Iran - Israel War in Syria, Now Expands to IsraelIsrael bombs IRGC backed Quarter in Syria
IRI rockets Golan Heights, IsraelIranian forces fire rockets at Israeli military in first direct attack ever, Israel’s army saysLoveday Morris
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/
Israeli tanks take position near the Syrian border in the Golan Heights on May 9, 2018. (Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images)Confrontation between Israel and Iranian forces in Syria sharply escalated early Thursday morning as Israel said Iran launched a barrage of 20 missiles toward its positions in the Golan Heights. TIBERIAS, Israel —
Heavy military jet activity, explosions and air-defense fire could be heard throughout the night in the area. An Israeli military spokesman said the rockets were fired by Iran’s Quds Force, a special forces unit affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, marking the first time Iranian forces have ever fired directly on Israeli troops.
The Israeli military said several of the rockets had been intercepted by Israel’s missile defense system, and sparks could be seen as they broke up in the sky.
No one was injured on the Israeli side, the military said.
The Syrian state news agency, however, reported that it was Israel that had fired on targets near the town of Quneitra, located just east of the Golan Heights. Syrian air defenses had responded, it said. It later reported a “new wave” of attacks.
The Israeli miliary said it “views this event with great severity and remains prepared for a wide variety of scenarios.”
Air-raid sirens sounded in the Golan Heights shortly after midnight. In nearby Tiberias, on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, explosions could be heard above the music of bars entertaining busloads of tourists. The explosions were followed by sporadic fire into the early morning hours.
With Syria’s civil war raging just across the border, Israeli residents of the Golan Heights have become used to the air-raid sirens and errant fire. But recent days have been different, and war jitters have spread across Israel.
On Wednesday, it had seemed like business as usual on the Golan, a plateau that rises dramatically behind the Sea of Galilee, captured from Syria by Israel in the 1967 war. Children went to school and wineries welcomed groups of tourists.
But Israel trucked in tanks and additional air defense batteries, and the military chief of staff touched down in a helicopter to tour the area to assess the army’s readiness.
On Tuesday, an airstrike attributed to Israel reportedly killed eight Iranian soldiers after Israel said it had detected unusual Iranian troop movements across the border and had intelligence about a possible attack from Syrian soil.
Iran had threatened to retaliate against Israel after an airstrike in April that killed seven Iranian soldiers at a base in Syria.
President Trump’s decision on Tuesday to pull the United States out of the nuclear deal with Iran has given Tehran less reason to exercise caution in confronting Israel, analysts said.
“U.S. withdrawal has accelerated the escalation between Israel and Iran,” said Ofer Zalzberg, and analyst at International Crisis Group. “Iran faces less restraint in terms of the timing for a retaliation,” he said, adding that Iran probably had been waiting for the U.S. decision before formulating its next move.
While Trump was in Washington announcing the withdrawal, Golan residents were being told Tuesday to open up their bomb shelters — the first time the army has instructed them to do so during seven years of civil war in nearby Syria.
At Kibbutz Ein Zivan, a few miles from the Syrian border, David Spelman had pulled up a text on his phone sent from the regional council just minutes after Trump finished speaking. It instructed residents to be “watchful and prepared.”
A populace with a pioneering spirit, Golan residents seemed accustomed to being on the fringe, close to Israel’s enemies. The Golan Heights was officially annexed by Israel in 1981, but that action has not been internationally recognized.
“You have different level of worries, but people are pretty seasoned here,” said Spelman, a former regional council member who has lived on the kibbutz since it was established in 1968.
“There are certain points of time that you have to face things head on, and Netanyahu is doing it,” he said of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It’s a really tense time,” said one regional council official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss preparations. “We are telling the citizens to still have regular life; children are going to school. But our job and the army’s job and people involved in security, it’s 24 hours. It’s something a little more this time.”
At a winery on Ein Zivan, American tourists said Wednesday they were unaware that the U.S. government had told its employees to stay away from the Golan until the situation stabilizes.
“Seems like much ado about nothing,” one said after a tasting.
Amid warnings of a potential attack, some 62 percent of Israelis think a war is imminent, according to a poll commissioned Wednesday by Israel’s Hadashot news channel.
“Iran will retaliate through proxies, sooner or later, against Israeli military sites in the north,” Gary Samore, a former White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction, said at a security conference in Herzliya, Israel.
But he said that no side is interested in a full-scale conflict, and there is debate in Iran over how to proceed. He said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wants to avoid confrontation because he is trying to preserve the nuclear deal with world powers. But Iranian military commanders want to retaliate for the death of Iranian soldiers.
Rouhani said his government remains committed to a nuclear deal with Europe, Russia and China, despite the U.S. decision to withdraw, but is also ready to ramp up uranium enrichment if the agreement no longer produces benefits.
Netanyahu had been a leading advocate of a U.S. withdrawal, but his military chiefs had been more cautious. He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday in Moscow. Russia, which is backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces alongside Iran, is seen as key in preventing Iranian-Israeli tensions from escalating.
