The Syrian Crisis

[W.G.Ewald]

Re: Israeli jets reportedly attack convoy on Lebanon-Syria border

What are Hezzies going to do with Buk missiles and Scuds. It isn't like they have the expertise to operate them.

Syrian or Russian "advisors" might have the expertise?

 

[The Messiah]

Re: Israeli jets reportedly attack convoy on Lebanon-Syria border

It means the self proclaimed thekedars the fsa aka mindless terrorists are lackeys and they dont even know it.

 

[Armand2REP]

Syrian or Russian "advisors" might have the expertise?

Why waste the effort? They need those weapons for Syria.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Is a preemptive strike on Syria's WMD lega... JPost - Middle East

If they're talking about it, they won't do it.

 

[SajeevJino]

Israel strikes Arms Depot near Damascus​

Syrian army says an Israeli airstrike targeted a military research centre near Damascus, killing two people.

"Israeli fighter jets violated our airspace at dawn today and carried out a direct strike on a scientific research centre in charge of raising our level of resistance and self-defence," the army's general command said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA on Wednesday evening.

The strike came "after terrorist groups made several failed attempts in the past months to take control of the site," the statement added of rebel groups fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace via Mount Hermon, or Jabal el-Sheikh in Arabic, the army said.

"They... carried out an act of aggression, bombarding the site, causing large-scale material damage and destroying the building," state television quoted the military as saying.

The army added that two site workers were killed in the strike.

"This assault is one of a long list of acts of aggression and criminality against the Arabs and Muslims," said the statement.


Hezbollah fears

The army denied earlier reports that Israeli forces had launched an air strike overnight on a weapons convoy from Syria near the border with Lebanon.


Media reports quoted US and regional officials as saying that Israel had conducted an airstrike inside Syria near the border with Lebanon, hitting a convoy of trucks.

"The target was a truck loaded with weapons, heading from Syria to Lebanon," said one Western diplomat on Wednesday.

A source among rebels fighting Assad said an air strike around dawn (04:30 GMT) on Wednesday blasted a convoy on a mountain track about five kilometres south of where the main Damascus-Beirut highway crosses the border.

The regional officials said Israel had been planning in the days leading up to the airstrike to hit a shipment of weapons bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon.

They said the shipment included sophisticated, Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which would be strategically "game-changing" in the hands of Hezbollah.

A US official confirmed the overnight strike hitting a convoy of trucks.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the strike.

'No comment'

Israel and the United States declined to comment.

"I don't have any comment for you on those reports," said White House spokesperson Jay Carney, when asked about the strike.

"I'd refer you to the government of Israel for questions about deliberations or actions that they may or may not have taken," he said.

Among Israeli security officials' chief fears is that Hezbollah could get its hands on Syrian chemical arms and SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles.

If that were to happen, it would change the balance of power in the region and greatly hinder Israel's ability to conduct air violations in Lebanon.

Airspace violation

The military in Lebanon, which shares borders with both Israel and Syria, said on Wednesday that Israeli warplanes have sharply increased their activity over Lebanon in the past week, including at least 12 sorties in less than 24 hours in the country's south.

A senior Lebanese security official said there were no Israeli airstrikes inside Lebanese territory. Asked whether it could have been along the border on the Syrian side, he said that that could not be confirmed as it was out of his area of operations.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

A Lebanese army statement said the last of the airspace violations took place at 2am local time on Wednesday. It said four warplanes which flew in over the southernmost coastal town of Naqoura hovered for several hours over villages in southern Lebanon before leaving Lebanese airspace.

It said similar flights by eight other warplanes were conducted on Tuesday.

Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace occur on a daily basis and Lebanese authorities routinely lodge complaints at the UN against the flights.


Syria confirms Israeli airstrike - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

 

[IBSA]

^^

This means that it were two zionists air strikes against Syria this wednesday: one on a convoy and another on a research center

 

[Armand2REP]

^^

This means that it were two zionists air strikes against Syria this wednesday: one on a convoy and another on a research center

I heard there were three.

