WarSclerotic

Terror group’s deputy leader Naim Qassem says conditions in Syria unlikely to develop into direct US-Russian clash

By TOI staff Today, 3:46 pm

https://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-no-war-unless-trump-and-netanyahu-completely-lose-their-minds/

Commander-in-chief of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp, (IRGC) Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, left, greets Sheikh Naim Qassem, deputy Secretary General of Lebanons Hezbollah, during a religious ceremony in Tehran, Iran, on August 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

The second-in-command of the Lebanese-based Hezbollah terror group said in an interview published Friday that a broader war in the region was unlikely, despite threats from US President Donald Trump to launch military action against Syria following a suspected chemical attack blamed on Damascus.

“We rule out the situation developing into a direct American-Russian clash or a wide state of war,” Sheikh Naim Qassem told Lebanese daily al-Joumhouria, as translated by Reuters news agency.

The conditions do not point to a total war… unless [US President Donald] Trump and [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu completely lose their minds,” he added.

His comments came amid anticipation of a coordinated international attack on the Syrian regime by the US, France and the UK over the alleged chemical attack in Douma.

The Iranian proxy’s deputy leader also spoke as Israel remained on high alert on its northern border over threats by the Islamic Republic to retaliate for a deadly Syrian base air raid earlier this week that was blamed on Israel.

A picture taken on February 10, 2018 shows Israeli solders taking positions in the Golan Heights near the border with Syria. (AFP/Jalaa Marey)

On Thursday, Trump put off a final decision on possible military strikes against Syria after tweeting earlier that they could happen “very soon or not so soon at all.” The White House said he would consult further with allies.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned Trump on Thursday that an attack carried the risk of spinning out of control, suggesting caution ahead of a decision on how to respond to an attack against civilians last weekend that US officials are increasingly certain involved the use of banned chemical weapons. British officials said up to 75 people were killed.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in the Netherlands, announced it was sending a fact-finding team to the site of the attack outside Damascus, and it was due to arrive Saturday. It was not clear whether the presence of the investigators could affect the timing of any US military action.

Asked what Hezbollah would do in the event of US military action in Syria, Qassem declined to give specifics, but maintained it would not necessarily spiral into a regional war.

“If the assault on Syria has a very limited scope, then it’s expected that reactions from the concerned sides in Syria will be tied to the Syrian arena,” he said.

Iran, the Hezbollah terror organization’s main patron, has threatened to attack the Jewish state over a predawn Monday missile barrage on the T-4 Air Base near Palmyra in central Syria attributed to the Jewish state. Iranian media reported that seven members of the country’s military were killed in the strike, out of at least 14 reported fatalities. One was named as a colonel in the air force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Photo released by Iranian media reportedly show the T-4 air base in central Syria after a missile barrage Monday. (Iranian media)

Israel has refused to comment on the attack, for which it has been blamed by Iran, Russia and Syria. Two US officials were also quoted as saying that Israel had carried out the strike, adding that Washington was informed in advance.

Qassem said Friday that if Israel flew over Lebanese air space to bomb Syria, as it reportedly did on Saturday night, that would be considered an act of “aggression,” but implied that it would be dealt with in the political sphere and not militarily.

In February Qassem told Reuters news agency that his Iran-backed terror group was prepared for war, but did not think Israel would launch an attack in the near future.

Hezbollah “is ready to confront the aggression if it happens, if Israel decides to carry out any foolish action,” he told Reuters. “But it does not appear that the circumstances are for an Israeli decision for war.”

“We have declared repeatedly and frequently that we, as the resistance, work to have permanent readiness and we are ready to confront the Israeli aggression if it happens, and therefore we are ready to defend ourselves by all available means,” he told the news agency.

The Iranian proxy has held on to its weapons and made efforts to obtain advanced weaponry, a development Israel has vowed to prevent. Dozens of airstrikes on weapons convoys bound for Lebanon have been attributed to Israel by foreign media reports. It has also deployed units south of the Litani River.

