Syria

[BLACKEAGLE]

A Hezbollah flag flutters in a government-controlled area, as seen from the rebel-controlled area of Karm al-Tarab frontline, near Aleppo international airport. (File photo: Reuters)

By Staff writer, Al Arabiya News
Saturday, 25 April 2015

An overnight Israeli raid has hit a missile depot in the strategic western Syrian region of al-Qalamoun, Al Arabiya News’ sister channel Al Hadath reported Thursday.

Qalamoun is located near the region bordering Lebanon.

Sources also told Al Hadath that two Israeli raids had on Wednesday targeted a convoy carrying arms belonging to Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has long been a key ally to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

This is not the first time Israel targets Hezbollah whether in Syria or in Lebanon.

In January, an Israeli raid killed Hezbollah’s commander of the Syrian Golan sector. Also, Israeli warplanes hit weapons warehouse near Damascus last December.

Last Update: Saturday, 25 April 2015 KSA 09:47 - GMT 06:47
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/04/25/An-Israeli-raid-hit-missile-depot-in-Syria-s-Qalamoun.html

 

[Scorpion]

Is Qalamoun under FSA control? Or Assad is controlling it?

 

[Gabriel92]

According to Al-Jazeera, Israeli fighter jets bombed bases in the Al-Qalamoun mountains, where strategic bases are located housing long-range missiles; IDF: "We do not comment on foreign reports."

Israeli air force fighter jets struck Syrian military bases housing long-range missiles on Friday, the Qatari Al-Jazeera satellite television network said on Saturday.

According to the report, the bases, near the Syrian-Lebanese border, belong to Assad regime brigades that possess weapons such as Scud missiles. The attacks allegedly targeted multiple targets in the area.

The IDF Spokesman said, "We do not comment on foreign reports."

International media reports have said that Israel intercepted attempts by Syria and Iran to smuggle advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon on multiple occasions throughout 2013 and 2014.

In January 2015, according to foreign media reports, an IAF aircraft fired missiles at a military convoy in the Syrian town of Quneitra, near Israeli border in the Golan Heights.

Six senior Hezbollah operatives, including Jihad Mughniyah, son of the late Hezbollah operations chief Imad Mughniyah, and six senior Iranian IRGC officials, including Brigadier General Muhammad Ali Allahdadi, were killed in the attack.

A Western intelligence source said after the attack that Mughniyah was "the head of a major terrorist entity" who was setting up a base Syrian side of the Golan Heights with Iranian help, and was planning deadly cross-border attacks against Israel, including infiltrations, rockets, and border bombings.

Hezbollah retaliated for the attack days later, by firing five Kornet missiles at an IDF convoy traveling two kilometers away from the Lebanese borders, striking an Isuzu D-Max vehicle, and killing two IDF personnel inside.

According to international media reports, in December 2014, Israel struck targets in Damascus, reportedly hitting advanced weapons that were destined for Hezbollah depots in southern Lebanon.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee after those reports, "Iran is also continuing to support terror and to arm our enemies - both Hezbollah and terror groups in Gaza. The Middle East has not stabilized and, in fact, suffers from chronic instability. We have set red lines before the various actors in Syria." In January 2014, foreign reports claimed that Israeli fighter jets flying over northern Lebanon struck a target Latakia. Some reports speculated that the targets were S-300 air defense systems destined for Hezbollah.

In February 2014, Lebanese media reported that the IAF struck a Hezbollah weapons base in eastern Lebanon, killing several operatives of the Shi'ite Iranian-backed organization. Hezbollah retaliated to the latter alleged strike by planting two bombs on the Lebanese - Israeli border, wounding two IDF soldiers.

According to international media reports, Israel bombed shipments of advanced weapons, including Fateh-110 missiles, in Syria heading for Hezbollah five times in 2013.

In August 2013, unnamed US officials told The New York Times that a July 5 IAF strike on a Syrian warehouse near Latakia targeted Russian-made Yakhont missiles destined for Hezbollah.


http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/IAF-struck-missile-bases-in-Syria-Al-Jazeera-report-says-399126

 

[Falcon29]

There is under the table understandings between Assad regime and West/Israel. Assad gives them notice that they won't respond to strikes on weapon transfers to Lebanon. I stand by what I always said, west prefers Assad regime and the Iranian axis vs Israel drama is just barking. In reality Israel, West , Iran and Arab nationalists are all terrified of a Syrian rebel victory. The day Damascus is on verge of falling is the day they will all panic. That is because they know a lot of Muslims will flock to Syria afterwards and form an Islamic power to change the situation in the ME for Muslims.