[Ter]

Alleged Israeli strike said to target Iranian weapons delivery in Damascus

Missile attack at airport attributed to IDF reportedly causes ‘substantial’ damage to arms depots disguised as UN and DHL facilities

An alleged Israeli missile strike on the Damascus airport late Saturday reportedly targeted an Iranian plane delivering weapons for pro-regime forces and Revolutionary Guards units fighting in the country’s civil war.

According to a Hadashot TV news report Sunday morning, the Iranian Boeing-made cargo plane was loaded with weapons, and had recently landed at the Damascus International Airport from Tehran.

The strike attributed to Israel also reportedly targeted several weapons storage rooms at the airport. Efforts were made to disguise the true purpose of the buildings, the report said, with some of the warehouses labeled “United Nations” or “DHL,” the international mail company, in an apparent effort to evade Israeli intelligence-gathering efforts.

Reports in Syrian media said that Russian-made S-200 air defense systems were destroyed in the missile attack.

The Syrian state news agency, SANA, reported late Saturday night that Israel had targeted the airport with missiles, activating air defenses, which shot down a number of the projectiles.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack targeted an arms depot near the airport where new weapons recently arrived for the Iranians or their Lebanese proxy, the Hezbollah terror group.

On Sunday, the monitoring group said that the alleged Israeli strike caused “substantial” damage at the airport, but had no immediate information on casualties.

Israel rarely acknowledges attacks inside Syria, but has said it is its policy to employ military action to prevent weapons transfers to its enemies.

The IDF earlier this month acknowledged that it had conducted airstrikes against over 200 Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria since 2017, shedding light on its largely quiet activities across the border to prevent Tehran from establishing a permanent military presence in the war-torn country.

For years, Israel has been concerned that Iran is using opportunities presented by the Syrian civil war to entrench itself militarily in the country in order to further threaten the Jewish state — alongside the threat already posed by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The 202 targets hit in Israeli airstrikes since 2017 were mostly shipments of advanced weaponry, as well as military bases and infrastructure, which the IDF officials said drove Iranian forces to abandon some posts.

In addition, Jerusalem has tried to get the Islamic Republic out of Syria through diplomatic means by appealing to the two main power-brokers in the region: Russia and the United States.

While Russia does not seem to have accepted Israel’s demand for Iran to be completely removed from Syria, it has agreed to force the Islamic Republic’s forces and proxies to leave the areas closest to the border with Israel.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/alleged-i ... -damascus/

They painted "UN" on the roof of those warehouses but the IDF was not fooled.
Dirty tactics in any case, to use the UN to protect their rockets.
Like they do in Gaza with schools and hospitals.

[skinster]

Israel bombing airports again, just like it destroyed the only airport in Gaza. Israel bombing its natives and neighbouring countries. Israel bombing refugee camps, schools, hospitals. That's all Israel does, while playing victim. Israel is a lunatic state.

Interview with Eva Bartlett, who is in Syria right now.

[skinster]

Syria was attacked again tonight with missiles from that lunatic parasite state and its daddy.

[Zionist Nationalist]

no wonder Russia wont give S300 to syria look what they did with s200 they shot down a friendly plane

[maz]

When are the Israelis going to be held responsible for being the air force for Muslim terrorists in Syria?

Russia ‘reserves right to respond’ after saying Israel’s actions led to downing of Il-20 by Syria

The Russian military has accused their Israeli counterparts of causing Syrian air defense forces to shoot down a Russian Il-20 plane. The air defenses were responding to an air raid by Israel on Latakia.

The Israeli Air Force launched their surprise night attack on Latakia in a way that put the Russian plane in harm’s way, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement. The ministry said Israel must have known that they were setting up the Russian plane to be hit by a Syrian counterattack, but failed to either change their approach to targets in Syria or give Moscow enough time to move the Il-20 to safety.

According to the Russian military, four Israeli F-16 fighter jets attacked targets in Syria on Monday night, approaching from the Mediterranean Sea at a low altitude. The Il-20 was on patrol in the same area, and was shot down by a Syrian S-200 surface-to-air missile that was launched in response to the Israeli attack.

“We consider these provocative actions by Israel as hostile. Fifteen Russian military service members have died because of the irresponsible actions of the Israeli military. This is absolutely contrary to the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership,” the statement said. “We reserve the right for an adequate response.”

The statement also updated the death toll arising from the incident. Earlier, the Russian military said there had been 14 crew members on board the missing Il-20. A search and rescue operation off the Syrian coast is underway.

