WarSclerotic

Syria Rebels ‘Steal’ Credit from Israel for Attack – Defense/Security – News – Israel National News.

A rebel fighter throws a handmade hand grenade towards pro-Syrian government troops

AFP/Philippe Desmazes

While Russia, Hizbullah, Syria and Lebanon condemned Israel and threatened retaliation over the attack early Wednesday on a convoy carrying Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, and/or of Israel’s alleged attack against a military research center, Syrian rebels said that they were condemning and threatening the wrong guys; it wasn’t Israel that bombed the convoy, the rebels said. Instead, the credit belongs to them.

While Syria said that there had been an Israeli attack, it disputed the target. Western media reported that Israel had attacked a convoy carrying Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles from Syria to Hizbullah terrorist bases along the border with Lebanon. The US later said that Israel had confirmed this. But in a statement, Syria denied that Israel had struck the missiles, but that it had hit a military research center in a Damascus suburb.

At least in the latter case, the rebels said, Syrian officials got it wrong. In a statement, a coalition of rebel groups in the Damascus area said that a statement by Syria attributing the attack to Israel was incorrect. “The attack was carried out by the Sheikh Ahmed Yassin special forces unit, together with the A-Sham Martyrs Brigades. They destroyed the science center at Jumharriya, on the outskirts of Damascus.”

According to the rebels, they fired six 120mm rockets and destroyed a large part of the building, which they said was a center of chemical weapons research. The statement added that the building had housed research teams from Russia and Iran, along with large numbers of Hizbullah terrorists.

Calculated risk – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.

Analysis: Was purported attack on weapons convoy prelude to broad military conflict in north?

Alex Fishman

Israel, according to the foreign press, attacked at dawn Wednesday a Hezbollah weapons convoy along the Lebanon-Syria border. If an attack did in fact take place, was it a prelude to a broad military conflict on the northern front? We should look for the answer to this question, first of all, in the IDF’s General Staff.

Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, his deputy Gadi Eizenkot and Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi are advocates of covert activity as part of what is referred to in the army as the “prevention policy” – this is how we can also interpret the reports of a previous attack on a weapons convoy in Sudan. If, for instance, it is possible to prevent the transfer of weapons from Iran by destroying them along the way – this is preferable to launching a ground operation after the weapons have already reached Gaza or Lebanon.

In general, this policy applies to any hostile activities or preparations, and the goal is to destroy the threats as far away as possible, preferably during the preparation stage. The risk is that the activity, in an enemy state, may go wrong; and there is also the risk of angering friendly countries while jeopardizing national interests. This policy works as long as it remains covert, and this is where its main drawback lies: As soon as your operation is exposed, or if you left your “fingerprints” on the attack, you invite the other side to respond. It is at this precise point that a war can break out – a war you may not have wanted; a war that does not justify the price you will pay.

Over the past year, as he has lost more and more ground to rebel forces, Syrian President Bashar Assad has been transferring large amounts of his strategic weapons – such as the various Scud missiles and chemical warfare agents – to areas he has more control over. These movements have been a cause of great concern for Western intelligence agencies, who feared these weapons were about to reach Lebanon. But the intelligence and military tension has alternately escalated and decreased as the Alawite regime gradually wears down.

According to foreign reports, Israel attacked in the past weapons convoys and a warehouse in Sudan and destroyed long-range rockets. The weapons convoys, which departed from Libya, were hit, smugglers’ ships were sunk in the Red Sea, various ammunition warehouses exploded in Lebanon every once in a while – but Israel did not attack in Lebanon, although it was aware that Hezbollah received shipments of Scud missiles, long-range M-600 missiles and all the other types of rockets and missiles the Syrian army possesses.

Like any other country, Israel has to determine when it can take a risk and attack without running the risk of getting involved in a full-blown war, and when it is better to hold back because it does not want to pay the price of an open military conflict.

Despite the fact that Israel is not interested in an extensive confrontation on the Lebanese front, over the past year – and particularly over the past few months – the IDF has been preparing for such a conflict. Apart from the physical preparedness, army brass is mentally prepared for the possibility that a conflict will break out. Therefore, it is safe to assume that Israel is closer to a military conflict in the north today than it has been at any point in time since the Second Lebanon War.

