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Israeli missiles hit military post near Damascus: Syrian state TV

 

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israeli missiles struck a military position near Damascus and Syria's air defence system responded on Saturday, destroying two of them, Syrian state television said.

 

"The Israeli enemy launched...several surface-to-surface missiles towards a military position," it said, adding there had been "material losses at the site.

 

An Israeli military spokeswoman had declined to comment on earlier reports of such an attack overnight.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said missiles, probably fired by the Israeli military, struck an arms depot of the Syrian army or its allied forces after midnight.

 

The Britain-based group, which monitors the war through a network of contacts in Syria, said the attack hit near al-Kiswa town south of the capital Damascus, causing loud explosions.

 

The Israeli air force has said it struck arms convoys of the Syrian military and Lebanon's Hezbollah nearly 100 times during more than six years of the Syrian war.

 

Israel has grown deeply alarmed by Iran's expanding clout during the conflict, and has warned it would act against any threat from its regional foe Tehran.

 

Iran has provided critical support to President Bashar al-Assad's military in fighting Syrian rebels and Islamic State militants. Iran-backed Shi'ite militias, including Hezbollah, have helped Damascus regain control of swathes of the country.

 

On a visit to Damascus in October, Iran's military chief warned Israel against breaching Syrian airspace or territory.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-03

[BuaBS]

Isn't that a act of war (again) ?

[Morch]

37 minutes ago, BuaBS said:

Isn't that a act of war (again) ?

 

A state of war does officially exist between Israel and Syria. Your point?

[Morch]

Seems like the base attacked was the one mentioned earlier last month in relation to Iran's future designs in Syria.

[ezzra]

Israel has reiterated time and time again that no Iranian forces will  be allowed, under any circumstances to establish a foot hold and keep forces in either Lebanon or Syria, and as the Israeli Pm puts it: IS went out, Iran moved in...

[FritsSikkink]

17 hours ago, ezzra said:

Israel has reiterated time and time again that no Iranian forces will  be allowed, under any circumstances to establish a foot hold and keep forces in either Lebanon or Syria, and as the Israeli Pm puts it: IS went out, Iran moved in...

They can say what they want but it is none of their business, they are sovereign countries.

[Morch]

8 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

They can say what they want but it is none of their business, they are sovereign countries.

 

Israel is officially at a state of war with both Syrian and Lebanon. Sovereignty doesn't have anything to do with it.

 

 

[Baerboxer]

17 hours ago, ezzra said:

Israel has reiterated time and time again that no Iranian forces will  be allowed, under any circumstances to establish a foot hold and keep forces in either Lebanon or Syria,  and as the Israeli Pm puts it: IS went out, Iran moved in...

 

I fully support Israels right to exist and appreciate the precarious position it's in and the difficulty in dealing with that. 

 

However, Israel has no right, under any legal conventions, to dictate to other countries who they can and can't have in their countries and to carry out preemptive strikes as it wants. That is provocative, will loose international sympathy and will provide excuses for the likes of Putin and Erdogan to condemn them even more.

 

Israel, like South Korea, exists because of US protection. Inflaming Russian allies will increase the tensions between Russian and the US. Israel, once the deserved recipient of support from the free world, is becoming a loose canon and could still be the one that ignites WW111.

[Morch]

11 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

I fully support Israels right to exist and appreciate the precarious position it's in and the difficulty in dealing with that. 

 

However, Israel has no right, under any legal conventions, to dictate to other countries who they can and can't have in their countries and to carry out preemptive strikes as it wants. That is provocative, will loose international sympathy and will provide excuses for the likes of Putin and Erdogan to condemn them even more.

 

Israel, like South Korea, exists because of US protection. Inflaming Russian allies will increase the tensions between Russian and the US. Israel, once the deserved recipient of support from the free world, is becoming a loose canon and could still be the one that ignites WW111.

 

None of the countries involved are big on adhering to relevant and related legal issues. Considering a state of war does exist between countries, not sure that your interpretation is even correct. Provocative cuts both ways.

 

Since Russian forces were deployed to Syria, there is a coordination in place between Israel and Russia with regard to military actions, aimed at avoiding mistakes and escalations. No idea if Russia was informed of Israel's intentions in this case.

 

As for criticism - the usual parties will issue the usual condemnations. So far, not a whole lot of that - not even from Iran, who tries to minimize the incident. Russia is not quite an ally of the USA, and Turkey isn't too sweet on Iranian advances in Syria.

 

WWIII? Scaremongering.

 

 

 

[Baerboxer]

3 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

None of the countries involved are big on adhering to relevant and related legal issues. Considering a state of war does exist between countries, not sure that your interpretation is even correct. Provocative cuts both ways.

 

Since Russian forces were deployed to Syria, there is a coordination in place between Israel and Russia with regard to military actions, aimed at avoiding mistakes and escalations. No idea if Russia was informed of Israel's intentions in this case.

 

As for criticism - the usual parties will issue the usual condemnations. So far, not a whole lot of that - not even from Iran, who tries to minimize the incident. Russia is not quite an ally of the USA, and Turkey isn't too sweet on Iranian advances in Syria.

