September 7, 2018 | 27 Elul 5778
Vol. 15, Iss. 36
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IDF Launches 200 Strikes in Syria Since 2017; Tensions Escalate on Border
The IDF revealed Tuesday that it has carried out roughly 200 strikes in Syria over the past year and a half. According to the IDF, the attacks made use of over 800 missiles and bombs that were dropped on selected sites, mostly from fighter jets. The attacks have mostly focused on Iranian weapons convoys and other Iranian targets in Syria.
Edited by: JV Staff
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he IDF revealed Tuesday that it has carried out roughly 200 strikes in Syria over the past year and a half. According to the IDF, the attacks made use of over 800 missiles and bombs that were dropped on selected sites, mostly from fighter jets. The attacks have mostly focused on Iranian weapons convoys and other Iranian targets in Syria. Also on Tuesday, Syrian state media and an independent monitoring group have reported an Israeli air raid targeting government-held areas in the center and west of the country.
Syria’s SANA news agency have said that Israeli jets were flying at high altitude above Lebanon fired several missiles on the area of Wadi Ayoun in Syria’s Hama province, killing at least one person, and the town of Baniyas in the coastal Tartous province. The attack was launched on Tuesday around dusk. It says the country’s air defenses shot down five of the missiles. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported several explosions in the two areas. It says Israeli jets struck military installations belonging to Iran, a key ally of the Syrian government. Israel is believed to be behind a string of strikes targeting government
and allied military installations. The Syrian government accused Israel of striking a weapons research facility near Wadi Ayoun in July. In a related development, ABC News has reported that the White House is warning Syria’s President Bashar Assad that if he chooses to use chemical weapons again, the U.S. and its allies “will respond swiftly and appropriately.” President Trump’s administration said Tuesday that it’s monitoring the situation in the rebel-held Idlib province, where it says millions of innocent civilians are under threat of an attack by Assad’s government. The White House says Trump has
warned that such an attack would be a “reckless escalation of an already tragic conflict” and would put at risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Russia has been a key supporter of Assad and complained about militants in Idlib targeting its own facilities. The revelation of Israel conducting 200 strikes in Syria since 2017 was made as part of a special assessment of the IDF’s readiness to deal with security threats, which IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot presented to Israel’s Security Cabinet on Tuesday. Aside from the aerial strikes against Hezbollah and Iranian targets in Syria, methods of cyber warfare were also
employed, but their details remain classified. The document also stated that the IDF commanders are pleased with the increasing American involvement in the region to prevent the establishment of a Shiite axis in Syria. As for the situation on Israel’s southern front, the document reveals that the IDF assesses that a military conflict with Hamas in Gaza is far more likely than a ceasefire deal which would also lead to disarmament and rehabilitation of the Gaza strip. However, the IDF assures it is prepared for such a situation.
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