Arabs accuse world of encouraging ‘Israeli aggression’ – Israel News, Ynetnews.

( As always, the Arabs make their own self parody. – JW )

Arab League condemns alleged bombing of Syrian military center, demands Syria be paid for damage. Lebanon: Strike shows ‘terrorist state’s true path’

Roi Kais

Breaking the silence: More than a day after the alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria, Lebanon‘s foreign minister is calling on Arab states to “confront Israel in every possible legal way.”

Minister Adnan Mansour described the alleged bombing of a Syrian research center as “blunt aggression which we strongly condemn.”

The Arab League also responded to the report accusing the international community of encouraging Israel’s actions by keeping silent. The league demanded that Syria be compensated for the damage and loss of lives.

On Wednesday, Damascus confirmed that there had been an attack but claimed that the target was a “military research center.” Most foreign reports however said that Israeli warplanes had hit a weapons convoy taking Russian-made SA-17 missiles to Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, in the backdrop of heightened tensions on the northern border Defense Minister Ehud Barak is scheduled to travel to Germany later on Thursday. He will be replaced by Minister Avi Dichter until his return next week.

According to Lebanese Minister Mansour, “This (Israeli) aggression shows yet again the true path this terrorist state has been treading since 1948. It is a threat on world peace and Arab security. It forces us as Arabs to take a firm stand in order to fight it in every possible legal way.”

Arabs demand compensation

On Wednesday, prior to the report of the alleged strike in Syria, it was reported that Israeli Air Force jets had carried out several sorties over Lebanon.

The Arab League condemned the IAF’s “infiltration into Syrian airspace and the bombing in Jamraya.” It accused Israel of violating Syria’s sovereignty in clear contradiction to the United Nations charter and international law.

The league demanded that the international community take responsibility and end Israel’s continued assaults against Arab states. “The world’s silence in the face of the Israeli bombing of Syrian sites in the past has encouraged Israel to continue its aggression while taking advantage of the situation to commit this crime.”

The league said that Israel must “be held fully accountable for the aggression’s outcomes” and demanded that Syria be compensated for the damage and casualties caused by the airstrike.

Iran threatens ‘serious consequences’ for … JPost – Middle East.

Israel Hayom | SA-17: Mobile, accurate, and difficult to destroy.

Israel Hayom | Waiting for a response.

BBC News – Iran ‘plans to upgrade enrichment equipment’.

Iran has told the UN nuclear agency it plans to upgrade uranium enrichment centrifuges at its Natanz plant, reports citing diplomats say.

The move would allow the country to refine uranium at a faster rate, increasing fears among western states about Iran’s intentions.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful in purpose. The US and its allies fear it seeks nuclear weapons.

The plan was set out in a letter to the IAEA dated 23 January, reports said.

The letter is said to mention a model of centrifuge, called IR2m, which can enrich two or three times faster than the present equipment being used by Tehran, according to the Associated Press.

The International Atomic Energy Agency sent a letter to member states saying Iran had informed the agency of its plans to use the improved machines at its fuel enrichment plant in Natanz, according to a document seen by Reuters.

“The Secretariat of the Agency received a letter from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) dated 23 January 2013 informing the Agency that ‘centrifuge machines type IR2m will be used in Unit A-22’ at the Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) at Natanz,” the IAEA communication is reported to say.

The Natanz facility, in central Iran, is at the heart of the country’s dispute with the United Nations Security Council.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the European Union’s top foreign policy official said she believed that negotiations on the country’s nuclear programme would resume shortly.

Catherine Ashton said she was “confident” that there would be a meeting soon.

Russia slams Israeli attack on Syria. US forces in Jordan on alert.

