Syrian Army Says Israeli Jets Attacked Air Base in Homs

Four missiles hit the base, several others intercepted

On Tuesday, several missiles hit the T4 air base in Syria’s Homs Province. There were no casualties although Syrian state media reported significant damage. They are attributing the attack to Israeli warplanes.

This would not be the first time Israel attacked this base, and Syrian Army officials say that four missiles hit the base, while several others were intercepted by air defenses. Israel has accused the base of having Iranians on it.

Israel considers Iranians being at a base as a legal pretext to attack it, and in Israeli parlance, an “Iranian presence” could just as easily mean Iraqis, Afghans, or Lebanese. Any Shi’ite is treated as Iranian in their official statements.

There are several places around Syria recently where Shi’ite militias have come under attack. Generally speaking, these are not Iranians as such, but in many cases Syria has blamed Israel for the attacks.

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.