Israeli Missile Strikes Pound Syria, Killing Iranians

Bunker buster strike destroyed arms depots, causing earthquake

On Sunday night, Israeli missiles pounded sites in Syria’s Hama and Aleppo Provinces, hitting arms depots with what are being called “bunker-busting” missiles. As with previous Israeli strikes, Iranian sites are believed to have been targeted.

The attacks are estimated to have destroyed 200 missiles and killed a number of people. Exactly how many were killed is unclear. One official was quoted saying 16 were killed, including 11 Iranians. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 26 were killed, mostly Iranians, and 60 others were wounded.

The strikes were so big and caused such an explosion that they actually registered as an earthquake of 2.6 magnitude near Hama. Israel has yet to officially comment on the attack, which isn’t unusual. Syrian state media accused US and British missiles of being fired during the salvo, from Jordan. That’s not been confirmed.

The Israeli strike may be less about targeting anything in particular, than about testing their ability to keep attacking Syria. After the US-led attack on April 13, there was growing expectation that Russia would limit everyone’s ability to strike Syria, including Israel.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said over the weekend that “freedom of action” in attacking Syria was vital to Israel, and would be maintained at any cost. This attack may amount to Israel attacking just to see what reaction, if any, they get from Russia.

Russia is in the process of delivering S-300 missiles to Syria, which will greatly enhance their air defense capabilities. In addition to testing reaction, Israel may also be hitting a site they believe will be harder to hit when the S-300 arrives.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.