Alleged strike shows Israel is chasing Iranians deep into Syrian desert
Alleged strike shows Israel is chasing Iranians deep into Syrian desert
The attack on the T-4 airbase in northern Syria at around dawn on Monday, attributable to Israel, is the third on Syrian soil within a week. In the two previous cases, Israel was reacting to fire against it. This time, according to foreign media, the target was Iranian interests, reports Haaretz.
As Haaretz reported in February, this year Iran changed some of the characteristics of its activity in Syria.
On the backdrop of the persisting Israeli attacks, and the dissatisfaction with Russia and Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps moved its main activity from the Damascus international airport to a base more distant from Syria’s centre – T4, which is next to Homs. The Iranians have operated from that base before, and Israel bombed it on a number of occasions in 2018.
In the past, the Israeli attacks targeted Iran’s arms shipments via Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. They also aimed to thwart the IRGC’s establishment in Syria – deploying drones and aerial defence systems from sites the Iranians set up for themselves within Syrian bases.
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The Sunday night attack adds to two prior incidents last week. First, a Syrian antiaircraft launcher was destroyed at Quneitra, in the Syrian Golan, after it fired shells at Israeli jets. Syria reported that two soldiers were killed. On Saturday night, two rockets were fired from Syria into Israeli territory, one landing in the area of Mount Hermon. There were no casualties. The Israeli air force reacted with a series of raids against Syrian army targets.
The Israeli defence establishment is still having a hard time determining exactly who fired Saturday night’s rockets. The usual explanation over the years for incidents of the type – errant fire during exchanges between the forces of Assad and the rebels – has not been relevant for a year now.
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