The Syrian Defense Ministry claims that Israel carried out yet another airstrike on the Arab Republic.
By Erin Viner
During the attack, said the ministry in a statement, five Syrian Armed Forces soldiers were killed, and that material damage was sustained at the Damascus International Airport and other positions south of the capital city.
Syrian air defenses were activated and managed to down most of the missiles, said the statement.
It remains unclear whether airport operations were disrupted by the strikes.
Israel has intensified strikes on Syrian airports aimed at obstructing Iran’s increasing use of aerial supply routes for the delivery of military equipment to its terrorist proxies – including Hezbollah terror organization – following disruptions to ground shipments.
The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the latest report by reiterating its policy against response on foreign reports.
Iran and its allies have been active the Arab Republic since the eruption of its Civil War in 2011 to assist President Bashar al-Assad battle insurgents.
“Iran transformed CERS into production facilities for mid and long-range, precise missiles and weapons, provided to Hezbollah and Iranian proxies. In other words, it became yet another Iranian front – a factory for advanced, strategic weapons,” said Minister Gantz, according to a statement TV7 obtained from the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMoD).
The map of the CERS military sites revealed by Jerusalem’s top defense official included the underground Masyaf facility.
CERS, which is the acronym for the French term, Centre D’Etudes et de Recherches Scientifiques, is known as the Syrian Military Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) in English. The military industrial complex is located near Hama about 200 kilometers north of the capital Damascus. Both it and the Masyaf facility in the Hama countryside have been targeted by multiple alleged Israeli strikes.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps threatened to retaliate against Israel earlier this month following a second alleged Israeli strike within a week on the Aleppo International Airport immediately ahead of an expected arms delivery.
“The Zionist regime (Israel) is considered a major threat to Iran’s security… all governments that cooperate with this regime’s aggression against Iran’s security will pay its price,” senior IRGC Commander Gholamali Rashid declared in statements reported by the group’s Tasnim news agency affiliate.
Jerusalem has in the past acknowledged mounting hundreds of attacks on Iranian-linked targets in Syria to prevent the Islamic Republic’s forces and militias from establishing a deeper presence Syria or Lebanon as bases from which they can attack the Jewish State.
Israeli political and defense leaders have repeatedly stated that Iran’s presence just over the northern frontier will not be tolerated.
“If Iran continues to test us, it will discover Israel’s long arm and capabilities. We will continue to act on all fronts against terrorism and against those who seek to harm us,” stated Israeli Prime Minister Lapid on 6 September alongside the nation’s aerial defense systems at the southern Nevatim Air Force Base.