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.

Airfields, weapons factory among reported targets; Trump says decision on response to gas attack to come ‘fairly soon’

By TOI staff and AFP 12 April 2018, 11:14 pm

US President Donald Trump speaks about tax cuts for Americans from the Rose Garden at the White House on April 12, 2018 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMM

The White House is considering eight potential Syrian targets in retaliation for a chemical weapons assault, a US official told CNBC Thursday.

The targets included two airfields and a chemical weapons facility, according to the source, who requested anonymity.

April 12, 2018 in Washington, DC. / AFP PHOTO / NICHOLAS KAMM

The White House is considering eight potential Syrian targets in retaliation for a chemical weapons assault, a US official told CNBC Thursday.

The targets included two airfields and a chemical weapons facility, according to the source, who requested anonymity.

The report came hours after US President Donald Trump, who this week threatened to attack Syria, told reporters that a decision on the matter would be made “fairly soon.”

That assertion from Trump, who huddled with top national security advisers Thursday, came a day after he tweeted that a US retaliatory attack could be “very soon or not so soon at all!”

Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018

Moscow warned against any move that risks triggering a conflict between Russia and the United States, raising fears of a full-blown conflict between the former Cold War foes.

Moscow, for its part, stonewalled diplomatic efforts at the United Nations and France declared “proof” that its Syrian ally carried out the chemical weapons attack that killed more than 40 Syrians in the rebel enclave of Douma.

“It’s too bad that the world puts us in a position like that,” said Trump, as Defense Secretary James Mattis headed to the West Wing to present options for a retaliatory strike.

“We’re having a number of meetings today, we’ll see what happens, we’re obviously looking at that very closely,” he told lawmakers and governors in the Cabinet Room. “Now we have to make some further decisions, so they will be made fairly soon.”

NBC News cited two US officials as asserting that Washington has blood and urine samples from last Saturday’s attack that tested positive for both chlorine and an unspecified nerve agent.

Bashar Assad’s regime has been known to employ a mix of chlorine and gases against its own citizens, according to US officials.

Medical workers treating toddlers following an alleged poison gas attack in the opposition-held town of Douma, in eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, Syria, April. 8, 2018 (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Thursday that the use of chemical weapons in Syria is “simply inexcusable.”

“Some things are simply inexcusable, beyond the pale, and in the worst interest of not just the chemical weapons convention but of civilization itself,” Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee.

He said a chemical attack had likely occurred and hoped inspectors would be in place within a week to prove it.

“I believe there was a chemical attack and we are looking for the actual evidence,” Mattis said.

Military buildup

Since Saturday, when images of ashen toddlers struggling for breath emerged from Douma — the main city in the Eastern Ghouta enclave near Damascus that has been a crucible of revolt against Assad’s regime — there has been a sustained military buildup in the eastern Mediterranean.

A French frigate, UK Royal Navy submarines laden with cruise missiles, and the USS Donald Cook, an American destroyer equipped with Tomahawk land attack missiles have all moved into range of Syria’s sun-bleached coast.

The Cook — named after a Marine Colonel who suffered deprivation and starvation as a Vietnam prisoner of war — has past experience tangling with the Russian military, having been deployed to the Black Sea during the recent crisis in Crimea.

Half a world away in New York, Russia’s UN ambassador warned that the priority in Syria was to avert US-led strikes that could lead to a dangerous confrontation between the world’s two preeminent nuclear powers.

“The immediate priority is to avert the danger of war,” said Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia following closed-door Security Council talks.

Asked if he was referring to war between the US and Russia, he said: “We cannot exclude any possibilities unfortunately.”

This image released Sunday, April 8, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, shows a child receiving oxygen through respirators following an alleged poison gas attack in the rebel-held town of Douma, near Damascus, Syria. Syrian rescuers and medics said the attack on Douma killed at least 40 people. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

Trump has slammed Russia for its partnership with “Gas Killing Animal” Assad, spurring concerns that a US strike could lead to a conflagration with Russia, which has major military facilities at Tartus and Khmeimim and works cheek-by-jowl with Syria forces that could be targeted.

