Syria

The Syrian civil war between President Bashar al-Assad and rebel forces, including ISIS, has been ongoing since 2011. Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia are all on the ground in Syria fighting to support the Syrian regime against ISIS and many other rebels. This confluence of several different enemies, some religious radicals and others secular, has produced a muddy conflict with no good possible outcomes. Israel, on Syria’s southern border, has stayed out of the war except for occasional targeted strikes when Israel’s security was threatened, and humanely treating those wounded in the conflict. On February 10, 2018, Iranian forces stationed in Syria invaded Israel’s air space with a drone, provoking Israel to respond by shooting the UAV out of the sky and attacking the vehicle on the ground in Syria operating the drone. During the course of Israel’s counterattack, Syrian anti-aircraft missiles shot down an Israeli F-16 and injured two pilots. The IDF responded by destroying 4 Syrian command posts and 8 Iranian command posts in Syria. This incident showed that Iran and its allies in Syria are spoiling for a fight with Israel.

Syria

At least 7 killed in attack on Aleppo; Syria blames Israel – report

At least seven Iranian-linked militia fighters are said to have been killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria’s Aleppo’s province, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Thursday.

They form part of a wider Iranian-supported presence near Aleppo and have reportedly suffered casualties in previous airstrikes.

The Syrian…

Syria

Syria seeks urgent Security Council meeting on US declaration on Golan

Syria asked the United nations Security Council on Tuesday to hold an urgent meeting on the U.S. decision to recognize the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Monday in which the United States recognized Israel’s 1981 annexation of the strategic plateau, despite UN resolutions that call for…

Syria

Iran reviving maritime smuggling route to Syria using civilian firms

An analyst told i24NEWS exclusively on Tuesday that Iranian companies, sanctioned by the United States over ties to the Revolutionary Guards Corps, have recently begun unloading shipments at Syria’s Latakia port raising suspicions that the dormant maritime trade route is being revived and may be exploited for weapons smuggling.

The Mediterranean…

Syria

Syria vows to attack Israel unless it withdraws from the Golan Heights

Syria vowed to attack Israel unless it withdraws from the Golan Heights in an official warning given to head of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization [UNTSO) Kristin Lund by Syrian deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, World Israel News reported on Thursday.

The warning might be a Syrian attempt to prevent official US recognition of…

Syria

Syrian Observatory says war has killed more than half a million

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, said on Monday about 511,000 people had been killed in the Syrian war since it began seven years ago.

The Observatory, which tracks death tolls using a network of contacts inside Syria, said it had identified more than 350,000 of those killed, and the remainder were cases where…

Syria

Netanyahu in Moscow tells Putin Israel will continue hitting Iran in Syria

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel will continue to take action against Iran in Syria, in the first significant meeting between the two since a major spat developed over a downed spy plane last year.

“The greatest threat to stability and security in the region comes from Iran and its proxies,”…

Syria

Top Russian official says ‘Israeli attacks in Syrian territory must be stopped’

Russian deputy foreign minister urged Israel to stop carrying out attacks on Syrian sovereign territory linking such incidents to an ongoing destabilization of the war-torn country, Sputnik news reported on Friday.

“With regard to the latest Israeli attacks, we said that such arbitrary attacks on sovereign Syrian territory should be stopped and…

Syria

After Syria threatens Ben Gurion Airport, Iron Dome deployed in greater Tel Aviv

The Israeli military deployed Iron Dome missile defense systems in central and southern Israel in recent days, amid escalating tensions both in Syria and in the Gaza Strip.

A battery was deployed in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, and others were positioned in the south, the army said Thursday.

In addition, a small number of reservists from air…

Syria

Syria’s UN envoy threatens retaliatory attack on Ben Gurion Airport

Syria’s envoy to the United Nations warned Tuesday that if the world body did not halt Israeli strikes on his country, Syria would retaliate with an attack on Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv.

Speaking at the UN Security Council after a series of IAF airstrikes on Sunday and Monday — most of them launched after an Iranian missile…

Syria

Israeli official confirms Syria airstrikes, says Iran was the target

An Israeli security official on Wednesday confirmed responsibility for overnight Tuesday’s airstrikes in Syria, saying the air force had hit a series of targets involved in Iranian arms transfers to the Hezbollah terror group.

Russia had criticized the airstrike, saying it endangered civilian flights. The comments highlighted the increasingly…

Syria

Israeli Security Experts Weigh in on US Withdrawal From Syria, Emphasize Ongoing Iran Threat

A number of Israeli security experts have weighed in on US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from Syria, emphasizing the ongoing threat posed by Iran and the need for Israel to defend itself by itself.

Veteran journalist Ehud Yaari wrote on the Hebrew news site Mako that Trump was “applying the policies of his…

Syria

Russia completes delivery of S-300 air defense system to Syria

Russia said Tuesday it had completed delivering its S-300 advanced anti-aircraft system to Syria, weeks after it blamed Israel for the downing of one of its spy planes by a less-sophisticated Syrian air defense missile.

Israel has warned that providing the system to Damascus is “irresponsible” and will expose the region to more danger.

Russian…

Syria

How seriously should Israel take Syria’s Golan Heights threat?

Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem addressed the UN General Assembly on Saturday with a focus on what the regime intends to do about the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. He declared that Damascus aims to recapture the territory from Israel after Syrian regime forces have retaken areas opposite the Israeli border during a recent Russian-backed…

Syria

Russia to give Syria S-300 air defense after accusations against Israel

Russia said on Monday it would supply an S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria in two weeks despite strong Israeli objections, a week after Moscow accused Israel of indirectly causing the downing of a Russian military jet in Syria.

The White House said it hoped Russia would reconsider the move, which U.S. National Security Adviser John…

Syria

Russian military aircraft downed by Syrian forces, killing 15; Moscow blames Israeli aggression

A Russian military spy plane carrying 15 over the Mediterranean Sea was downed by an anti-aircraft missile from Syrian forces. Moscow says the Syrian forces were responding to an Israeli strike that used the Russian plane as cover; Benjamin Hall reports.

A Russian military spy plane carrying 15 over the Mediterranean Sea was downed Monday by…

Syria

Assads curriculum: Hating Israel, ignoring Holocaust

Syrian students are exposed to anti-Semitic content encouraging Jihad and acts of terrorism.

The study was written by Dr. Eldad Pardo and Maya Yaakobi from the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE).

Since 1998, the organization has explored and analyzed official textbooks from all over the globe to…

Syria

Shin Bet says it thwarted plot to assassinate prime minister, Jerusalem mayor

Israeli forces arrested an East Jerusalem man suspected of planning to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat earlier this year, on orders from a Syria-based terrorist group, the Shin Bet security service revealed on Tuesday.

The main suspect, 30-year-old Arab Israeli Muhammad Jamal Rashdeh, was arrested on…

Syria

We’ll hit Iran anywhere in Syria, Netanyahu says

Israel plans to act against Iran anywhere in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, as Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman prepare to fly to Moscow for talks about removing Iran and its proxy armies from Syria.

“We will continue to act against intention to establish a military presence in Syria opposite us, not just opposite the…