Arab sources report Israel air strikes against Syrian-Hizballah missile bases,Hizballah arms convoys.
DEBKAfile: Hizballah secret airstrip possible target
DEBKAfile Special Report April 25, 2015
Unofficial sources in Syria and Lebanon, cited by the Arab TV channels Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, reported Saturday, April 25, that the Israeli Air Force struck Hizballah and Syrian military targets in the Qalamoun mountains on the Syrian-Lebanese border from Wednesday, April 22, to Friday night April 24. There is no official word on these reports from Israel or Syria. In the Wednesday attack, one person was said to have been killed. The picture taking shape from these reports shows the targets to have been the 155th, 65th and 92nd Brigades of the Syrian army and Hizballah, two Hizballah arms convoys and Syrian long-range missile bases or batteries.
debkafile’s military sources add that it is hardly credible that Israeli air raids spread over three days went unnoticed by the Syrian and Lebanese media. The Arab TV reports if confirmed may therefore be exaggerated in scope. Friday, our own sources reported that Syrian and Hizballah forces under Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers were fighting to flush out the last rebel pockets on the strategic Qalamoun mountains, to clear the highway to Lebanon for unhindered military movements – most importantly, the weapons and personnel flowing regularly across the border between the two allies.
In past reports, debkafile disclosed that Hizballah had transferred the bulk of its personnel and a large store of missiles from northern Lebanon to a protected enclave in Qalamoun under its control. The Iranian-backed Lebanese militia calculated that this base would be safer from Israeli attack than in Lebanon. And, in the event of war, Israel would be obliged to extend its front to Syria. According to Western intelligence sources, long-range missiles are part of the store Hizballah relocated to the Syrian mountains, whence they can be aimed at Israel. The putative Israeli air strikes this week would therefore have aimed at thwarting Hizballah’s scheme to set up another war base in the Syrian-Lebanese mountains area. Another likely target would be Hizballah’s first air strip for drones established in the northern Lebanese Beqaa Valley south of Hermel.
Jane’s, a British publication specializing in military affairs, this week ran satellite images showing the airstrip to be 670 m long and 20 m wide, too short for most transport aircraft, excepting the Iranian Revolutionary Guards short take-off An-74T-200 transports, which carry arms for Hizballah – although landing with a load on this mountain strip would be considered dangerous. The runway was apparently built to accommodate drones, such as the Ababil-3 and Shahed-129 types which Iran has delivered to Hizballah.
Report: Alleged Israeli strike targeted Scud missiles
Yoav Zitun/ Ynetnews
Published: 04.26.15/Israel News
Arab media outlets claim long-range missile cache was target of attack attributed to Israel. The target of the alleged Israeli strike in the suburbs of Damascus was a shipment of long-range ground-to-ground missiles, likely of the Scud variety, according to reports in Arab media outlets. The reports claimed the attack occurred in two waves and left a number of casualties. Al Jazeera reported on Saturday morning that Israeli warplanes bombed positions belonging to the Syrian army and Hezbollah in the al-Qalamoun region near the border between Syria and Lebanon.
The strike was reported in Al-Arabiya, which claimed the target was a cache of Syrian Scuds. The Saudi-owned network further claimed that Israel had also struck the area on Wednesday. The IDF and the security services refused to comment on the strikes. According to the Al Jazeera report, the strike occurred on Friday and was intended to hit the 155th and 65th Brigades of the Syrian army, which specialize in strategic weaponry and long-range missiles. Sources which reported to the Qatari network said several explosions were heard in the Syrian towns of Al-Qutayfah, Yabroud and Qarah on the outskirts of Damascus.
Meanwhile, a Syrian opposition official currently outside of the country claimed overnight, based on sources within Syria, that the target was weapon stores. At the same time, an Al-Arabiya reporter in Israel claimed that on Wednesday the Israeli military attacked a weapons convoy intended for Hezbollah. The reporter claimed one person was killed in the strike.
**Roi Kais contributed to this report.