Israel, determined not to let Iran expand its military presence in Syria, has struck over the border at least 100 times during the war, extending its targets from suspected arms convoys to Iranian-linked military bases.
“Iran is not fully inside. It has not yet succeeded in building what it wants to build there, and now is the time for Israel to push back,” said Chagai Tzuriel, director general of Israel’s Intelligence Ministry.
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Israel Strikes Iranian Targets in Syria in Retaliatory AttackDov Lieber
Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/
This long-exposure photograph shows Israeli fire directed toward Syrian military targets. A number of rockets reportedly fired by Iranian forces in Syria at Israeli targets in the Golan Heights late Wednesday night were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome rocket-defense system, the Israeli military saidIsrael’s military says no one was injured and damage was limited from rocket fire on Golan from within Syria
Israel’s military carried out strikes against Iranian targets in Syria after it said Iranian forces based there fired about 20 rockets at Israeli soldiers along the border in the Golan Heights, in what appeared to be the first instance of a direct attack by Iran against Israel from Syria.
The attack late Wednesday night caused no injuries and only limited damage to property, the Israeli army said.
The attack came after suspected Israeli missiles targeted an Iran-linked army base south of Syria’s capital, Damascus, on Tuesday, shortly after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would withdraw from the international nuclear deal with Iran.
Those strikes heightened tensions in a region already on edge, and underlined the risk of direct confrontation between Iran and Israel following the U.S. exit from the nuclear agreement.
The Israeli military’s official Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said Israel was carrying out retaliatory strikes against Iranian targets in Syria and warned that Syrian involvement against it would “be met with great severity.”
Syrian air defenses had “confronted” Israeli missiles and reported Israeli shelling in the Syrian city of Baath, near Israel’s northern border, according to the Syrian state news agency. Later, the agency said a fresh wave of Israeli missiles was intercepted in the vicinity of Damascus, the capital. On social media, activists reported loud explosions to the south and northeast of the city.
Israel is targeting some air-defense systems and radar, the agency reported, publishing pictures and videos of Syrian air defenses intercepting what it said were Israeli missiles.
Israel has been bracing for Iranian retaliation to an attack last month when presumed Israeli missiles hit an Iranian-controlled base deep in Syria. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said as many as 18 Iranians were killed in that attack, though Iran denied there were any casualties.
Israeli military spokesman for English media Jonathan Cornricus said the Israeli military was sure the Iranian Quds Force, an arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was behind the attack Wednesday night. He declined to explain how Israel knew the Quds Force was behind the attack.
A few of the rockets fired at Israeli forces were shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome rocket-defense system, Mr. Cornricus said. The projectiles were fired at several Israeli military bases on the front line with Syria, he said.
“The Israel Defense Forces view this event with great severity and remain prepared for a wide variety of scenarios,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
An Iranian official at the country’s United Nations mission didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Until now, Iranian forces had held back from any retaliatory response to recent Israeli strikes on Syrian bases that local media and a watchdog group said killed Iranian forces. Prior to the attack last month that killed a reported 18 Iranians, another suspected Israeli strike in Syria in April killed seven Iranians.
Iranian military officials, however, had promised to retaliate at a time and place of their choosing.
In February, Israel said an Iranian attack drone flew into its airspace, prompting Israeli raids inside Syria, which ended in the downing of an Israeli jet.
This appeared to be the first incident of direct conflict between Iran and Israel. Iran is usually known to operate in the region via its allies and proxies.
Israel has amplified criticism of Iranian attempts to set up military bases and weapons factories in Syria in recent months, warning it would engage in a conflict with the Syrian regime should Iran and Tehran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah entrench on its border.
Some observers feared President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal would prompt Iran to scale up its military activities in Syria and in Iraq and Yemen, and further empower militias loyal to it in the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who supported the U.S. leaving the Iran deal, has said he would prefer to confront Iran earlier rather than later.
“We are determined to block the Iranian entrenchment, even at the cost of confrontation,” Mr. Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting Sunday. “We don’t want confrontation, but if there needs to be one, it is better now than later.”
The Israeli prime minister in Moscow on Wednesday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose troops are fighting alongside Iranians in defending the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad. He presented “Israel’s obligation and right to defend itself against Iranian aggression, from Syrian territory,” according to a statement from Mr. Netanyahu’s office.
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Syrian state media says dozens of Israeli rockets fired into SyriaReuters
https://www.reuters.com/The scale of Israeli fire was far higher than in previous incidents and Damascus residents described seeing a series of explosions above the city from air defense systems.
Tensions between Israel and Iran have threatened to spill over in Syria, where the Iranian military and allied Shi’ite militia are backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his war against rebels seeking to oust him.
“Air defenses confronted tens of Israeli rockets and some of them reached their target and destroyed one of the radar sites,” Syrian state news agency SANA reported, citing a military source. Another rocket hit an ammunition warehouse, it said.
Asked whether Israel had attacked near Damascus or scrambled communications there, an Israeli military spokeswoman said: “I have no comment on that at this time.”
Syrian state television was broadcasting footage of its air defenses firing at incoming rockets, and playing patriotic songs.
