Israel Attacks Sites in Syrian Village

Speculation is militias were being targeted

The Syrian village of al-Hurriya came under attack overnight, according to state media. Locals reported multiple explosions, and damage to some buildings, but there have yet to be any confirmed casualties.

It is believed that the attacks were targeting Shi’ite militias in the village, which Israeli media always declares “Iranian militias.” They are operating out of the village school, which was the center of many of the early attacks.

As is almost always the case, Israel’s Army has not commented on the attack. Such attacks rarely lead to comments, though it’s generally accepted that Israel attacks Shi’ite targets often within Syria, and presents them as Iranian.

Early on Syria often threatened to retaliate for such attacks at a time of their choosing. This has never happened, and in general Syria no longer threatens retaliation as Israel’s attacks have gotten even more frequent.

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.