 

WWIII? Scaremongering.

 

 

 

 

Russia and the US are and have been playing games in Syria, as does Erdogan. All have their own agendas. Israel would be very foolish to push things too far without US blessing. 

 

I don't think I wrote that Russia was a US ally? Not sure why you think they are.

 

Turkey is eyeing expansion but also moving away from the West, democracy and secular values. That isn't likely to be in Israel's interest. Getting caught between Sunni and Shi'ite hatred, not where they want to be, in my opinion.

 

If they are still at war with Lebanon and Syria then there is a risk that forces in those countries may at some time decide on preemptive strikes into Israel too. 

 

WW111 - given the amount of issues around the world at the moment, the spark could come anywhere. And Israel seems to think that it can strike other countries without reaction. Dangerous mindset.

[Morch]

2 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Russia and the US are and have been playing games in Syria, as does Erdogan. All have their own agendas. Israel would be very foolish to push things too far without US blessing. 

 

I don't think I wrote that Russia was a US ally? Not sure why you think they are.

 

Turkey is eyeing expansion but also moving away from the West, democracy and secular values. That isn't likely to be in Israel's interest. Getting caught between Sunni and Shi'ite hatred, not where they want to be, in my opinion.

 

If they are still at war with Lebanon and Syria then there is a risk that forces in those countries may at some time decide on preemptive strikes into Israel too. 

 

WW111 - given the amount of issues around the world at the moment, the spark could come anywhere. And Israel seems to think that it can strike other countries without reaction. Dangerous mindset.

 

I don't think the recent attack "pushed things too far" in the context of Israel's previous actions and known position. As for "blessing", don't know whether there was or wasn't such. Generally speaking, Israel does not seek the USA's direct permission or "blessing" to carry out all military operations.

 

The Russia "allies" comment stemmed from "Inflaming Russian allies will increase the tensions between Russian and the US." appearing in your post. Could have misunderstood your point.

 

Turkey under Erdogan is a wildcard, and I seriously doubt what Israel's actions in this context have a whole lot of influence or pull on the way Turkey swings. Israel's relations with the Palestinians would make a more relevant point with regard to this, but that's not what the topic is about. Pretty sure that the likelihood of Syrian and Lebanese responses (as well as regional and international reactions) are taken into account before mounting such attacks. Under the current state of things, rather low risks involved.

 

As for the WWIII reasoning, that's a broad argument which could apply to many military standoff or conflict around the globe. Until such a time as everyone holds hands and sings kumbya, it is what it is. There would have to be some pretty convulsed chain of events for this to develop into WWIII. If anything, having USA and Russian troops at the same theater of action, and without proper coordination, is a much greater risk. Same goes for the NK standoff, India and the PRC's standoff, or ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. In this context, the OP is a blimp, at best.

 

[Rimmer]

A post misspelling the Israeli PM name has been removed

[Thorgal]

 

A state of war does officially exist between Israel and Syria. Your point?

 

A ‘state of war’ and an ‘act of war’ are different things.

 

Nice derogation. Must be self defense...

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Morch]

26 minutes ago, Thorgal said:

 

A ‘state of war’ and an ‘act of war’ are different things.

 

Nice derogation. Must be self defense...

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

[FritsSikkink]

11 hours ago, Morch said:

 

Israel is officially at a state of war with both Syrian and Lebanon. Sovereignty doesn't have anything to do with it.

 

 

It actually does, not that they care about the loads of UN resolutions too.

[Morch]

11 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

It actually does, not that they care about the loads of UN resolutions too.

 

It actually doesn't. Not even if you say so. And if you wish to go on about sovereignty, that would be kinda difficult seeing as Syria doesn't even recognizes Israel's to begin with. That you throw in "loads of UN resolutions" is just a default deflection. Not sure you really want to got there with regard to Asaad's regime.

 

There are currently armed forces from at least six or seven foreign countries on Syrian soil. Some of them there on the regime's request, fighting and killing Syrians opposed to the regime. Syria itself got quite a lively history of disregarding  its neighbors' sovereignty - most prominent examples being Lebanon's and Israel's.  

[FritsSikkink]

8 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

It actually doesn't. Not even if you say so. And if you wish to go on about sovereignty, that would be kinda difficult seeing as Syria doesn't even recognizes Israel's to begin with. That you throw in "loads of UN resolutions" is just a default deflection. Not sure you really want to got there with regard to Asaad's regime.

 

There are currently armed forces from at least six or seven foreign countries on Syrian soil. Some of them there on the regime's request, fighting and killing Syrians opposed to the regime. Syria itself got quite a lively history of disregarding  its neighbors' sovereignty - most prominent examples being Lebanon's and Israel's.  

""loads of UN resolutions" is just a default deflection." 

It is a fact which you choose to ignore.

 

[Morch]

1 hour ago, FritsSikkink said:

""loads of UN resolutions" is just a default deflection." 

It is a fact which you choose to ignore.

 

 

No, it isn't. There are a whole lot of "facts". Doesn't make each and every one relevant or their presentation correct.