Jerusalem Post/Were Hezbollah Members Targeted Near Demascus?  جيرازليم بوست: هل استهدفت الغارة الإسرائيلية بالقرب من دمشق اعضاء من حزب الله /Action In Syria: العمليات العسكرية في سوريا

67

Action In Syria
 
جيرازليم بوست: العمليات العسكرية في سوريا

 
Jerusalem Post/December 26/18
 As the IDF demonstrated this week, it will not hesitate to take action against Iran in Syria or elsewhere if Israel’s security is threatened.
 Now that Israel has decided to hold early elections on April 9, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has to be particularly cautious about any moves that could trigger a conflagration in the region. As the IDF demonstrated this week, it will not hesitate to take action against Iran in Syria or elsewhere if Israel’s security is threatened. While that’s how it should be, there is a real danger of Syria becoming a flashpoint for a new conflict involving Israel.
 According to foreign reports, Israeli air strikes in Syria on Tuesday night hit several Hezbollah officials as they boarded a plane bound for Iran. Newsweek cited an unnamed source as saying that the strike also targeted strategic Iranian munitions. At least one Hezbollah official and three Syrian soldiers were wounded in the attacks.
 Newsweek said its source had received the information from Israeli military officials. According to Syrian state media, the strikes were launched from Lebanon, and Syrian air defenses had fired at “hostile targets” west of Damascus; its weapons warehouses were hit by Israeli fire. For its part, the IDF said it had deployed air defenses against a missile fired from Syria at Israel, which caused no harm or damage.
 “An IDF aerial defense system was activated in response to an anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria,” the army said. Photographs on social media showed the launch being carried out from near the northern city of Hadera.
 Israel has over the past few years conducted hundreds of air strikes in Syria, treading a fine line between Russia, which supports the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and the US, which recently announced a withdrawal of American troops from the country.
 Israel’s main goals have been to stop Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria that would threaten the Jewish state, as well as thwart attempts by Iran to transfer advanced arms and ammunition to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
 In the latest issue of The Jerusalem Report, veteran military analyst Yossi Melman argues that US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw his contingent of more than 2,000 troops from Syria was “a Christmas gift to the US’s enemies and rivals, above all Russia and Iran, and indirectly China, and a bombshell dropped on Israel and the Sunni Arab world, which have been encouraged by the US to form a steadfast front against the expansionist aspirations of Shi’ite Iran.”
 Melman notes that the US evacuation opens up an Iranian land corridor from Tehran to Damascus that will allow Iran to accomplish its aspirations to reach Lebanon via land. Where does all this leave Israel?
 As Melman concludes, although Israel will continue to enjoy the diplomatic backing of the US and it remains the strongest military power in the region that can defend itself and its interests, without a US presence in Syria, “it will be much more difficult to deal with the crisis.”
 “The recovery of the Assad regime and the reassertion of its control over most of the country has brought the Syrian army back to the Golan Heights, where it was joined by Iranian and Hezbollah forces, as well as by Tehran-backed Shi’ite militias,” writes Maj.-Gen. Gershon Hacohen in a paper published by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, summing up the key strategic turning points of 2018. “The situation was further complicated by the Russian military presence in Syria and the constraints it imposed on Israel’s operational freedom, especially after the September 2018 downing of the Russian plane by Syrian air defense forces.”
 Israel, under Netanyahu, has managed to overcome such blips as the downing of the Russian plane, while maintaining close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the US pullout, Netanyahu has to be even more careful not to upset Putin.
 Now that Russia has become the key player in Syria, it is essential for Netanyahu to protect Israel’s interests by coordinating with Moscow to foil any Iranian plots against it. We urge him to be tough but smart in acting against Iran in Syria, especially now with new elections on the horizon.
 

 Were Hezbollah Members Targeted Near Demascus?
 
