Three Killed In Alleged Israeli Bombing of Syria

Facts

• Three Syrian soldiers were reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike near Demascus on Thursday.¹
• This comes the day after after the Syrian border province of Quneitra was allegedly struck by Israeli missiles launched from the Golan Heights, causing material damage.²
• These follow several other recent alleged attacks, including against a Syrian military post on Feb. 17 and anti-aircraft batteries on Feb.9.¹
• Since the Syrian civil war started in 2011, Israel has been accused of carrying out hundreds of attacks against both government positions and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in an attempt to limit Iran's influence in the country.³
• Although the IDF rarely take responsibility for air strikes, they claimed the Feb. 9 attacks were in response to anti-aircraft missiles flown into Israeli airspace.⁴

Sources: ¹France24, ²Reuters, ³Al Jazeera and ⁴Jerusalem Post.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Tehran times. Israel's repeated attacks are a brazen violation of both international law and Syria's sovereignty. These acts of aggression, based on false pretexts, are carried out with the sole purpose of creating instability in the region. The international community must condemn the attacks, or risk empowering the Zionist regime.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Jerusalem post. Any attacks by Israel are in response to a long history of Syrian and Iranian aggression, which includes the development of deadly nerve agents for use against both Israel and Syria's own people. Israel is pre-empting genocide by carrying out the moral equivalent of bombing Auschwitz. Casualities are tragic but inevitable in war.