DEBKAfile Special Report January 31, 2013, 9:51 AM (GMT+02:00)

Israeli Air Force F-15 Eagle takes off

The Syrian announcement of an Israeli air strike on a military site near Damascus Wednesday, Jan. 30, drew strong condemnation from Moscow the next day: “Such action if confirmed would amount to unacceptable military interference in the war-ravaged country,” said the statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry Thursday. “If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violate the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.”
Israel has made no comment on the Damascus statement which described in detail an Israeli air strike against a “military research institute” near the capital. Witnesses say it was a plant for manufacturing “unconventional weapons.” The facility was destroyed and two staff members killed.

Lebanese sources later reported a Russian Mig-31 fighter had crossed over Sinai Wednesday in the direction of Israel. It veered west over the Mediterranean after encountering an Israeli warning not to intrude into its air space and continued flying over Lebanon.

debkafile’s military sources say that the only external military force in the eastern Mediterranean region is a fleet of 18 Russian warships, which includes landing-craft – among the largest in the Russian Navy – with 2,000 marines aboard.
According to various Middle East sources, the Syrian report of an Israeli air strike has touched off high military alerts across the region. Syria has put its Golan forces on the Israel border on combat readiness and the Lebanese and Jordanian armies are on alert. So too are the Russian fleet opposite Syria and the Lebanese army.

Our military sources report that Turkish units on the Syrian border are on high preparedness although Ankara played down the reports of the Israeli air strike in Syria, uncomfortable over the fact that the Israeli Air Force was the first external power to intervene directly in the Syrian conflict.

So too are the US air force units stationed at the Turkish Incerlik air base, the US special forces deployed at the Jordanian Mafraq air facility and the American, German and Dutch Patriot missile interceptors deployed in Turkey opposite Syria. Israel has been on high alert since last week.
The prevailing estimate in military and intelligence circles in Washington and NATO capitals is that the Israeli air attack on the Syrian military site near Damascus was but the opening shot for the coming round of military blows they expect to be exchanged in the near future between Israel, Syria and Hizballah, with Iran possibly waiting in the wings for a chance to pitch in.

Israel’s strike on Syrian target sends warning to region – The Globe and Mail.

Israel airmailed a message to Damascus Wednesday, carrying out an air strike on a convoy apparently carrying high-value Syrian weaponry somewhere between the capital and the Lebanese border 25 kilometres away.

Reports from unnamed diplomatic and western military sources indicated the target was a convoy believed to be carrying Russian-made surface-to-air missiles, SA-17s, to Hezbollah, the militant political-religious movement that dominates the Lebanese government.

Syria, however, issued a statement that it was a military research centre outside Damascus that was attacked by Israel, a report subsequently denied by rebels, who claimed to have carried out the research centre strike themselves.

It was the first time in five years that Israel’s air force carried out an attack inside Syria. In 2007, the target was the site of what was said to be a nuclear reactor under construction.

Israel never acknowledged carrying out the assault and Syria never retaliated for it.

This time Israel’s aim was to take out sophisticated weaponry and to warn the Damascus regime that it mustn’t try such a thing again – a mission made that much more difficult since Syria, in the midst of civil war, has become almost a failed state, and the spark could ignite a tinderbox.

There may be confusion over what was hit and where. But the message to Syria was clear, said Mark Heller, principal research associate at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University: “We’re watching. Don’t try sending anything to Hezbollah. Just don’t do it.”

Israel refused to confirm or deny the reports of the operation, but the apparent attack, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, came three days after a warning from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “lethal weaponry” from Syria could be falling into the hands of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Mr. Netanyahu continues to preside over the government in Israel until a new government is formed in the wake of last week’s general election. Mr. Netanyahu himself is likely to head the new government.

The attack on the Syrian weapons also came just hours after the head of the Israeli air force told a conference outside Tel Aviv that his forces were involved in an unending “campaign between wars” against nearby enemies.

“This campaign is 24/7, 365 days a year,” Major-General Amir Eshel told an international space conference in Herzliya. “We are taking action to reduce the immediate threats, to create better conditions in which we will be able to win the wars, when they happen.”

Israel’s refusal to comment Wednesday on reports of the air assault is usual in such cases, said Dr. Heller.

“Israel says nothing so as not to force anyone to respond,” he explained, careful to say himself that his only sources of information about the alleged strike were outside media outlets. “No one is looking to escalate matters,” he said, “just to convey a warning.”

