Russia Exposes Operational Details on Several Israeli Strikes in Syria

Reveals Israel used Jordanian airspace to attack Damascus


Russia has repeatedly criticized Israel for attacks on Syria in recent months, but looked to step that criticism up on Friday, issuing specific operational details about four different Israeli attacks carried out over the past 10 days.

On November 12, Israel attacked the house of Islamic Jihad’s deputy leader in Damascus, killing his son and another civilian, while wounding 10 others. Three missiles were intercepted by Syria, but two other missiles hit the house.

On November 18, Israeli fighter jets entered Jordanian and Iraqi airspace, and attacked the al-Bukamal region. On the 19th, Israel attacked targets south of Damascus, and on the 20th Israel fired 40 cruise missiles into the Damascus suburbs, killing at least 10 Syrian soldiers and civilians.

While such incidents were all generally reported to be Israeli attacks, some of the specifics are likely to embarrass Israel. The revelation that they used Jordanian and Iraqi airspace in attacks is also likely to put pressure on both of those nations to defend their airspace at least a little bit.

Israel had made much of the November 20 attacks, presenting them as primarily targeting Iranians. Details on who was killed have not been made public, but it included a number of civilians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to keep targeting Iran.

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.