Israel Attacks Syrian Military Base, Killing Two

Israeli Warplanes Fired Missiles From Lebanese Airspace

Israeli warplanes carried out an overnight attack against a Syrian military base in the Hama Province, causing considerable damage to the facility and killing at least two people. Syria confirmed the incident, but Israel has yet to officially comment.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said they believed the facility hit was a scientific research center, which was storing surface-to-surface missiles. Others speculated it might conceivably have something to do with chemical weapons, because chemical weapons have been in media reports recently.

The Israeli attack was carried out from inside Lebanese airspace, with warplanes never entering Syria, and instead just firing a flurry of missiles from inside Lebanon. Lebanon has little to no air defense, and Israel routinely violates its airspace.

It’s not unusual for Israel to deny comments on attacks in Syria, though those attacks tend to be centered on convoys, or on random military bases in Golan. This is a very unusual strike, and is likely to continue to fuel speculation about what happened.

Since the targeted base is in western Syria, it’s likely to provoke some Russian response, as they’ve generally forbade Israel from any operations that close to their own bases in Syria.

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.