Satellite images show major destruction after Israel targets a Syrian missile facility. While Syria’s state media says most of the missiles were shot down over the Mediterranean sea.
| photo source: Times of Israel
Israel’s missiles hits one of the biggest military facilities in Syria. The attack was targeted in Western Syria.
Syria’s state media reported that the missiles were launched over the Mediterranean sea. While some of them hit the target, most were shot down in the air. The attack led to blowing up a depot housing hundreds of missiles for Iran-backed fighters.
UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights leader Rami Abdurrahman said that the Israelis struck many targets though the most hit was the giant arms depot. He also informed that the depot was housing more than 1,000 precision-guided medium-range missiles.
The explosion at the facility lasted for more than five hours. “The explosions were among the largest since Israel began carrying out air strikes in Syria,” he said.
An underground facility under Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was also hit in the attack. But it didn’t see any destruction, Abdurrahman said. He also told the media that the underground facility was saved probably because of the depth it has been dug in. “The explosions were among the largest since Israel began carrying out air strikes in Syria,” he said.
Israel on the matter
There was no official statement from Israel’s army. The attack killed the Syrian army captain & wounded 14 other army men. Syrian news agency SANA also reported the death of two civilians in the attack.
While there are no official statements from Israel, a news network- Times of Israel said that Israel has a policy of not speaking up on any attacks in the Syrian region. Well the military did take the responsibility of conducting hundreds of sorties against Iran-backed groups attempting to gain a foothold in the country.
It also said that Israel did attack on the shipments believed to be bound to the group.
The US strike & deterrence
Lieutenant-General Alexus Grynkewich, a top US Airforce officer in the Middle East spoke on the matter. He said that he was “certainly aware” of Israel’s air strike in Syria. He said that there is no link between Israel’s attack & the older US air strike.
Earlier this week the US made an airstrike targeting the Ayash Camp run by the Fatemiyoun group in Syria. The attack was called as a part of defence strategy against the potential attack of Iran’s backed fighters in the area.
The Lieutenant-General also said that the recent actions of the US air force “are entirely disconnected from any other actors, whether the Israelis or anyone else”.
The tit-for-tat attacks going on in the middle east between US & Iran based fighters in Syria have escalated the tension between the countries. On this Grynkewich said “things have de-escalated and now we’ve reached a point where deterrence is once again established”.
After-effects of the Israel’s strike
After Thursday’s attack near the cities of Tartous and Hama, a fire started in nearby forests. Planet Labs PBC, a news network that provides information through open source intelligence posted & analysed the satellite images.
It said in a tweet that the attack has caused the destruction of some high buildings. Adding to this it also said that areas around the Scientific Studies and Research Centre sustained “heavy fire damage due to the secondary explosions”.
Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of Syria over the past decade of its civil war, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.
More news on Israel & Syria- https://tdznkwjt9mxt6p1p8657.cleaver.live/death-toll-from-weekend-israel-gaza-fighting-rises-to-47/