جيرازليم بوست: هل استهدفت الغارة الإسرائيلية بالقرب من دمشق اعضاء من حزب الله
 
Jerusalem Post/December 26/18
 Mountain highway from Beirut to Damascus has been frequent target of past airstrikes, but claims that Hezbollah leaders were targeted leave questions about why they traveled to Syria
 Hezbollah senior leaders and members were traveling to Damascus during the air strikes that rocked areas west of the Syrian capital on Tuesday evening. They were reportedly hit during the air strikes, leaving many questions about their identities and why they were targeted.
 Newsweek reported on Wednesday that Hezbollah leaders were targeted in the airstrikes. According to several sources, including the Lebanese website NewLebanon.info, the Hezbollah delegation was journeying to Damascus to board a flight bound for Tehran. It was heading to the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, an important Iranian cleric who was head of the Expediency Discernment Council. He died on December 24, and senior Iranian religious figures buried him on Wednesday. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei presided at the ceremonies, according to Iran’s Fars News.
 It now appears that the Hezbollah delegation may have been heading to Damascus to board a flight to Tehran for the state funeral. Hezbollah and Iranian regime leaders regularly attend each other’s funerals and ceremonies. For instance, in 2015, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani went to the grave of Jihad Mughniyeh in Beirut.
 A Mahan Air flight left Damascus around 10 p.m. in the midst of the air strikes. Mahan Air has been designated by the US Treasury Department for its links to the IRGC. Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said in 2016 that Mahan Air was among those whose flights have been used by Tehran to supply Hezbollah. However, these flights could fly directly to Beirut – so why would a Hezbollah delegation need to travel to Damascus to board the flight?
 The claim that the Hezbollah members were targeted and that they were traveling for the Shahroudi funeral has not been confirmed. Newsweek reported that a Defense Department source said the strike was “conducted minutes after the leaders boarded a plane bound for Iran.” Strikes also targeted ammunition warehouses that held precision ammunition. In comments reports in ‘Haaretz,’ former director of Military Intelligence Maj-Gen. Amos Yadlin cast doubt on the report, saying it was a low probability that Hezbollah officials were struck.
 The claim that the Hezbollah members had already boarded a plane has not been corroborated with any footage on the ground that shows a plane being hit. A strike on a plane at Damascus International Airport would be a serious escalation. The report may be only partly accurate, and may indicate that the men were struck on the way to board a plane, not after they had boarded.
 Syria’s state media SANA claims that Syrian air defenses “intercepted hostile missiles fired by Israeli warplanes from Lebanese territory and managed to drop most of the rockets before reaching their targets.” SANA said the air strikes hit an ammunition depot and wounded three soldiers. Several Syria observers, including the Twitter account @Syria_SR, claimed the air strikes were more complex than that, involving “55 munition, four waves [of cruise missiles] in 35 minutes and managed to hit 7 times in 2 different locations.”
 In response, Syrian air defense reportedly fired 60 missiles to intercept the attack. Several Syrian SA-125 anti-air missiles misfired during defensive action, falling in areas around Damascus and causing confusion.
 If the Hezbollah members were in fact targeted, it would not be the first time that Hezbollah members have been struck in the same location – on the highway that leads from Damascus over the mountains to Beirut. For instance, two Hezbollah members were killed in an air strike near Dimas in December 2014. In January 2015, “senior Hezbollah figures,” including Jihad Mughniyeh, were killed near Quneitra. Mezzeh military airport was also struck in December 2016. Air strikes also targeted an area near Saboura on the mountain road in November 2016 and April 2017.
 The road that passes from Damascus via the Mezzeh military airport and Saboura, Dimas and then over to Lebanon is a 116-km. stretch of beautiful mountain driving that normally takes two-and-a-half hours.
 The allegation that the senior Hezbollah members were targeted on their way to the Shahroudi funeral has now been repeated by many sources on social media and online. Why would Hezbollah members expose themselves on the road to Damascus, knowing that there have been tensions in the region in recent months? Did they feel safe, hoping Syria’s S-300 air defense system – supplied by Russia in the wake of the downing of a Russian IL-20 in September during an Israeli air strike – would provide them security?
 Targeted in the past on the same stretch of road, they would have known its dangers. It doesn’t answer the final question of why they didn’t board a flight directly from Beirut and save themselves the drive and exposure.
 Hezbollah media and pro-Syrian regime media have been silent on this issue. Iranian regime media have also been silent, discussing only the Syrian air defense system’s “success” at targeting the attack and continuing the story that only a warehouse was hit and several soldiers injured. In the coming hours or days, the Syrian regime or pro-Hezbollah media may begin to reveal what happened. If senior members of the group were killed, they will want to hold lavish funerals for the “martyrs.”
 Hezbollah is often outspoken about these kinds of events. On December 3, for instance, Hezbollah claimed none of its members were hit in an alleged November 29 air strike south of Damascus. This was in response to rumors that its members had been targeted. Now the ball is in Hezbollah’s court once again. We will see if the terrorist organization responds to the rumors from December 25 regarding its members being targeted.