US official says top Hezbollah brass hit in alleged Israeli strikes in Syria
Defense Department source tells Newsweek commanders were targeted after boarding a plane bound for Iran; advanced weaponry also destroyed
An alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria Tuesday night hit several senior Hezbollah officials as they boarded a plane bound for Iran, Newsweek reported Wednesday morning, citing a Defense Department source.
The unnamed source told the magazine he had received the information from top Israeli military brass.
He said strategic Iranian munitions were also targeted, including advanced GPS components for weaponry.
Syrian state media said the strikes, beginning at about 10 p.m., were carried out from Lebanon and that a number of targets were intercepted. It said its own air defenses had opened fire on “enemy targets,” shooting them down.
Syrian TV quoted a military source saying weapons warehouses were hit, and three Syrian soldiers wounded.
Syrian media said Wednesday morning that Israel hit a base used by Hezbollah in Al-Dimas, a weapons depot at a base belonging to the Syrian army’s 4th division in Sabura and the military’s 10th Division command in Qatana.
Additionally, Syrian air defenses in Attal and the 68th Brigade and 137th Battalion in Khan-al-Sheikh were also reportedly attacked, Hadashot reported.
Israel said it had deployed air defenses against a missile fired from Syria as Damascus attempted to repel the alleged airstrikes.
The Israel Defense Forces said there was no damage or injuries from the surface-to-air missile fired from Syria at Israel.
“An IDF aerial defense system activated in response to an anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria,” the army said in a statement.
It did not say where or even if the missile was successfully intercepted.
Pictures shared on social media showed an air defense missile being fired near Hadera, a city some 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the Syrian border where residents had earlier reported hearing a loud explosion.
Dashcam footage from Road 6 of the launch of an #Israeli AD missile earlier near #Hadera following this evening airstrikes in #Syria. @Intel_sky @IsraelD_Heb @edrormba @BabakTaghvaee @Dannymakkisyria @IntelCrab @IdeologyWars @TheWarOfNow @intellipus pic.twitter.com/cKYeppl1NX
— Observer IL – ????️????️????️ (@Obs_IL) December 25, 2018
Syrian eyewitnesses and video on social media showed what appeared to be intense fire on targets near the capital.
Syrian News Agency says the “Aggression on #Syria” continues “from the Lebanese airspace” and air defenses are responding. pic.twitter.com/i6W7XjkNOA
— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) December 25, 2018
“It’s an Israeli raid,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.
“Missiles fired from Israeli planes targeted… arms depots southwest and south of Damascus that belong to Hezbollah or Iranian forces,” Abdel Rahman said.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israel Air Force planes were operating over southern Lebanon.
#Pt. Air defenses in action tonight over W. #Damascus province. #Syria pic.twitter.com/xrYqMYX1E1
— Qalaat Al Mudiq (@QalaatAlMudiq) December 25, 2018
News reports made a connection between the strike and the earlier arrival of an Iranian cargo jet in Damascus. The 747, belonging to Iran’s Fars Air Qeshm, had landed in Syria just after 7 p.m.
The civilian company has been accused on multiple occasions of smuggling Iranian arms to Hezbollah, and media speculated that its cargo had been the target of the strikes.
It was not clear whether the jet was the one which Hezbollah officials had allegedly boarded.
Israel in recent years has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria against targets linked to Iran, which alongside its proxies and Russia is fighting on behalf of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Israel has accused Iran of seeking to establish a military presence in Syria that could threaten Israeli security and attempting to transfer advanced weaponry to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.
The number of airstrikes in Syria attributed to Israel has dropped noticeably in recent months, after a Russian military plane was downed by Syrian air defenses during an Israeli attack on Latakia, killing all 15 servicemen aboard.
Russia blamed the Israeli military for that incident — a charge rejected by Jerusalem — and has supplied Syria with the advanced S-300 air defense system.
The S-300 systems were delivered to Syria last month, but they are not yet believed to be in use, as the Syrian air defense teams still need to be trained to operate them.
Israeli defense officials have met with Russian counterparts a number of times in recent weeks in an effort to re-establish a deconfliction mechanism that will allow Israel to recommence its air campaign.
Russia reportedly wants significant warning period ahead of any Israeli airstrike, something Israeli officials have been said to refuse.
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