Senior Israeli official denies reports confirming Syria airstrikes
Senior Israeli official denies reports confirming Syria airstrikes | The Times of Israel.
Defense Ministry’s Amos Gilad says no official confirmation issued; claims Syria chemical weapons secure, Hezbollah not keen on acquiring them
Senior Defense Ministry official Maj.-Gen. (Res) Amos Gilad denied reports Saturday in the Associated Press and Reuters that Israeli officials had confirmed striking a Hezbollah-bound weapons shipment in Syria overnight Thursday-Friday.
“What do you mean ‘confirm’? Who are these officials? For me, [a confirmation by] the IDF spokesperson’s office is official,” said Gilad at a gathering in Beersheba Saturday.
Gilad assessed the current situation in Syria, warning that President Bashar Assad had no intention of giving up power and that attacks on Israel were not part of his plans.
“He’s not provoking Israel and the incidents along the [Golan] border are coincidental,” said Gilad.
He addressed Israeli concerns over chemical weapons falling into the hands of terrorist groups, clarifying that Hezbollah was not interested in acquiring the Syrian chemical weapons, preferring systems that can threaten all of Israel.
“Syria has a large arsenal of chemical weapons and missiles,” acknowledged Gilad, noting that ”Hezbollah does not have [these] chemical weapons.”
“We have ways of knowing that the Syrian weapons are secure. Chemical weapons kill those who use them,” warned Gilad.
Earlier Saturday, AP and Reuters quoted Israeli officials as confirming that the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike against Syria overnight Thursday-Friday. Israel targeted a shipment of advanced missiles, the reports said
Officials told both news agencies said the shipment was not of chemical arms, but of unspecified “game changing” weapons bound for the terror group Hezbollah. One official said the target was a shipment of advanced, long-range ground-to-ground missiles.
The officials said the attack took place early Friday. It was not immediately clear where the airstrike took place, or whether the air force carried out the strike from Lebanese or Syrian airspace.
There was no immediate comment from Syrian officials, and no word of the airstrike on Syrian state media.
According to a source quoted by Reuters in a report Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet for secret talks on Thursday night, hours before the strike.
Netanyahu has repeatedly warned in recent weeks that Israel would be prepared to take military action if chemical weapons or other arms that would upset the balance of power with Hezbollah were to reach the terror group.
AP contributed to this report.
Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized
WarSclerotic 
Leave a comment