The Israeli Air Force carried out an air strike targeting a chemical
weapons’ facility/research centre identified as the al-Talai facility and a military storage facility in Hama
province in Syria.
Syria’s army command reported that the air strike came
around 2.42 am (2342 GMT) from inside Lebanese airspace, near the western town
of Masyaf which according to military analysts hosts a branch of the government
agency responsible for developing and producing unconventional weapons and
precision missiles. Two Syrian soldiers were reportedly killed in the attack.
According to certain reports, the attack was launched at
2:30 a.m. on targets located in central Syria, in the area of Hama, and also
targeted several weapons convoys that were en route to Hezbollah strongholds in
the area.
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a monitoring group,
said that a military storage camp next to the Masyaf research centre was used
to store surface-to-surface rockets and that personnel from Iran and terrorists
owing allegiance to the Hezbollah were spotted at that location in the past.
Even before the outbreak
of the war in Syria, the al-Talai centre was on the Israeli radar. The director
of the Israeli national security council’s counter terrorism bureau had called
for its destruction in 2010 as it is reported to have provided weapons to Hamas
and Hezbollah.
Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror a former national security adviser
to Prime Minister Netanyahu, said Hezbollah had received rockets from the
production facility in the past.
Israeli Defence Force (IDF), as is always the case, declined
to comment on the strike.
A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to
discuss the situation freely, confirmed that the Israelis carried out the
strike. The United States had no involvement in it and was assessing the
situation, the official said.
Israel and Russia maintain open communication lines and a
"mechanism" to prevent their air forces from coming into conflict
with one another. It was not clear whether Thursday's strike was coordinated
with Moscow, and there was no immediate comment from the Russians.
The attack was a message to the major
powers and all the other players in the Middle East that Israel would go to any
extent if its security was undermined. According to Amos Harel the Attack may
have been a signal to the United States and Russia that Israel wants its
security interests taken into account.
In a meeting with Russian President Putin in August, Prime
Minister Netanyahu had said that Israel was prepared to act alone to curb the
growing Iranian foot print in Syria. Israel had opposed a cease fire in parts
of Syria which was brokered by the United States and Russia on the grounds that
the agreement did not do enough to keep Iran and its proxies away from Israel’s
borders.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed recently
that Iran is building sites in Syria and Lebanon for the manufacture of
"precision-guided missiles" with the aim of deploying them against
Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said “We will do
everything to prevent the existence of a Shiite corridor from Iran to Damascus,”
while declining to comment directly on the air strike in an interview on Israeli
radio. He said Israel wasn't “looking for adventures, and we don't want to be
dragged into this fight or another.”
The September 7 air raid was seen as a
message to both Russia and Iran that Israel can strike anywhere in Syria. It
was also a rare instance of Israel striking a Syrian government facility rather
than an arms shipment and reminiscent of an Israeli airstrike that destroyed a
suspected, partially constructed nuclear reactor in the eastern city of Deir
el-Zour exactly 10 years ago.
