The last two days have witnessed more Israeli airstrikes carried out on Syria, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday issuing rare direct confirmation that it targeted Hezbollah weapons depots in the al-Qusayr area in western Syria, close to the border with Lebanon.
"The IDF says Hezbollah’s armament unit is responsible for storing weapons in Lebanon, and it recently expanded its activities to Syria, storing weapons in al-Qusayr," Israeli media reports.
And the NY Times writes of the expanding and more frequent nature of the raids, "The Israeli military on Tuesday said its Air Force had struck targets in Syria for the second day in a row, attacks it said were aimed at cutting off the flow of weapons and intelligence between Hezbollah, the armed Lebanese group, and its sponsor, Iran."
The day prior, on Monday, Syrian state media confirmed Israeli airstrikes south of Damascus. The attack again targeted an area known to attract many Shia religious pilgrims.
SANA indicated that it involved Israeli warplanes hitting "a number of civilian sites south of Damascus, resulting in material losses." There are regional reports that at least two were left dead and five injured in the Monday attack on the Syrian capital's suburbs.
This could in part be Israel's signaling Washington that whichever administration takes the White House, efforts to break up the 'resistance axis' of Tehran-Damascus-Hezbollah will continue.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear in remarks that regardless of whether a cease-fire deal could be reached related to Lebanon, Israel's military would remain committed to "cutting Hezbollah’s oxygen line from Iran via Syria."
We reported previously that just last week Israeli government minister and war cabinet member Gideon Saar threatened Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, warning that he will be “in danger” if his country continues to act as a “conduit” for Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.
Syria must not be permitted “under any circumstances to be a conduit for weapons supply from Iran to Hezbollah,” the minister went on to say, adding that “Israel must make clear to Assad that if he chooses to harm Israeli security in this manner, he places his regime in danger.”
Israel “will not agree to Hezbollah’s renewed buildup of power through Syria, and will not agree to the opening of a front against it from Syrian territory,” he said. “Removing Assad from the Iranian axis will have far-reaching consequences for Israel’s security.” Thus even if somehow ceasefire is reached in Lebanon, these regular Israeli attacks on Syria will likely continue.
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