Sunday, March 11, 2018

Will the US and Israel attack Syria together?

The Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida on Saturday reported that the US and Israel are working on a plan to attack Syrian targets in the near future.
 
According to the report, Jerusalem and Washington are disappointed in the way Russia has handled the Syrian war, and are planning to operate in the region in order to prevent Iran from gaining a stronger foothold in Syria.
 
Iran is attempting to establish a presence on Israel's northern border as well as carve out a corridor from its borders to the Mediterranean Sea by way of Syria and Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump are also discussing ways to weaken Iran's control over both Syria and Lebanon, and the details reviewed in the meeting were transferred to the US defense system, Al-Jarida added.
Sources close to Washington told Al-Jarida that the Trump administration may present such an attack as a response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's recent use of chemical weapons.
 
Until now, Israel has avoided direct involvement in the Syrian civil war, preferring to retaliate only to attacks on Israeli territory and airspace.