Responding to Russian complaints, the Israeli military confirmed that they targeted a shipment of arms-manufacturing equipment stored on a Syrian site, which they claim was to be delivered to Lebanon’s Hezbollah on behalf of Iran. It said the downing of the Russian plane was regrettable, but insisted that the responsibility for it was on Syria, Iran and the militant movement.

[Zionist Nationalist]

When are the Israelis going to be held responsible for being the air force for Muslim terrorists in Syria?

Israel defending its interests if part of it is to cooperate with terrorists so be it

the end justifies the means

[maz]

Israel defending its interests if part of it is to cooperate with terrorists so be it

the end justifies the means

So are you admitting that this has been an Israeli agenda all along, that the US justification for military action in Syria (fighting ISIS) is bullshit, and that the American people were conned by the media, again?

[Zionist Nationalist]

So are you admitting that this has been an Israeli agenda all along, that the US justification for military action in Syria (fighting ISIS) is bullshit, and that the American people were conned by the media, again?

Yes. the entire war in Syria is for economic and geopolitics interests
none cares about ISIS not even the Russians it was an excuse for them to deploy their forces in Syria
and Russia isnt there to defend syrian integrity or Assad its pure economical and strategic interests


its something that was obvious since the start of the war but dumb people are easily manipulated

[skinster]

Turns out the Israelis were bombing Syria again and that caused friendly-fire between Syria that resulted in a number of dead Russians.

Looks like as a result, Russia is going to go hard on any further Israeli attacks on Syria. Finally!

and Russia isnt there to defend syrian integrity or Assad its pure economical and strategic interests

Those strategic interests can align with Syrian sovereignty.

But thanks for your honesty re: the zionist position on this topic. It is refreshing.


Everyone should watch this mini documentary.

[skinster]

Putin Keeps Cool And Averts WWIII As Israeli-French Gamble In Syria Backfires Spectacularly
By initiating an attack on the Syrian province of Latakia, home to the Russia-operated Khmeimim Air Base, Israel, France and the United States certainly understood they were flirting with disaster. Yet they went ahead with the operation anyways.

On the pretext that Iran was preparing to deliver a shipment of weapon production systems to Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli F-16s, backed by French missile launches in the Mediterranean, destroyed what is alleged to have been a Syrian Army ammunition depot.

What happened next is already well established: a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft, which the Israeli fighter jets had reportedly used for cover, was shot down by an S-200 surface-to-air missile system operated by the Syrian Army. Fifteen Russian servicemen perished in the incident, which could have been avoided had Israel provided more than just one-minute warning before the attack. As a result, chaos ensued.

Whether or not there is any truth to the claim that Iran was preparing to deliver weapon-making systems to Hezbollah in Lebanon is practically a moot point based on flawed logic. Conducting an attack against an ammunition depot in Syria – in the vicinity of Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base – to protect Israel doesn’t make much sense when the consequence of such “protective measures” could have been a conflagration on the scale of World War III. That would have been an unacceptable price to achieve such a limited objective, which could have been better accomplished with the assistance of Russia, as opposed to NATO-member France, for example. In any case, there is a so-called “de-confliction system” in place between Israel and Russia designed to prevent exactly this sort of episode from occurring.

And then there is the matter of the timing of the French-Israeli incursion.

Just hours before Israeli jets pounded the suspect Syrian ammunition storehouse, Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan were in Sochi hammering out the details on a plan to reduce civilian casualties as Russian and Syrian forces plan to retake Idlib province, the last remaining terrorist stronghold in the country. The plan envisioned the creation of a demilitarized buffer zone between government and rebel forces, with observatory units to enforce the agreement. In other words, it is designed to prevent exactly what Western observers have been fretting about, and that is unnecessary ‘collateral damage.’

So what do France and Israel do after a relative peace is declared, and an effective measure for reducing casualties? The cynically attack Syria, thus exposing those same Syrian civilians to the dangers of military conflict that Western capitals proclaim to be worried about.

Israel moves to 'damage control'
Although Israel has taken the rare move of acknowledging its involvement in the Syrian attack, even expressing “sorrow” for the loss of Russian life, it insists that Damascus should be held responsible for the tragedy. That is a highly debatable argument.

By virtue of the fact that the French and Israeli forces were teaming up to attack the territory of a sovereign nation, thus forcing Syria to respond in self-defense, it is rather obvious where ultimate blame for the downed Russian plane lies.

“The blame for the downing of the Russian plane and the deaths of its crew members lies squarely on the Israeli side,” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said.

“The actions of the Israeli military were not in keeping with the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership, so we reserve the right to respond.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, took admirable efforts to prevent the blame game from reaching the boiling point, telling reporters that the downing of the Russian aircraft was the result of “a chain of tragic circumstances, because the Israeli plane didn’t shoot down our jet.”