 

[Akim]

And why the Syrian Ai-Df did not meet?

 

[SajeevJino]

And why the Syrian Ai-Df did not meet?

the Israeli Fighters flew under Radar cover to avoid detection .So their AD didn't pickup any signals

 

[SajeevJino]

Russia 'Concerned' Over Israeli Air Strike in Syria​

Moscow is "deeply concerned" over reports of Israeli air strikes on Syrian territory on Wednesday and is seeking confirmation of what could be a serious violation of the UN charter, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.Moscow said it is looking into reports that Israeli fighter jets carried out an air strike on a military research center near Damascus on Wednesday.

If the reports of "unprovoked strikes" hitting a sovereign country's territory are confirmed, this would constitute a violation of fundamental United Nations principles, the Foreign Ministry said.

Such attacks are "unacceptable, no matter where their motivations lie," the Foreign Ministry added.

Syrian state media, citing the army's general command, said the strikes killed at least two people. Western media reports said Israeli jets had bombed a convoy allegedly carrying weapons destined for the Shia militant group Hezbollah, which has previously fired rockets into Israel from Lebanon.

The Associated Press quoted an anonymous US official saying the convoy was carrying Russian-made Buk M-2 (NATO: SA-17) anti-aircraft missiles.

In March 2012, Israel's Haaretz daily reported Syria had supplied Hezbollah with advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft missile systems and was training operators how to use them, in a move which could threaten Israeli air supremacy in the region.

In 2007, Israel carried out another air raid on Syria, hitting what it said was intended to be a nuclear reactor site. It also destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor in a bombing raid in 1981.

Israel has not officially commented on the reported incident. Earlier this week, Israeli officials voiced alarm over Syrian chemical or biological weapons possibly falling into the hands of Hezbollah or other militant groups which might use them against Israel.

The Russia Foreign Ministry also called on for peaceful dialogue without foreign influence in Syria, where over 60,000 have died according to the UN in almost two years of civil war.

Russia 'Concerned' Over Israeli Air Strike in Syria | Russia | RIA Novosti

 

[SajeevJino]

US officials: Israel notified us of intention to hit Syria​

American officials tell 'New York Times' Israel informed US of its plan to attack arms shipment; 'Wall Street Journal' cites official as saying strike targeted convoy of trucks carrying Russian-made SA-17 missiles to Hezbollah.


US officials said Wednesday overnight that Israel had bombed a suspected shipment of anti-aircraft missiles in Syria on Tuesday night, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported.

The Wall Street Journal report cited a Western official as saying that the strike targeted a convoy of trucks carrying Russian-made SA-17 missiles to Hezbollah, in a border area west of Damascus .

American officials told the Times that Israel notified the US about the attack. The reports follows varying accounts of the alleged strike.

Several foreign reports said a weapons convoy carrying "game-changing" arms from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon had been hit Tuesday overnight. Syria's military command later denied that a convoy had been attacked.

It remains unclear whether the various reports related to separate air strikes.


Both the White House and the IDF have declined to comment on the reports.

The type of weapons reportedly being transported in the convoy remains unknown, although the Associated Press cited anonymous security sources as saying trucks carrying advanced SA-17 anti-aircraft missile launchers were hit. Should Hezbollah obtain the SA-17 from Syria, it could limit the IAF's ability to maneuver freely over Lebanon for surveillance or to target Hezbollah targets in a future conflict.

Other reports suggested that the weapons hit were Yakhont anti-ship missiles or powerful Scud D ground-toground missiles. There was no word on whether the convoy carried chemical weapons.

The foreign reports claiming that a convoy had been hit conflicted over the location.

Most said the air strike had taken place near the Syrian town of Zabadani, in the southwest of the country near the Lebanese border, while others said the attack occurred just after the convoy entered Lebanon, near the village of Nabi Sheeth.


