Israel Attacks Iranian Military Assets in Syria
Israel Attacks Iranian Military Assets in Syria
Iranian military targets on the border between Syria and Iraq were targeted in the latest Israeli military operation on Wednesday morning (13/1). The attack is part of an aggressive Israeli policy under US President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" doctrine.
As many as 57 people died in the Israeli military operation, claims the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). At least 18 attacks were directed at arsenals and military posts, and killed 14 government soldiers. While other victims were not citizens of Syria or pro-Iran militants.
"This attack is the deadliest air strike carried out by Israel in Syria so far," SOHR director Rami Abdel-Rahman told dpa.
The Syrian news agency SANA and state television reported that the Israeli military attacked the border town of al-Bukamal. The city is the main link between the capital Damascus and Baghdad in Iraq.
It is believed, al-Bukamal was used by Iran to supply proxy guerrillas in Syria and Lebanon.
In the latest air strike, Israel also reportedly targeted Deir al-Zor province, which is home to Iranian militias and the Revolutionary Guards. Two residents in the town of Deir al-Zor said they heard loud explosions believed to have originated in an arsenal, Reuters reported.
So far the Israeli military has been reluctant to comment. Tzachi Hanegbi, Minister for Settlements, told Israeli radio station that it only attacks military targets in Syria, "if the secret service orders it and it matches our operational capabilities."
Escalation of conflict against Iran
The United States maintains a small combat unit at Tanf, a barracks near the town of al-Bukamal which was the target of Israeli attacks. A source in the western intelligence community claims Israel has intensified attacks on Syria in recent months. The policy was adopted following the political support of President Donald Trump.
Israel's Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Aviv Kochavi, said last December that the missile strike had succeeded "in slowing down Iran's efforts to fortify its assets in Syria." Throughout 2020, Israel claimed to have destroyed more than 500 military targets.
The government in Jerusalem wants to end what they accuse of Iranian military interference in Syria. The presence of guerrillas and armed militias formed by the Revolutionary Guards is increasingly mushrooming, according to the secret service's latest report.
A Reuters source at the Israeli secret service said the targets of the latest military operation included Syrian military barracks inside the cities of al-Bukamal and Deir Zor. Previously Israel only targeted targets outside the city.
The attack was claimed to have succeeded in disabling "the latest weapon systems and arsenals in a large area of war," said the source.
Since the fall of ISIS, Syrian territory has been divided between Hezbollah in the east, south and northeast, the Free Syrian Army rebel group, Turkey and Kurdish militias. Especially the existence of Hezbollah in Syria is considered crucial, because of its territory that reaches the capital city of Damascus and the border area with Lebanon.