Video of airstrike in Damascus, December 25, 2018
Video of airstrike in Damascus, December 25, 2018
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The Israeli airstrikes against targets in Syria put two civilian aircraft in “immediate danger,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
According to Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, Israeli F-16s carried out airstrikes on Syrian targets as two civilian flights were landing in Beirut and Damascus, putting the passengers at risk.
“Provocative acts by the Israeli Air Force endangered two passenger jets when six of their F-16s carried out airstrikes on Syria from Lebanese airspace,” he was quoted by RT news as saying.
According to the report, the Syrian military didn’t deploy surface-to-air missiles and electronic jamming “to prevent a tragedy” and to let Damascus air traffic control divert one of the passenger jets to Khmeimim airbase near Latakia.
Unconfirmed reports indicated that one of the flights which were diverted was a Cham Wings flight from Najaf to Latakia.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense added that regime air defenses had destroyed 14 of 16 missiles fired by Israel during the strikes.
According to a report by Newsweek quoting a source in the US Defense Department, senior Hezbollah leaders were targeted the airstrikes on Tuesday.
The report quoted the source as having obtained the information from a senior Israeli military officer “with direct knowledge of the attack” which “was conducted minutes after the leaders boarded a plane bound for Iran.”
Other locations reported by Syrian media to have been struck during the strike are as follows: pro-Iranian military positions located in the suburbs of Damascus, air defense facilities and headquarters of the 68th Brigade and the 137th Brigade of the Syrian Army in the Damascus area, a military headquarters belonging to the 4th Division of the Syrian Army in the Al-Muna area surrounding Damascus and military Unit 10 in the district of Qatana.
The strikes, which began around 10PM, struck several locations and were reported by Newsweek to have targeted-in addition to the plane- weapons warehouses as well as several Iranian ammunition supply points which advanced contained GPS-guided ammunition for Hezbollah.
Israeli officials have repeatedly voiced concerns over the growing Iranian presence on its borders and the smuggling of sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah from Tehran to Lebanon via Syria, stressing that both are red-lines for the Jewish State.
Syrian state media said the strikes were carried out from Lebanese airspace and that a number of “hostile targets” were intercepted by its S-200 air defense system. Israel’s air defense system was also activated, with a smoke-trail seen from the city of Hadera south of Haifa. There were no reports of injuries or damage to Israel.
Earlier on Tuesday an Iranian cargo jet belonging to Iran’s Fars Air Qeshm landed in Damascus International Airport. The Boeing 747, affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) took off from Tehran at 5.30PM and landed shortly after 7.45PM. The airline has been accused several times of smuggling Iranian weaponry to Hezbollah, and was suspected to have transported military equipment from Tehran to the Syrian army and Hezbollah.
With the presence of Iranian and Hezbollah forces, Israel’s northern front has become the IDF’s number one priority. Working to prevent the entrenchment of Iranian forces and the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah, the Israel Air Force has admitted to carrying out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria.
The alleged attack came a week after the White House announced that American troops would withdraw from Syria. Following the announcement Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would expand military operations against Iran following the withdrawal and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot stressed that while it was a “significant” event, it would not affect the IDF’s ability to act against Iran and Hezbollah.
While the number of airstrikes in Syria attributed to Israel have dropped since the downing of a Russian military plane in September by Syrian air defenses during an Israeli strike, Israel has stressed that it will continue to operate against Iranian targets in the war-torn country.
Following the downing of the plane, Moscow provided the S-300 advanced anti-aircraft missile batteries as well as the launcher, radar and command and control vehicle to the Syrian regime in early October,
The system was deployed to Masyaf in northwestern Syria and is not believed to be operational yet.
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