Earlier this week, the Israeli military confirmed it had deployed two batteries of its Iron Dome anti-missile system to Haifa. In 2006, the northern Israeli city came under heavy missile fire from Hezbollah during a three-week conflict between Israel and Lebanon.

The SA-17 anti-aircraft missile, if deployed in Lebanon, would seriously impede Israel’s ability to gather intelligence by its regular over flights and would compromise Israel’s military capabilities in case of renewed hostilities.

In the 2006 conflict, Israeli aircraft acted with relative impunity, striking daily at numerous strategic targets across the country.

“Hezbollah has been bent on building up its arsenal,” said the Canadian-born Dr. Heller, a specialist in strategic studies.

While some suggest Syria might be shipping these weapons to Hezbollah for safekeeping, more likely the order to move them would have come from either Russia or Iran, said Dr. Heller.

Iran has closer connections to Hezbollah and maintains a number of Revolutionary Guard officers and trainers in the country. It may well want to ensure that even if Iran loses its ally, Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, it will have fortified its next nearest ally in Lebanon, he said.

In fact, the message of Wednesday’s attack “may have been intended for Tehran,” said Dr. Heller.

The message: “We [Israelis] have heard your threats about using Hezbollah against us, and we’re not impressed.”

Hezbollah hints Syrian target was military | The Times of Israel.

Shiite group, reported to have received mustard gas and long-range missiles from Assad in early 2012, condemns reported Israeli strike

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah speaks via a video link, during a ceremony to mark Islam’s Prophet Muhammad’s birth in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 (photo credit: AP/Bilal Hussein)

Armed Lebanese movement Hezbollah seemingly acknowledged on Thursday that a site destroyed outside Damascus, reportedly by Israel, was responsible for “military and technological development.”

In a statement issued on its website Al-Manar, the Shiite organization — a close ally of the Assad regime in Syria — condemned the attack, claiming that it was intended to stunt “Arab and Islamic technological development.”

“In line with its inherent spirit of aggression and criminality, and in accordance with its policy of preventing any Arab or Islamic power from developing technological and military capabilities, Israel perpetrated a barbaric attack against a Syrian installation for scientific research on Syrian territory, causing the death of a number of Syrians, the injury of others, and the destruction of the installation,” the statement read.

According to foreign media, Israel attacked a convoy of sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons en route to Hezbollah near the Lebanon-Syria border Wednesday, although neither Hezbollah nor Syrian media would confirm those reports.

However, the Syrian Army issued a statement Wednesday accusing Israel of bombing a “scientific research center” in the Jamraya area just northwest of Damascus.

Israel has not commented on the reports. A Western official told the Wall Street Journal that the two reports may not be mutually exclusive.

On Thursday, Russia issued a statement condemning the “unprovoked” attack on the territory of a sovereign country, “no matter the motives to justify it.”

Meanwhile, Saudi-daily Al-Watan reported on Thursday that the Assad regime had transferred some two tons of mustard gas to Hezbollah in early 2012. The daily, which serves as the official voice of the Saudi regime — a staunch opponent of Bashar Assad — was quoting unnamed sources in Syria’s opposition.

Syria also transferred long-range missiles capable of carrying chemical warheads and traveling 300 kilometers (186 miles), Al-Watan added, claiming that the transfer to Hezbollah lasted 40 days, from mid-February to March 2012.

Evidence of Hezbollah’s involvement in sending gunmen to fight alongside Assad forces has emerged in recent months, with the Shiite organization conducting secret funerals in Lebanon for fallen operatives killed in battle.

Hezbollah claimed in its statement that the attack on Tuesday confirmed that it was Israel which stood behind the anti-Assad opposition over the past two years, “aiming to destroy Syria and its army and to topple its pivotal role in the resistance.”

The Shiite organization — which is facing mounting domestic pressure to disarm — also took the opportunity to reassert that armed resistance was the only effective method to confront Israel.

“Some must take heed of the dangerous attack on Syria and use this strike as an opportunity to reconsider their position, which regards political dialogue [with Israel] as the only means for a solution.”