US officials have refused to rule out direct military engagement with Russia, with the White House saying “all options are on the table.”

But a special hotline for the US and Russian militaries to communicate about operations in Syria is active and being used by both sides, Moscow said Thursday.

Rebels give up Ghouta

On the ground in Syria, rebels in Eastern Ghouta surrendered their heavy weapons and their leader left the enclave, signalling the end of one of the bloodiest assaults of the seven-year war and a major win for the Assad regime.

A top leader of Jaish al-Islam, a group that controlled Douma for years, told AFP it was Saturday’s attack that forced them to accept a Russian-brokered deal and evacuate.

At the United Nations, meanwhile, diplomats were mulling a draft resolution put forward by Sweden and obtained by AFP, that would dispatch a “high-level disarmament mission” to rid the country of chemical weapons “once and for all.”

That may prove too little, too late.

This photo released by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets shows smoke rising after Syrian government airstrikes hit in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta region east of Damascus, Syria, Saturday, April 7, 2018. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

The UN Security Council, tasked with maintaining international peace and security, has been riven, with Moscow virulently denying the Douma attack took place, or postulating that it was carried out by rebels.

The council has already failed to agree on a response to the attack in three votes and has been deadlocked throughout the Syrian civil war.

In Paris, France’s Emmanuel Macron upped the pressure on Moscow by stating he had “proof” that the Assad’s regime had used chemical weapons, and vowing a response “at a time of our choosing.” In London, British Prime Minister Theresa May held an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss support for US action against the Syrian regime.

But across Western capitals opposition to military action also grew. US lawmakers questioned whether Trump has the legal authority to order strikes without Congressional approval and opposition parties voiced concern.

National security experts worried about whether strikes would actually serve to deter Assad.

In April last year Trump ordered Tomahawk strikes on the Shayrat Airbase in response to a similar chemical weapons attack on rebel-held Khan Sheikhun.

But the pinpoint strike did not deter Assad, and US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have since investigated as many as 10 suspected chemical attacks.

The same officials say Syria has continued to produce or procure chlorine, which also has industrial and agricultural uses.

This image released early Sunday, April 8, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, shows a rescue worker carrying a child following an alleged chemical weapons attack in the rebel-held town of Douma, near Damascus, Syria. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

Syria, which denies carrying out the latest attack, said it had invited the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which has blamed the regime for previous such incidents, to visit Douma.

The OPCW, which works to rid the world of chemical arms stockpiles, said its experts were on their way to Syria and will start their work on Saturday.

Amid escalating war of words after alleged Israeli air strike in Syria, Ali Khamenei’s liaison to Quds Force quoted saying: ‘Given the excuse, Tel Aviv and Haifa will be razed’

By TOI staff  Today, 5:50 pm

https://www.timesofisrael.com/iranian-official-threatens-to-destroy-israel-if-it-continues-childish-game/

Ali Shirazi, liaison for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the elite Quds Force (screen capture)

Iran will destroy Israel if it doesn’t stop its “childish game,” a senior military leader in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly threatened Thursday.

“Iran is not Syria. If Israel wants to survive a few more days, it has to stop this childish game,” Ali Shirazi, liaison for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the elite Quds Force, said.

“Iran has the capability to destroy Israel and given the excuse, Tel Aviv and Haifa will be razed to the ground,” he said, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.

Shirazi’s threat came in the wake of a predawn Monday missile barrage on the T-4 Air Base near Palmyra in central Syria. Iranian media reported that seven members of the country’s military were killed in the strike, out of at least 14 reported fatalities.

#Iran‘s Leader’s representative to #IRGC Quds Force Ali Shirazi: Iran is not #Syria. If #Israel wants to survive a few more days, it has to stop this child game. Iran has the ability to destroy Israel & given the excuse, Tel Aviv & Haifa will be razed to the ground.

