Monday, July 23, 2018

Reports: Israel Strikes Syrian Military Site Tied to Iran

Israeli fighter jets attacked targets in western Syria on Sunday, according to reports in Syria and Lebanon.
The strike took place some outside the town Masyaf, located south-west of Hama, Syrian news agency SANA reported. According to the Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen channel, the attack was carried out by Israeli jets firing missiles from Lebanese airspace.


The Lebanese report said that the strike targeted a scientific facility, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group, said that the site was a missile warehouse used by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Opposition sources reported Iranian presence at the attacked site, saying that it is used to develop missiles and produce chemical weapons.
Some of Iran's military bases in Syria are next to Syrian military compounds, an intelligence source told Reuters.
 
Last year, it was reported that Israel attacked a target near Masyaf. The alleged Israeli strike took place exactly 10 years after Israel took out Bashar Assad's nuclear reactor. 
At the time, the Syrian army general command described the target as a military facility, and said a nearby site where short-range surface-to-surface missiles were stored was also hit. However, a war monitor said the center in Masyaf has been described by the U.S. as Syria's chemical weapons manufacturer. Opposition forces also said the target was a weapons factory that develops arms for the Syrian regime and for Hezbollah. READ MORE