In the face of the perceived threat from Iranian military presence, Israel has increased the pace of its interventions striking targets in pre-emptive strikes against Hezbollah and Iranian troops in Syria.
Advertisement
Israel said one of its F-16s crashed after it came under fire from Syria. Israel fears that Iran could create a direct land corridor to link up with Hezbollah, which has sworn to destroy Israel. “The United Kingdom is concerned at developments over Israel’s border with Syria this weekend”.
Sign up today for a free 30 day free trial of unlimited digital access. “Because we are dealing with the Assad regime that has used denial and deceit to hide their outlaw actions”. In the meantime, millions of innocent Syrians had to leave their homes, and even their country, becoming refugees – without forgetting hundreds of thousands of those who lost their lives. This way Iran can control Damascus and use Syria as a forward base to put pressure on Israel but pay “wholesale”, not “retail”. Gen. Ronen Manelis, said in a statement.
Israel’s concern is well-founded.
Why did Israel bomb targets in Syria?
It was shot down by an Apache attack helicopter and its remains fell north of the Israeli town of Beit She’an. It’s not yet known what exactly the Iranians had planned with the drone; Iran is claiming that it was related to self-defense. After all, if the drone had not been over Israeli airspace, it would have been far harder for Israel to justify its actions. The Pentagon has said IS fighters have been cleared from more than 98 per cent of the territory they held at their peak in 2014 and 2015.
However, his comments were quickly met with condemnation by a senior Iranian official who said the forces were “legitimate” and at the invitation of Syria.
Numerous USA troops in Syria are operating with local, Kurdish-dominated allies known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, in the eastern oil-producing Deir el-Zour region along the Euphrates River. Subsequent attacks were carried out against four additional Iranian targets and eight Syrian sites.
The destruction of an Israeli jet by Syrian anti-aircraft fire is indicative of changes in Syria’s tactics. Finally, the Iranian people’s protests against their government’s economic mismanagement at home and adventurism overseas indicate that the regime should be wary of increasing its commitments in Syria. By sucking the country into the conflict, both Syria and Iran will be able to contend that Israel is the main culprit.
While seemingly running against the grain of Iran’s modern strategic culture for basing its forces overseas, the prospect of Tehran militarizing parts of Syria or Lebanon long-term is deeply alarming – to say the least.
Last but not least, Russia’s stance is going to be defining the nature of the conflict between Israel and Iran.
DW spoke with Middle East expert Gil Murciano about the conflict, and Germany’s potential role as mediator.
This marks the first such instance for Israel since 1982 during the first Lebanon war. Two pilots ejected and landed in Israeli territory; one suffered serious injuries. Numerous other reports, photographic evidence and the IDF’s own video, clearly detail an Iranian drone in Israeli airspace-and Israel’s subsequent response.
The military says it has the drone in its possession. But the prospect for further escalation is higher than ever, and these kinds of Israeli operations in Syria are likely to become the new normal. Israel said it was responded to an Iranian drone infiltrating the country, shooting it down.
Israel called the new escalation “severe violation of Israeli sovereignty”. The armed forces are getting bold enough to challenge aerial violations by their opponents, no matter how powerful they are. Damascus claimed of hitting more than one Israeli aircraft.
Advertisement
“Iran will not step back and will not leave Syria as it is an important geostrategic ally after years of fighting and paying the price for saving it”, he said.