— raz zimmt (@RZimmt) April 12, 2018

One was named as a colonel in the air force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Israel has refused to comment on the attack, for which it has been blamed by Iran, Russia and Syria. Two US officials were also quoted as saying that Israel had carried out the strike, adding that Washington was informed in advance.

Shirazi’s threat also comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Syria, backed by Iran and Russia on the one side and the US — and possibly its European allies — on the other.

Photo released by Iranian media reportedly show the T-4 air base in central Syria after a missile barrage Monday. (Iranian media)

Washington has threatened to punish Syria militarily for a chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta over the weekend in which some 40 people died.

On Tuesday a different adviser to Khamenei threatened Israel.

“The crimes will not remain unanswered,” Ali Akbar Velayati said during a visit to Syria, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

The target of the reported airstrike was the Tiyas air base — also known as the T-4 air base — outside Palmyra in central Syria. Israeli TV reports said Iran was building an air base there, and that a major weapons system of some kind had been destroyed.

Israel has previously carried out at least one explicitly acknowledged attack on the base, which it said was home to an Iranian drone program.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a stern speech at a state ceremony on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, warned Iran not to test Israel’s resolve, asserting that the Jewish state would respond to Tehran’s “aggression” with “steadfastness.”

“We are preventing Iranian activity in Syria. These are not just words,” Netanyahu asserted.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the official state ceremony held at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem marking Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 11, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Without going into specifics, Netanyahu said that “the events in recent days teach us that standing up to evil and aggression is the mission imposed on every generation.”

“In the Holocaust we were helpless, defenseless and voiceless,” he said. “In truth, our voice was not heard at all. Today we have a strong country, a strong army, and our voice is heard among the nations.”

Also on Wednesday, responding the the escalating threats between Israel and Iran, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Netanyahu to avoid any steps that could increase instability in Syria.

Netanyahu, for his part, said Israel would continue to counter Iran’s efforts to build up its military presence in the war-torn country.

Alexander Fulbright contributed to this report.

April 11, 2018

IDF tanks strike Hamas targets in response to explosives targeting IDF troops.

By: World Israel News Staff 

Latest News from Israel

IDF tanks operate near Gaza’s border. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

IDF tanks on Wednesday morning shelled Hamas targets in Gaza in response to an attempt by terrorists to harm IDF troops conducting routine maintenance on the security fence.

The IDF stated that an explosive device, placed by terrorists using the recent Palestinian riots as cover, was detonated against a military D-9 bulldozer operating on the western side of the security fence in northern Gaza.

No injuries were reported in the explosion.

In response, the IDF struck a number of Hamas military targets.

“The IDF holds Hamas responsible for all occurrences in Gaza and will not allow the terror organization to turn the area of the security fence into a combat zone,” the IDF stated after the incident.

This incident occurred amid the daily violence on the Israel-Gaza border, orchestrated by Hamas, the Islamic terror group that rules the Gaza Strip and calls for Israel’s destruction.

Hamas has organized a series of protests at the border under the banner of the “March of the Return,” to continue until May 15, the 70^th anniversary of the State of Israel, which the Palestinians observe as Nakba Day, meaning Day of Catastrophe.

Some 30 Palestinians, mostly terrorists, have been killed in over two weeks of clashes.

26 Nisan 5778 – April 11, 2018

Trump Warns Russia: US Missiles Are Coming

Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Ca.

Photo Credit: US Air Force Photo by Michael Peterson/Released

Around 7 AM Washington DC time, President Donald Trump tweeted: “Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!”

Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2018

On Tuesday night, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov warned Washington of serious consequences of a possible strike on Syria should the strike causes casualties among Russian citizens.

“Russia has warned US representatives, both publicly and via corresponding channels, including military ones, about serious consequences that might follow possible strikes [on Syria], if Russian citizens are hurt in such strikes, accidentally or not,” Chizhov told Euronews.