It said Israeli warplanes were firing the rockets from outside Syria’s borders and targeting Baath City in Quneitra province.
Israel’s military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said earlier that Israel had retaliated for an attack on its outposts in the strategic Golan Heights plateau. He did not elaborate.
Israeli media said residents of Metulla, on the Lebanese border, had been instructed to go to bomb shelters. There was no official confirmation.
Syria’s state news agency, SANA, and a war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, had reported artillery fire from Israeli-held territory at Baath City, located near the border. The Observatory said rockets were fired at military positions of the Syrian army and allied forces.
A correspondent for SANA said strikes were targeting Syrian air defense brigades and attempting to destroy radar installations.
Lebanon’s National News Agency, citing Lebanese Army Command, reported Israeli jets circling over Lebanese territory early on Thursday before exiting.
MOUNTING TENSIONS The late-night incident followed a surge in tensions between Israel and Syria, where Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces have been helping Damascus beat back a 7-year-old rebellion.
Israel describes Iran as its biggest threat and Hezbollah as the biggest threat on its borders.
Fearing that Iran and Hezbollah are setting up a Lebanese-Syrian front against it, Israel has occasionally struck at their forces. Iran blamed it for an April 9 air strike that killed seven of its military personnel in Syria, and vowed revenge.
Conricus said that in Thursday’s attack, around 20 projectiles, most likely rockets, were fired by the Quds Force, an external arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, at around 12.10 a.m.
“A few of those rockets were intercepted” by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system, Conricus told reporters. “We are not aware of any casualties. The amount of damage that we currently assess is low.”
Asked if Israel retaliated for the salvo, he said: “We have retaliated but I have no further details about this.”
Expectations of a regional flare-up were stoked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear deal. Hours later, Israeli rocket rockets targeted a military base in Kisweh, a commander in the pro-Syrian government regional alliance said.
The strike killed 15 people, including eight Iranians, the Observatory said. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.
Reporting by Stephen Farrell and Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Dahlia Nehme in Beirut; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Grant McCool and Peter Cooney
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'Iranian soldiers killed' in Israeli airstrike on Syrian army baseRaf Sanchez and Nick Allen
Telegraph
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Flames rise after an attack in an area known to have numerous Syrian army military bases Credit: APIranian soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike in Syria carried out just hours after Donald Trump’s announcement that the US was pulling out of the Iran nuclear agreement, according to monitors.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Israeli jets had targeted a weapons depot near al-Kiswah, a Syrian military base south of Damascus that is used by Iranian forces. It has been hit by suspected Israeli strikes in the past.
At least nine pro-regime fighters, "including members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and other pro-Iranian Shia militiamen” were killed in the strike, the Observatory said.
Israel’s military refused to comment, as is its policy when it comes to operations in Syria. The strike appeared to be the latest round of an increasingly bloody shadow war being fought by Israel in an effort to stop Iran from building up its military presence in Syria.
At least seven Iranians were killed in a suspected Israeli strike on the T4 airbase in central Syria in April. Israel’s military has been on high alert since then in anticipation of potential Iranian retaliation.
Those tensions will only rise further after Mr Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the 2015 nuclear and reimpose sanctions on Iran.
Shortly before Mr Trump’s announcement, Israel’s military said it was seeing signs of “irregular activity of Iranian forces in Syria” and ordered Israeli civilians in the Golan Heights to ready their bomb shelters.
“Defence systems have been deployed and IDF troops are on high alert for an attack,” a spokesman said Tuesday night. “The IDF is prepared for various scenarios and warns that any aggression against Israel will be met with a severe response.”
Reserve troops from military intelligence, air defence, and the home front units were called up, according to Israeli media, and Israeli school trips to the Golan Heights were cancelled.
By Wednesday morning, the situation appeared to have calmed slightly. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) lowered its alert level on the Golan Heights, the mountainous area Israel captured from Syria in 1967.
Schools were opened as normal and farmers were told they could go about their work.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, left for a planned trip to Moscow - a sign that Israel’s government did not believe that an immediate escalation was imminent.
"I am now leaving for an important meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Mr Netanyahu said.
“The meetings between us are always important and this one is especially so. In light of what is currently happening in Syria, it is necessary to ensure the continued coordination between the Russian military and the IDF."
Israel has warned that any Iranian attack on Israel from Syrian territory will be met with a major response.
Mr Netanyahu said Mr Trump had made a “brave and correct decision” to withdraw from the agreement.
"Israel fully supports President Trump's bold decision today to reject the disastrous nuclear deal,” Mr Netanyahu said in a speech moments after Mr Trump’s address.
The Israeli leader has consistently warned that the deal would pave the way for Iran to build an arsenal of nuclear weapons and called the agreement a “recipe for disaster”.
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Israel Bombed IRGC QuarterBREAKING Israel News 8 Iranians killed in Israeli strike in Syria weapons depot Iran elite Revolutionary Guards in Kisweh south of Damascus - Iran plans to retaliate May 9 2018 News
Video
https://youtu.be/-2RwQIgS_YgBREAKING Israel News 8 Iranians killed in Israeli strike in Syria by Damascus May 9 2018
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