Syria says it was hit by strikes from Israeli planes
The Syrian government reported an Israeli warplane strike deep inside Syrian territory on Wednesday, calling it an act of “Israeli arrogance and aggression” and raising the risks that the two-year-old civil conflict in Syria could spread beyond the country’s borders.
A statement by the Syrian military said a scientific research facility in the Damascus suburbs had been hit, but the precise target was unclear. Earlier news reports, corroborated by an American official in Washington, said the Israelis were targeting a truck convoy inside Syria that may have contained sophisticated antiaircraft weapons bound for Lebanon and intended for use by Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group that considers Israel its main enemy.
Israeli officials declined to comment on the airstrike. But they have been warning that they are monitoring the possible movement of weapons in the Syrian conflict, including chemical weapons, and would take action to thwart any possible transfers into Hezbollah’s possession.
It was the first time in more than five years that Israel’s air force had attacked a target in Syria, which has remained in a technical state of war with Israel although both sides have maintained an uneasy peace along their decades-old armistice line.
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i would call that a serious escalation if true..and who gave israel permission to do this and if they have done this where is the outrage from the world?? silence is deafening..
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Israel doesn’t need anyone’s permission to do anything. It has already violated at least 56 specific UN resolutions, leaving out those that were vague and subject to different interpretation.
Very true. The hypocrisy is huge.
did anyone else notice how the headline for this story in man news outlets used the word “rare?” as in “israel executes RARE strike against syria.”
think about that for a second.
how ‘rare’ is it for, say, Iran to attack a neighboring country? how ‘rare’ is it for Yemen to send bombers to a neighboring country? how ‘rare’ is it that Libya bombs a neighbor?
the zionists have bombed iraq, syria, jordan, egypt, lebanon.. .oh, and PALESTINE. the americans? not enough time or room to list who they have bombed.
the lesson? value or quantifier words in mantream headlines are subtle lies. in this case “rare” means “often.”
some group claimed they did it as well..so much confusion in this conflict..what actually got hit?..who actually did it..and what was the real target..
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-31/syria-threatens-surprise-response-israel-air-raid-iran-and-russia-pile
In the aftermath of yesterday’s surprising attack by Israel on Syrian soil, an act which any prior justification notwithstanding is a clear act of war sovereign aggression, it was only a matter of time before Syria responded, at least diplomatically at first. And as we also noted yesterday that “Iran has previously warned that any attack on Syria is the same as an attack on Iran” it was safe to assume that Iran would have a thing or two to say in response as well. Earlier today they did just that, with Syria warning that a “surprise” response to the Israel attack is forthcoming, while the “Iranian deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian said the attack “demonstrates the shared goals of terrorists and the Zionist regime… It is necessary for the sides which take tough stances on Syria to now take serious steps and decisive stances against this aggression by Tel Aviv and uphold criteria for security in the region.” Finally yesterday we wondered “how Russia and/or China which have made clear that Syria is a strategic geopolitical center for both in the past will react”, and today we know: “Russia, which has blocked Western efforts to put pressure on Syria at the United Nations, said that any Israeli air strike would amount to unacceptable military interference.” So far nothing from China, which has in the past let Russia be its proxy on Syrian matters.
And while the rhetoric has soared on all sides, it remains to be seen if Syria will indeed challenge Israel or if it will retain its bluster, an act which will simply invite Bibi to launch ever more offensive sorties until one day something finally does snap.