US officials: Israel notified us of intention ... JPost - Defense

 

[fzaq]

Syria's Assad seeks Phl help

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/01/31/903152/syrias-assad-seeks-phl-help

Syria's Assad seeks Phl help
By Pia Lee-Brago (The Philippine Star) | Updated January 31, 2013 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - As bodies continued to pile up in the bloody civil war in his country, Syrian President Bashar Assad has turned to the Philippines for help in finding a "political solution" to the conflict.

Reliable diplomatic sources told The STAR last night that among the solutions being explored are asylum for Assad in the Philippines or financial help for drained Syrian national coffers.

Assad's regime is also eyeing Manila as intermediary with the United States, the European Union and the Arab League, according to the sources from several foreign embassies in Manila.

The sources said Assad's trusted political and media adviser Bouthaina Shaaban arrived in Manila last Sunday and was escorted to Malacañang the other day by a ranking official of the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Several other DFA officials were present at the meeting with President Aquino, the sources said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario confirmed the meeting and that a political solution to the two-year-old Syrian conflict was discussed. Del Rosario did not elaborate.

--edited--

full story on the link

 

[Akim]

US officials: Israel notified us of intention to hit Syria​

And since when is sovereign Syria there is a colony of the United States, their warning? Or USA = United Nations?

 

[SajeevJino]

And since when is sovereign Syria there is a colony of the United States, their warning? Or USA = United Nations?

Why for Confusion UN is under US pocket

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Re: Syria's Assad seeks Phl help

Does Mrs. Assad have lots and lots of shoes?

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Why for Confusion UN is under US pocket

US supports UN financially, to its own detriment.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

US officials: Israel notified us of intention to hit Syria

May be a residual effect of Israeli attack on USS Liberty in 1967.

 

[Armand2REP]

I am still trying to figure out wth Hezzies are going to do with Buk missiles? It takes a year of training from Russian operator and technical crews to get one battery up and running. Obviously Syria needs it if Israel can bomb that at will.

 

[pmaitra]

White House warns Syria over 'weapons to Hezbollah'

'Unprovoked attacks'
Both Hezbollah and Iran are also under pressure at the moment, and Israel's calculation must be that none of those hostile parties has an interest in triggering a regional conflagration right now, our correspondent says.

Later, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed "grave concern" over reports of Israel's action, and called on all concerned to respect international law.

Syria's allies denounced Israel's action, while Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi condemned the alleged air strike as an "overt assault based on the West's policy" to undermine stability in Syria.

Russia - a stalwart defender of Syria on the international diplomatic scene despite its warming trade and economic ties with Israel - also took a strong stance.

"If this information is confirmed," said the foreign ministry, "then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it."

Earlier Syria's ambassador to Lebanon warned Damascus could take a "surprise" decision to retaliate.

US Vice-President Joe Biden is travelling to Germany, where he is expected to discuss the situation in Syria with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Syrian opposition leader, Moaz al-Khatib.

Israeli media reaction

"Israel is closer today to confrontation on the northern front more than it has been at any point since the Second Lebanon War." Alex Fishman, Yedioth Ahronoth

"It could be seen as a hint to other countries, like Turkey and the US, that a military attack on Syria to topple the regime may be an option." Zvi Barel, Ha'aretz

"There have been many signs in recent days that winds of war are blowing in the north. But"¦ an attack, which did or did not take place, will not lead to an immediate round of combat in the north." Amir Rapaport, Ma'ariv

"If Israel acted, as foreign publications say, the ball is in Assad's court. The problem is that in the current situation, he has no court and does not have much to lose. A wounded lion is a dangerous lion." Boaz Bismuth,Yisrael Hayom

Video and full article: BBC News - White House warns Syria over 'weapons to Hezbollah'

 

[sob]

Re: Syria's Assad seeks Phl help

I was not aware of any special relationship between Syria and Philippines.

Is Mr.Assad clutching at straws or is there something I am not reading in this.