The IDF will continue to strike at Iranian targets in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, one day after Russia announced plans to bolster that country’s defenses by transferring the advanced S-300 anti-missile system there within two weeks.
Both Jerusalem and Washington warned Russia on Monday evening against its declared intention to provide the Syrian military with advanced surface-to-air missiles within two weeks, saying the move would further destabilize the region and increase already high tensions.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday that Moscow will supply an S-300 anti-missile system to Syria within two weeks, following the downing of the Ilyushin IL-20 by the Syrian forces, who tried to repel an IAF attack.
Veteran Israeli analysts believe President Vladimir Putin is exploiting the downing of a Russian plane in order to change the rules of the game in Syria, and that the US has abandoned Israel on the issue of Iranian entrenchment in the war-torn country.
The Israeli report into the downing a Russian plane off the coast of Syria during an Israeli airstrike on Monday runs some 40 pages in English and Russian and shows that Syrian anti-aircraft batteries fired dozens of barrages indiscriminately for 40 minutes after the initial Israeli attack.
Russia has worked against U.S. interests in Ukraine, Syria, and in other hot spots across the globe, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a blistering takedown of Moscow that comes on the eve of a key United Nations summit in New York City.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, said Wednesday that Israel must stop its ‘intolerable’ attacks in Syria. His comments came after an Israeli airstrike on a Syrian base in Latakia, during which a Russian spy plane was accidentally shot down by soldiers loyal to President Bashar Assad.
IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis addressed the downing of the Russian plane in Syria on Tuesday after Moscow accused Israel of a hostile provocation and threatened to respond.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Israel’s ambassador Tuesday afternoon, state media reported, as Moscow fumed over the Syrian downing of a military plane that it said was the result of an Israeli ‘provocation.’
During an alleged Israeli airstrike within Syria, Russia claims one of its military aircraft disappeared with 14 people on board.
A major offensive launched by U.S.-backed Syrian forces in the country’s east will likely lead to the downfall of Islamic State’s last major stronghold, but will not spell the end of the extremist group, analysts believe.
Hours after an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Damascus airport in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed the country’s policy of employing military action to prevent weapons transfers to the enemies that pose an immediate threat.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he had struck a deal with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to table a planned offensive against the Syrian rebel stronghold of Idlib, a last-minute agreement that led all sides of the 7-year-old conflict to breathe a sigh of relief despite a host of unanswered questions about whether the so-called demilitarized zone will hold.
With Bashar Assad and his Russian allies on the verge of victory in Syria’s civil war, the Trump administration is facing new pressure to respond forcefully and prevent a bloodbath of historic proportions — but analysts say the U.S. has virtually no good options, as seven years of muddy American policy toward Syria has left Moscow holding all the cards.
A reconstructed Arch of Palmyra, the original of which was the entrance to a temple for Baal in Syria, will reappear in Washington, D.C., as an ‘improbable’ ‘symbol of peace and resilience,’ according to Breaking Israel News.
Israel struck in Syria on Saturday night, targeting an area near the airport in Damascus, Syrian state media reported. According to the report, several Israeli missiles were intercepted by Syrian air defenses.
Amid growing concerns about a possible chemical weapons attack in Syria’s Idlib province, Germany appears to be mulling participation in any retaliatory U.S.-led airstrikes, in a reversal of its traditionally hesitant stance on military engagement.
Britain, France and the US have warned Syria it will suffer a “much stronger response” if it uses chemical weapons again.
The United Nations is warning of catastrophic consequences facing civilians trapped in Syria’s Idlib province.
US ambassador to Israel David Friedman expects the annexed Golan Heights to remain under Israeli control ‘forever’, according to an excerpt released Thursday of an interview he gave to an Israeli newspaper.