WarSclerotic

U.S. media gives new account of alleged Israeli attack on Syria – Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper.

( From my experience, McClatchy has proven itself to be the least ideologically motivated, and hence the most reliable of the MSM. – JW )

McClatchy newspaper chain offers a first possible explanation for contradicting reports on the alleged Israel Air Force strike on Syria, says target was in fact anti-aircraft missile convoy.

An Israel Air Force F-15 taking off. Photo by Daniel Bar-On

The contradictory reports regarding the nature of the target of an alleged Israeli attack on Syria received on Friday a first possible explanation in a report from the American McClatchy newspaper chain.

Several foreign media outlets have claimed that the Israel Air Force had struck on Wednesday a weapons convoy carrying advanced, Russian made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles near the Syria-Lebanon border. According to some of the reports, the attack occurred near the Syrian town of al-Zabadani, not far from the border. Israel hasn’t officially acknowledged any involvement in the attack.

However, an official statement from the Syrian government claimed that the target of the strike was a scientific research center in the Damascene suburb of Jamarya, northwest of the capital. This site was believed by Western intelligence services to be a Syrian security facility dedicated to missile and rocket development and, apparently, unconventional weapons.

Jamarya is located dozens of kilometers away from the town of Zabadani. One of the possible explanations provided for the contradicting information is that Syria fears publicizing that a weapons convoy was attacked because it would be an admission that it was smuggling weaponry to Hezbollah in violation of UN Resolutions, granting legitimacy to an Israeli decision to attack.

Currently, according to reports from the United States, there is a way to reconcile the two different descriptions of the attack. The McClatchy newspaper chain claims that Israel did in fact attack a weapons convoy transporting advanced anti-aircraft missiles, but that the convoy was hit while it was parked at the center in Jamariya en route to the highway leading from Syria into Lebanon. The purported attack site in Jamariya is only eight kilometers from a crossing point north of Zabadani along the Lebanese border.

The IDF, particularly the Northern Command, remains on high alert for a possible response to the alleged Israeli air attack. Two Iron Dome batteries have been stationed in northern Israel to intercept any possible missile attacks. In Israel there is less concern of a Syrian military response than a possible response from Hezbollah, which has led to a stepping up of security at Israeli institutions abroad. There is also the possibility that Hezbollah will attempt to conduct terror attacks along Israel’s northern border without claiming responsibility.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has been abroad in Munich, Germany since Thursday, participating in a conference for European defense ministers. Barak is expected to return to Israel on Sunday. IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz is also expected to travel to the U.S. soon for a work visit. If Gantz follows through with his travel plans, it will likely mean that Israel believes tensions in North have decreased.

This entry was posted on February 2, 2013 at 5:14 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.