According to the Russian diplomat, the United States’ strikes in retaliation for the Assad regime’s chemical attack that killed as many as 200, including children in the town of Douma near Damascus, would be “a response to something that never happened,” since, according to the Kremlin, reports about the attack were “fake news.”

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that President Putin is not planning to call the leaders of the United States, Germany or France for the time being.

“No, they are not planned so far,” the Kremlin spokesman said, in response to a reporter’s question, adding that “such contacts are not in the plans.”

At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman hinted that there were contacts between less senior Russian officials and the counterparts in Washington, Berlin and Paris.

At 7:40 AM local time, President Trump tweeted: “Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race?”

On Tuesday, a senior Iranian official told a Lebanese TV station that Tehran will respond to the recent airstrike on a Syrian base, referring to it as the “Israeli crime.” In the attack, seven Iranians were killed.

Apr 10, 2018, 3:30PM Becca Noy

http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/world-news/the-israeli-connection/senior-iranian-official-tehran-will-respond-to-israeli-crime-35416

Iranian military equipment on display Photo Credit: EPA

A senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said today that “the Israeli crime will not remain without response,” referring to the attack on Syria’s T-4 airbase, which has been attributed to Israel by the Syrian regime and its allies. The senior Iranian official made this remark during an interview with the Lebanese al-Mayadeen TV station, Hadashot news reported Tuesday.

According to the same report, Iran’s defense minister also made a threat this morning. “It’s best for our enemies that they not test our defense capabilities because every mistake in their calculations will be met with a painful response,” Brigadier General Amir Hatami stated.

On Monday, UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned that the situation in Syria could seriously deteriorate if the sides do not demonstrate restraint. “The Council cannot allow a situation of uncontrollable escalation to develop in Syria, on any front,” de Mistura said during an emergency UN Security Council meeting that was called due to the Syrian regime’s alleged chemical attack in Douma.

At the meeting, US Ambassador Nikki Haley warned that Washington will respond to the chemical attack with or without the international body’s support. “History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria. Either way, the United States will respond,” she said.

April 9, 2018

In the latest incident on the Gaza border, the IAF bombed a Hamas military target in response to explosives targeting IDF troops.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News 

Latest News from Israel

Israel’s Air Force (IAF) on Monday morning targeted a Hamas terror target Gaza in response to a cross-border attack earlier in the day.

Three terrorists infiltrated Israel through the security fence near the northern Gaza Strip and then returned to Gaza. An IDF tank fired at them.

In response, the IAF bombed a Hamas military target.

This incident occurred amid the daily violence on the Israel-Gaza border, orchestrated by Hamas, the Islamic terror group that rules the Gaza Strip and calls for Israel’s destruction.

Some 30 Palestinians, mostly terrorists, have been killed in over two weeks of clashes.

Moscow says ’cause for concern’ since Russian military advisers could have been present; US officials say Jerusalem had updated Washington ahead of time

By TOI staff and AP

https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-said-to-confirm-israel-hit-syria-base-as-russia-complains-it-was-not-warned/

US officials have reportedly confirmed that Israel carried out a predawn missile strike on an air base in central Syria that reportedly killed 14 people on Monday, while Russia protested that it had not been informed ahead of time.

NBC News quoted two US officials as saying that Israel had carried out the strike, adding that Washington had been informed in advance. Israel has refused to comment on the attack.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters that Israel had not spoken to Moscow ahead of the airstrike even though Russian military advisers could have been present at the base, which he described as “a cause for concern for us.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

In a rare move, Russia accused Israel earlier Monday of carrying out the strike, as did dictator Bashar Assad’s regime.

“This is a very dangerous development. I hope at least that the US military and those of the countries participating in the coalition led by the United States understand that,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference Monday.

The United States and France officially denied carrying out the strike, which came shortly after both countries threatened to retaliate for a chemical weapons attack allegedly conducted by Assad in the Syrian town of Douma late Saturday.

