Syria reported the third airstrike by Israel in four days early Sunday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to pursue his country’s enemies “on all fronts.”
(Bloomberg) — Syria reported the third airstrike by Israel in four days early Sunday, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to pursue his country’s enemies “on all fronts.”
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors Syria’s civil war, Israel’s attacks targeted military positions of the Syrian government and allied Iranian-backed militias in central Homs province. Fire broke out in the scientific research area in Khirbat Al-Tain as well as at a military airport, it added. Five soldiers were wounded, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.
Iran’s presence on Israel’s doorstep and its accelerating uranium enrichment program are major concerns of the Netanyahu government. Israel and its allies suspect Iran wants to build a nuclear bomb, which Tehran denies.
Meanwhile, Iran and its allies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, have rendered military support to the Syrian government in the course of that country’s civil war. Throughout the conflict, Israel has attacked Syria dozens of times, saying it is targeting Iranian-linked positions.
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Israel’s government hasn’t commented on the specific air strikes attributed to it within the past week, in keeping with practice. But at the start of his cabinet’s weekly meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu cautioned that Israel’s current domestic political turmoil wouldn’t distract from the country’s fight against its foes.
Hundreds of reservists and conscripts, including pilots, have threatened not to show up for duty if the Netanyahu government goes ahead with its plan to dilute the power of the country’s courts.
“We are exacting a high price from the regimes that support terrorism, beyond Israel’s borders,” he said. “I suggest that our enemies not err. Israel’s internal debate will not detract one iota from our determination, strength and ability to kt against our enemies on all fronts, wherever and whenever necessary.”
Israeli strikes have targeted Syria nine times in all since the beginning of the year, the monitoring group said.
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In related news, a second officer with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has died following last week’s Israeli airstrike on Syria’s capital, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.
Syrian and Iranian state media said Israel’s forces hit a number of targets on Friday in the suburbs of Damascus. A military adviser for the IRGC’s cyber command unit was killed in the attack, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported at the time.
A second member of the corps died of wounds sustained during the strike, Tasnim reported on Sunday, citing the IRGC’s official news website.
–With assistance from Golnar Motevalli.
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