Damascus: Israeli Missile Attack Wounds Two

Facts

• The Syrian ministry of defense and the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) have reported that Israel conducted air strikes on targets in Damascus early Thursday morning. State media reports said the Syrian air defenses were 'confronting hostile targets,' while loud explosions were heard over the capital.¹
• According to SANA, an unidentified military official said that its air defence intercepted several missiles, but others caused material damage and wounded two soldiers.²
• Numerous Syrian air defense soldiers have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in recent years, although the condition of the two soldiers caught in Thursday's strikes was not immediately clear. Footage circulating on social media showed smoke rising from sites in the Damascus neighborhoods of al-Midan and Kafar Sousa.³
• According to the UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Israel has attacked Syria on five separate occasions over the course of this month. An opposition source with contacts on the ground has said of Thursday's strike that pro-Iran personnel were targeted near Kafr Sousa.⁴
• Over the last decade, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in Syria, including strikes on the Damascus and Aleppo airports. The Israeli government rarely acknowledges specific operations. However, it has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to extend its footprint in Syria.⁵
• Aside from attacks on airports — one of which caused Aleppo airport to shut for two days last week — Israel has also targeted Assad-held seaports in an apparent attempt to prevent Iranian arms shipments to militant groups backed by Tehran, including Hezbollah.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Associated Press, ³The times of israel, ⁴Reuters, ⁵Abc news and ⁶Sawt beirut international.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Foreign Affairs. Israel has been carrying out air strikes against suspected Iranian weapons transfers and personnel, as well as Tehran's proxies in Syria, for almost a decade and these tit-for-tat strikes are part of a low-intensity conflict intended, on the Israeli side, to slow Iran's growing entrenchment in Syria. The continuing pressure to escalate conflict created by the constancy of this shadow war has only been mitigated by Western attempts to foster diplomatic resolutions between the nations, but with the Biden administration's commitment to this strategy under question, a lethal escalation of force between Israel and Iran could be coming into focus .
• Narrative B, as provided by The times of israel. Syria is a conflict zone with many actors, any of which could cause this 'shadow war' to go hot. Currently, Iran — with its coordinated efforts alongside Russia, which controls much of the Syrian airspace — risks pushing this conflict over the edge. Israel has been clear that it will not permit Iran to freely move weapons and fighters through Syria if such activities threaten Israeli security, and that it is justified in targeting Iranian assets in any of the countries into which Tehran has dug its tentacles.

Predictions