Nevertheless, following this extremely tempered and reserved remark, Putin vowed that Russia would take extra precautions to protect its troops in Syria, saying these will be “the steps that everyone will notice.”

Now there is much consternation in Israel that the IDF will soon find its freedom to conduct operations against targets in Syria greatly impaired. That’s because Russia, having just suffered a ‘friendly-fire’ incident from its own antiquated S-200 system, may now be more open to the idea of providing Syria with the more advanced S-300 air-defense system.

Earlier this year, Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached an agreement that prevented those advanced defensive weapons from being employed in the Syrian theater. That deal is now in serious jeopardy. In addition to other defensive measures, Russia could effectively create the conditions for a veritable no-fly zone across Western Syria in that it would simply become too risky for foreign aircraft to venture into the zone.

The entire situation, which certainly did not go off as planned, has forced Israel into damage control as they attempt to prevent their Russian counterparts from effectively shutting down Syria’s western border.

On Thursday, Israeli Major-General Amikam Norkin and Brigadier General Erez Maisel, as well as officers of the Intelligence and Operations directorates of the Israeli air force will pay an official visit to Moscow where they are expected to repeat their concerns of “continuous Iranian attempts to transfer strategic weapons to the Hezbollah terror organization and to establish an Iranian military presence in Syria.”

Moscow will certainly be asking their Israeli partners if it is justifiable to subject Russian servicemen to unacceptable levels of danger, up to and including death, in order to defend Israeli interests. It remains to be seen if the two sides can find, through the fog of war, an honest method for bringing an end to the Syria conflict, which would go far at relieving Israel’s concerns of Iranian influence in the region.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09- ... -backfires

[JohnRawls]

Turns out the Israelis were bombing Syria again and that caused friendly-fire between Syria that resulted in a number of dead Russians.

Looks like as a result, Russia is going to go hard on any further Israeli attacks on Syria. Finally!



Those strategic interests can align with Syrian sovereignty.

But thanks for your honesty re: the zionist position on this topic. It is refreshing.


Everyone should watch this mini documentary.

Oh come on. Russia doesn't give 2 shits about Syrian sovereignty as long as they do what the Russians say and stay pro-Russian.

Their only interest is no-pipelines from iraq/iran/sa to Europe. Keep their bases in Syria. Kill as many ISIS/AQ/Radicals as possible to prevent any spread to Turkey and then Russia. (Reads as stability in the long run instead of Libya scenario but not too much stability because it will lead to a pro-European regime).

I understand that the last part is not necessarily bad but it doesn't include "freedom" that you so aspire to.

Israel on the other hand, just doing what it can to weaken its enemies. It is not necessarily anti-Assad. It is definitely not pro head choppers also. But it has an interest to undermine Syria because Israelis don't really view Syria as a friendly country under any kind of government. So Israel having some puppet separatists near its border is expected and the airstrikes are there to protect them and weaken anti-Israeli factions which Assad is actually isn't. (Well he wasn't until he directly attacked them at some point. I do not know now though) Basically it is complicated.

[skinster]

No, it's not complicated. Israel is just practicing the terrorism that's been a part of its birth and life in general, with another neighbouring country whose land it's also been occupying for 50 years. And it is pro the headchoppers, are you aware of the group it was arming to fight the SAA from the border of the Syrian land it was occupying? Who were they according to you, freedom fighters?

[skinster]

[skinster]

[skinster]

To Russia With Love
For the first time in years another state is saying to Israel: Stop right there. At least in Syria, that’s the end of it. Thank you, Mother Russia.

A ray of hope is breaking through: Someone is setting limits on Israel. For the first time in years another state is making it clear to Israel that there are restrictions to its power, that it’s not okay for it to do whatever it wants, that it’s not alone in the game, that America can’t always cover for it and that there’s a limit to the harm it can do.

Israel needed someone to set these limits like it needed oxygen. The recent years’ hubris and geopolitical reality enabled it to run rampant. It could patrol Lebanon’s skies as if they were its own; bombard in Syria’s air space as if it were Gaza’s air space; destroy Gaza periodically, put it under endless siege and continue, of course, to occupy the West Bank. Suddenly someone stood up and said: Stop right there. At least in Syria: That’s the end of it. Thank you, Mother Russia, for setting limits on a child whom no one has restrained for a long time.

