Hezbollah weapons warehouses were the target of Wednesday’s Israeli airstrikes in Syria
By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUA/J.Post/11/12/2015
The target of Israel’s alleged airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday evening were Hezbollah weapons warehouses, Arab media affiliated with the opposition to Syrian Preisdent Basher Assad reported Thursday.
Pro-Assad operatives on Facebook said that the strikes, adjacent to Damascus airport, struck “military outposts near the airport, and there is a high probability that it was IDF warplanes that struck.”
New portal ‘Damascus Alan,’ which is affiliated with the Assad regime, reported that heavy damage was caused to army outposts around the airport, all of which went up in flames. The site did not specify what damage was caused to the outposts, but they said that nobody was hurt.
Syrian opposition activist Ahmed Yabrudi said: “Israeli warplanes entered from south Lebanon, arrived at Qalamoun and flew above the international airport in Damascus where they struck nearby military outposts.”
He added that “the Israeli planes remained in Syria’s skies for a half hour, and there is no information about the outposts that were hit – except that they belonged to Hezbollah.”
Official Syrian media failed to report on the air strikes attributed to Israel.
Israeli defense officials also declined to comment on the foreign media reports.
However, Israel did previously announce a strict-policy of intolerance towards threats to the state, such as weapons transfers to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The last reported Israeli strike in Syria, on October 31, targeted numerous Hezbollah targets in Syria’s south. In the October alleged attack, Syrian media reported that up to a dozen Israeli war planes conducted the mission close to the Lebanon-Syria border in the Qalamoun Mountains region. Estimated targets included a weapons convoy destined for Hezbollah fighters traveling through Syria.
The alleged attack on Wednesday night would be the second attributed to Israel since Russia began operating in the area.
Israel has reportedly struck Hezbollah in Syria several times over the past year.
Jpost.com staff and Noam Amir contributed to this report.
Israeli Defense Forces tests new precision artillery shell
Yoav Zitun/Ynetnews/Published: 11.12.15/The IDF has successfully tested a new, classified artillery shell recently, which the army says could be used to take out a terrorist cell holed up in a room without endangering troops by sending them in. The shell, which can penetrate through concrete walls, is currently in advanced stages of development. The test was conducted in the heart of central Israel, at a huge firing range where the army tries out all IDF weaponry. Cameras installed for the test captured it from multiple angles and in slow motion, in order to carefully examine every stage. The IDF’s Artillery Corps is expected to undergo a complete overhaul in the coming years, with the retirement of outdated systems and deployment of more and more precision-guided munitions. “Dumb” shells will still be used to soften targets, provide cover for ground troops, and other functions – but the army has already begun using more precision munitions as a cheap, quick and readily available substitute to Air Force missiles and bombing. This year, the IDF successfully tested the GPS-guided “Lance” rocket – a test shown in a video first published on Ynet. “Every weapon, from 5.56 millimeter bullet used in soldiers’ rifles to tanks, is tested and inspected before it reaches the troops,” a senior IDF officer told Ynet. “Every bullet or surveillance device goes through an arduous series of tests before it is given to troops in order to assure its quality and reliability.”
Report: Air force struck near Damascus airport
Roi Kais/Ynetnews/Published: 11.11.15/Israel’s air force conducted strikes in the vicinity of the Damascus airport, claimed a number of media outlets linked to Syrian opposition groups on Wednesday. The source of the reports was unknown and they were not confirmed by any official bodies in Syria or Israel. The reports described pre-dawn loud explosions at the airport and rising pillars of smoke, while electricity went out completely. It was further reported that flights were temporarily halted for no known reason.
The major Arab-language media outlets had not reported the purported incident as of publication. Neither had any official media outlets belonging to the Assad regime. But a Facebook page linked to the regime did say that a military post near the airport had been attacked before dawn and that it was believed to be the work of Israel’s air force. Photos were later posted that allegedly depicted damage from this attack, and the account also claimed there had been no loss of life. About two weeks ago, social media accounts linked with Syrian opposition groups reported that Israeli military aircraft had conducted two airstrikes on Hezbollah and Syrian army positions in the Damascus suburb of al-Qalamoun.
