Israeli Air Strike Injures 2 Syrian Soldiers
According to Syrian state media, Israeli airstrikes hit Syria's capital Damascus on Wednesday, injuring two Syrian soldiers, before Syria's air defenses shot down most missiles.
Facts
- According to Syrian state media, Israeli airstrikes hit Syria's capital Damascus on Wednesday, injuring two Syrian soldiers, before Syria's air defenses shot down most missiles.1
- The air strikes reportedly targeted military positions near the airport in Dima, the Beirut-Damascus highway where elite Syrian army personnel are stationed, and warehouses of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.2
- According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Wednesday's strikes marked Israel's 20th strike in Syria so far in 2023..3
- Over the past decade, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syria — mostly targeting government-controlled territories, international airports in Damascus and Aleppo, and Iranian-backed forces.3
- Israel rarely comments on its attacks on Syria, but it is concerned about Iran potentially expanding its footprint in its Arab neighbor.5
Sources: 1ABC News, 2Al Jazeera, 3Associated Press, 4The New Arabm and 5PBS NewsHour.
Narratives
- Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Foreign Affairs. Israel has been conducting airstrikes against suspected Iranian weapons transfers and personnel and its proxies in Syria for almost a decade. Though the strikes are part of a low-intensity conflict to slow Iran's growing entrenchment in Syria, the West has seemingly dropped its previous plan of diplomacy to allow Israel and other allies to use military force instead to settle its grievances with Tehran. This risky strategy underestimates the magnitude and repercussions of a military escalation.
- Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by AL. Syria is a conflict zone with many actors, all of which can cause this "shadow war" to go hot. Meanwhile, Iran — with its coordinated effort with Russia, which controls much of the Syrian airspace — risks pushing it 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 it's justified to target Iranian assets in any of the countries into which Tehran has dug its tentacles.
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