The Israeli stupefaction at the Russian response and the paralysis that gripped it only showed how much Israel needed a responsible adult to rein it in. Does anyone dare prevent Israel’s freedom of movement in another country? Is anyone hindering it from flying in skies not its own? Is anyone keeping it from bombing as much as it pleases? For decades Israel hasn’t encountered such a strange phenomenon. Israel Hayom reported, of course, that anti-Semitism is growing in Russia. Israel is getting ready to play the next victim card, but its arrogance has suddenly gone missing.

In April the Bloomberg News agency cited threats from retired Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin and other officers that if Russia gives Syria S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, Israel’s air force would bombard them. Now the voice of bluster from Zion has been muted, at least for the moment.

Every state is entitled to have weapons for defense against jet bombers, including Syria, and no state is permitted to prevent that forcibly. This basic truth already sounds bizarre to Israeli ears. The idea that other countries’ sovereignty is meaningless, that it can always be disrupted by force, and that Israeli sovereignty alone is sacred, and supreme; that Israel can mix in the affairs of the region to its heart’s content – including by military intervention, whose true extent is yet to be clarified in the war in Syria – without paying a price, in the name of its real or imagined security, which sanctifies anything and everything – all this has suddenly run into a Russian “nyet.” Oh, how we needed that nyet, to restore Israel to its real dimensions.

It arrived with excellent timing. Just when there’s a president in the White House who runs his Middle East policy at the instructions of his sponsor in Las Vegas and mentor on Balfour Street; when Israel feels itself in seventh heaven, with an American embassy in Jerusalem and no UNRWA, soon without the Palestinians – came the flashing red light from Moscow. Perhaps it will balance out, just a bit, the intoxication with power that has overtaken Israel in recent years, maybe it will start to wise up and recover.

Russia, without meaning to, may yet turn out to be better for Israel than all the insane, corrupting support it receives from the current American administration, and from its predecessors, too.

Russia has outlined for the world the way to treat Israel, using the only language Israel understands. Let those who truly care for Israel’s welfare, and for justice, learn how it’s done: Only by force. Only when Israel gets punished or is forced to pay a price does it do the right thing. The air force will think twice now and perhaps many times more before its next bombardment in Syria, whose importance, if indeed it has any, is unknown.

Had such a Russian “nyet” hovered above Gaza’s skies, too, so much futile death and destruction would have been spared. Had an international force faced the Israeli occupation, it would have ended long ago. Instead, we have Donald Trump in Washington and the European Union’s pathetic denunciations of the evictions at Khan al-Ahmar.
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-new ... -1.6511224

[skinster]

We know why.

[skinster]

[0]=68.ARAC307Ehw--6_vMQXt2VGiyqhRS9dBiHG4Y05nzKO3l42lub5USK3Csinc_J3a0_Yaj7pbI4UJzC4OLh0-GWZTvau5hbJTPyIxacU-F5zwxIVGhooCVGEyQ0Y4Br6peZ4QpHBVRpm3UnSuin6nfGP04fYNYKDUqngLm7IsaDqk8jkEIYxTh&__tn__=H-R

[skinster]

[skinster]

[Ter]

US to give Israel more F-35s to face S-300s, deploy a squadron in Emirates



DEBKAfile Exclusive: President Donald Trump has ordered additional F-35 stealth planes supplied forthwith to Israel, in response to the four S-300 air defense batteries Russia has sent Syria and its upgrade of electronic warfare measures. The decision was taken, our sources reveal, after consultations between Washington and Jerusalem at the highest administration and military levels on the enhanced threat the recent Russian steps presented to Israeli air operations against Iranian targets in Syria. The F-35s will be drawn from US Air Force’s active service squadrons, just as the S-300s for Syria came from Russia’s operational air defense missile stocks.

In addition to informing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of the president’s decision, Washington also notified the two Gulf crown princes, Muhammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and Muhammad Bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates, that the first US F-35 squadron in this region will be posted shortly at the Al Dhafra Air base 32km south of Abu Dhabi.

DEBKAfile’s military sources take this massive transfer of advanced American stealth planes to the Middle East and the Persian Gulf to betoken US and Israel’s determination to maintain Israeli Air Force’s operations over Syria, notwithstanding the presence of the S-300s and boosted Russian-Syrian air defense capabilities.
It was this determination that prompted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin to comment on Thursday, Oct. 4, that he hoped “Tel Aviv will exercise good judgment in the region despite Israel’s insistence on not abandoning operations in Syria and Russia’s S-300 supply to Syria.” He was in fact conveying a warning to Israel not to attack the Russian S-300 batteries.

https://www.debka.com/us-to-give-israel ... -emirates/

This probably restores the previous IAF air superiority.
Interesting, let's wait and see.