Israeli security assessment on Sunday following the major aerial clashes in Syria a day earlier indicated that the current round of clashes has ended, but the next altercation is only a matter of time.
Early Saturday morning, an Iranian drone piloted by an Iranian operator entered northern Israeli airspace near the Jordanian border, where it was shot down by an Apache attack helicopter, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Israeli jets conducted a series of reprisal raids against military positions in Syria, during which one F-16 was apparently hit by shrapnel from an exploding Syrian anti-aircraft missile, and crashed in northern Israel.
In response, the Israeli Air Force carried out a second round of strikes shortly before 9 a.m. on Saturday, again facing a massive barrage of anti-aircraft fire, which included dozens of Russian-made air defense missiles, the army said.
According to the IDF, in the retaliatory strikes, the Israeli aircraft targeted at least a dozen sites in Syria, including multiple air defense batteries and four Iranian positions in the country.
The Israeli army said the targets included the mobile command center from which the drone was operated on the T-4 air base outside the Syrian city of Palmyra, which has been under Iranian control for months, an Israeli military official said Saturday.
According to rebel forces, both Syrian and Iranian troops were killed in the IAF strikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the civil war, said the raids killed at least six pro-regime fighters, including both Syrians and foreigners.
Israel has long been sounding the alarm over Iran’s effort to entrench itself militarily in Syria, but the pace at which the Islamic Republic has escalated its aggressive behavior is surprising, a senior Israeli intelligence official said Sunday, a day after Iranian-Israeli hostility dramatically stepped up a gear.
“It happened more quickly than people expected,” said Chagai Tzuriel, the director-general of the Intelligence Ministry. “The negative dynamic inherent in the Iranian presence is happening perhaps more quickly than people expected.”
On Saturday, Israel shot down an Iranian drone after it entered Israeli airspace from Syrian territory. The Israeli air force then retaliated against Iranian targets in Syria, but one Israeli fighter jet was downed by Syrian forces on its return to Israel, triggering a second round of Israeli strikes, specifically aimed at Syrian air defenses.
“My view is that what happened yesterday didn’t happen yesterday. It happened a long time ago,” Tzuriel told The Times of Israel in his Jerusalem office. “I should not say we told you so, but we surely told you so.”
In the aftermath of the incident, Israeli security analysts have been wondering why Iran would escalate tensions at this time by sending a drone over the border. Hitherto, the Iran’s anti-Israel activity played out mostly verbally or through proxies.
“I don’t think something like that would have been done without sanction from Tehran. All theses things get okayed from people like [senior Revolutionary Guards commander] Qasem Soleimani. I don’t know if they picked up the phone and ordered this particular incident. But I am sure the Iranians are working according to a general directive, which is very aggressive,” he said.
“But they want to slowly but surely encroach on our sovereignty, and get us and everybody else used to them doing these things. And then, one day, you wake up and you see you have in Syria the same situation that you have now in Lebanon, with Hezbollah having established itself there militarily with the sole goal of attacking Israel. This is exactly why we made a point yesterday: No, this gradual approach will not work here — even if it means that our response needs to be quite serious.”
Israel’s four red lines are the transfer of advanced weaponry from Iran to Syria or Lebanon; breaches of Israeli sovereignty; Iran’s attempts to establish military bases in Syria; and Iran building a local facility to manufacture missiles in Lebanon, he said.
The incident on Israel’s northern border on Saturday was not only a significant event for Israel but a serious incident that shows how the disastrous war in Syria is far from over, rather that a new chapter is just beginning, with Israel poised to be a central character.
Since the intervention of the Russians and the Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias including Hezbollah, the tide has turned in favor of Syrian President Bashar Assad who has become more brazen as he regains control over more territory.
Since the intervention of the Russians and the Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias including Hezbollah, the tide has turned in favor of Syrian President Bashar Assad who has become more brazen as he regains control over more territory.
As troops loyal to Assad continue to march back to Israel’s border, winning battles with local rebel and al-Qaida linked groups, Israel is watching with concern.
Officials have been warning of Iranian entrenchment on the Golan Heights, an area of key strategic importance for the Jewish state, stressing that it is a red line for Jerusalem.
On Sunday, OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoel Strick warned that while Israel is not interested in escalating the situation, the IDF would not allow an Iranian presence in Syria.
“Those who cross the border will, on any level, receive an appropriate response. Iranian involvement in the region is a disturbing threat to Israel and the entire world. Iran wants to create a front command in Syria – we will not allow it,” he said at a ceremony marking the change of the command in the Northern Command’s 210th “Bashan” Division, which is responsible for guarding the Syrian border and the Golan Heights.
“Those who cross the border will, on any level, receive an appropriate response. Iranian involvement in the region is a disturbing threat to Israel and the entire world. Iran wants to create a front command in Syria – we will not allow it,” he said at a ceremony marking the change of the command in the Northern Command’s 210th “Bashan” Division, which is responsible for guarding the Syrian border and the Golan Heights.
The head of the IDF Northern Command on Sunday warned Iran that it “will not allow” the entrenchment of the Islamic Republic in Syria, while affirming that Israel is uninterested in escalating the situation at this time.
“Iran wants to establish a forward operating base in Syria whose goal is attacking Israel. We will not allow it. We will not allow Israeli citizens to be threatened. We will not allow Iran to threaten the stability of the entire region,” said Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick. “We are not inclined toward escalation, but we have high-level capabilities and we will not hesitate to use them.”
“That’s how we’ve operated in the past, that’s how we operated yesterday and that’s how we’ll respond to any threat, when needed,” Strick said.
The comments came a day after what the army describes as the most significant Israeli attack on Syrian air defenses since the 1982 First Lebanon War. The Israeli bombardment came after an Iranian drone violated Israeli airspace and then an Israeli F-16 was apparently shot down by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile, injuring the pilot and navigator.
Assur, the outgoing head of the 210th Division who will soon take over as head of the army’s Operations Division, said the skirmish proved what Israeli officials have long been saying: “Hezbollah and Iran are trying to entrench themselves in the area, which could be seen this past Saturday,” he said.
Assur added that the Israeli response “sent a clear message to our enemies: We are determined to defend our sovereignty and respond with force and wisdom to any threat.”
No comments:
Post a Comment