The target of the reported airstrike was the Tiyas air base — also known as the T-4 air base — outside Palmyra in central Syria. Israel has previously carried out at least one explicitly acknowledged attack on the base, which it said was home to an Iranian drone program.

According to Russia, the strike was carried out shortly before 4 a.m. Monday by two Israeli F-15 fighter jets. The Russian defense ministry said the Israeli aircraft launched eight missiles at the base from Lebanese airspace, five of which it said were intercepted.

In a statement carried by the official Syrian news agency SANA, however, a military official source said eight of the missiles fired by the Israeli jets were downed by air-defense batteries, though some of them got through. “There are martyrs and wounded,” the source said.

Syrian television showed footage of the alleged Israeli missiles flying through Syrian airspace toward the base.

The Lebanese military reported that in total four Israeli warplanes violated its airspace for approximately 10 minutes early Monday morning. This account does not necessarily contradict the Russian claim that two F-15 jets carried out the attack, as it is common for additional fighters to act as escorts for the bombers on such strikes.

Lebanon also reported that Israeli reconnaissance drones had been operating intensively along its Syrian border over the past three days, calling into question the claims that the reported strike was connected to the Douma chemical weapons attack.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, at least 14 people were killed and more were wounded. Iranian nationals were listed among the casualties.

Moscow noted that no Russians were injured in the strike.

“According to a military source in Damascus, the Syrian Air Defense system was deployed from the Mezzeh Air Base after the jets entered Syria from Lebanon’s Beqa’a Valley,” Lebanese news site Al-Masdar News reported.

The location of the T-4 airbase, highlighted in red, that was bombed in the predawn hours of April 9, 2018. Syria and Russia have blamed Israel for the attack. (Credit: Joseph Hirsch)

That is the route that Israeli jets generally take before bombing military targets in Syria, according to foreign reports.

Israel conducted an airstrike against the Tiyas base on February 10, after an Iranian operator working out of it flew an Iranian-made drone into Israeli territory, according to the army.

“Iran and the [Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ special unit] Quds Force for some time have been operating the T-4 Air Base in Syria next to Palmyra, with support from the Syrian military and with permission from the Syrian regime,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement at the time.

Construction Minister Yoav Galant, a former IDF major general and a member of Israel’s security cabinet, would not comment directly on the attack, but reiterated the “red lines” that Jerusalem considers grounds for launching strikes.

“In Syria many forces, from various bodies and coalitions, are operating. Each one says what it says and denies what it denies,” he told Israel Radio. “We have clear interests in Syria and we set red lines. We will not allow weapons to pass from Syria to Lebanon, and we will not allow the establishment of an Iranian base.”

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan also appeared to comment on the reported strike during a meeting in the Knesset, albeit in a roundabout way, saying the allegations indicated that Israel operated without limitation.

“I won’t comment on the security matter being attributed to us, but the fact that this morning they are attributing to us what they are attributing to us shows the independence of Israel in every way. The State of Israel presents an object of admiration for the entire world,” Erdan said, according to Israel Radio.

Former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon, a long-time advocate of maintaining ambiguity about strikes in foreign countries, told Army Radio that the important thing is for Israel to abide by the “red lines” that it sets for itself, not to advertise its actions.

“There’s no need to run and tell your friends or to take responsibility. Whoever needs to understand will understand,” he said.

This image released early Sunday, April 8, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, shows a rescue worker carrying a child following an alleged chemical weapons attack in the rebel-held town of Douma, near Damascus, Syria. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

The missile attack followed a suspected poison gas attack Saturday on the last remaining foothold for the Syrian opposition in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. At least 40 people were killed, including families found in their homes and shelters, opposition activists and local rescuers said.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump had promised a “big price to pay” for the suspected chemical attack.

After the airstrikes were reported, however, Pentagon spokesman Christopher Sherwood said in a statement, “At this time, the Department of Defense is not conducting air strikes in Syria.”

Judah Ari Gross and agencies contributed to this report.