An Israeli Air Force F-35 fighter jet flies during an aerial demonstration at a graduation ceremony for Israeli air force pilots . (photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
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The Israeli army has announced that it has carried out over 200 airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria and fired over 800 missiles and mortar shells over the past year and a half.
According to the IDF, the strikes were aimed at preventing Iranian entrenchment in Syria and led to Iranians to evacuate several bases in Syria and has also had an effect on the Islamic Republic’s arms smuggling.
Nevertheless, despite the attacks the military still sees an attempt by Iran to establish themselves in the region, including transfering ballistic missiles to Iraq with which it shares a border.
A report by Reuters over the weekend stated that Iran had transferred the missiles to Shiite proxies in Iraq over the course of several months and that it is developing the capacity to build missile manufacturing facilities as well as train militia groups to operate the weapons.
Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman signaled on Monday that Israel could strike suspected Iranian military assets in the region like it has been done in neighboring Syria. But according to the military, the IDF has not identified any deployment of missiles in Iraq which can strike Israel.
Israel has warned against Iran’s entrenchment in Syria and has stressed time and again that Syrian soil can not serve as a forward operating base by Iran and that the war-torn country cannot be a waystation for arms smuggling to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
According to the IDF, while Hezbollah has gained battlefield knowledge due to it’s fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, it has lost over 2,000 fighters and is in a state of economic distress.
Hezbollah is nevertheless still working to produce precision missiles but has not yet been able to do so due to IAF strikes against weapons convoys and facilities in Syria.
The IDF also says that it has contributed to the defeat of the Islamic State group as a territorial entity in the Middle East, but warned that it’s ideology which is just as dangerous will remain a threat for generations.
The Syrian army backed Russian airpower and Iranian backed Shiite militia fighters have been recapturing large swathes of territory and is now believed to have control over 70% of the war-torn country.
While Syrian troops have once again been deployed to the border with Israel, in order to prevent an escalation between the two enemy countries, Russian military police have been deployed along the Golan Heights border along with UN Peacekeepers.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot will submit a comprehensive and classified report in the coming days to the Security Cabinet on the military’s readiness for war. Earlier this week he wrote to Defense Minister Liberman, stating that the IDF is at a high level of readiness for war and ready for any scenario.
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