Israeli planes attack 10 targets – some Iranian – in Syria, responding to a missile launched from Syria. Israel says the missile was Iranian-made and fired by Iranian forces
Jan 21/19
Israel strikes Iranian targets in Syria: The Israel Air Force struck targets in Syria on Sunday overnight, including sites belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, the Israeli military said Monday. The attack comes as a response to a ground-to-ground missile that was fired a day earlier at Israel from Syria, and was intercepted. The Israeli military said on Monday that the missile was manufactured by Iran and launched by Iranian forces in Syria.
Targets include Syrian air defenses, Iranian sites: Israel said that the strike targeted some 10 sites in Syria, including arms warehouses at Damascus International Airport and other locations, and Iranian intelligence site and an Iranian training camp. Witnesses in Damascus said loud explosions rang out in the night sky.
Russia released a statement saying four Syrian soldiers were killed in the Israeli strike, with the Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights saying that 11 people were killed in the strike, and only two were Syrian. Russia said that Syrian air defenses shot down more than 30 Israeli missiles.
Israel warned Syria ahead of the strike: Israel confirmed that “dozens” of ground-to-air missiles were fired at its planes, noting that it had warned Syria ahead of the strike, advising Damascus not to respond to the Israeli attack. “We warned the Syrians not to fire anti-aircraft missiles at our planes during the strike and they chose to fire anyway,” Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis, the Israel Defense Forces spokesman, told reporters.
Israel Defense Forces?@IDF
This is what’s been happening:
On Sunday, Iranian Quds Forces operating in Syria launched a surface-to-surface rocket from Syria aimed at Israel’s Golan Heights. The Iron Dome Aerial Defense System intercepted the rocket.
Israel Defense Forces?@IDF
These are the Iranian Quds military sites in Syria that we targeted in response:
Munition storage sites
Iran threatens Israel: Following the strike, the commander of the Iran’s air force, Aziz Nasirzadeh, was quoted as saying that he was impatient to fight Israel and eliminate it.
Sunday – Israel strikes Syria, missile fired at Israel: On Sunday, Russia said that Israel was behind an attack thwarted by the Syrian military earlier in the day, which targeted an airport in southeast Damascus. A missile was later fired at the Israeli Golan Heights and was shot down by an Iron Dome battery near Mount Hermon, an Israeli ski resort, with thousands of Israelis witnessing the interception.
End to ambiguity: Israel’s policy of ambiguity surrounding its Syria strikes has been all-but-lifted recently. Last week, Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, said in a farewell interviewbefore stepping down that Israel had carried out attacks on thousands of targets in Syria in recent years. Later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took responsibility for attacking Iranian weapons stores a few days earlier.
@ yamit82:
I’ve been thinking of that Aswan Dam, and what a good sized bomb would do…for YEARS and YEARS….It would sweep every grain of soil and every living thing in Egypt right out into the Medterranean… exactly where they deserve to end up.
I recall reading very many years ago a couple of learned treatises which began with saying that the Dam had caused an ecological disaster to the area. And then went on to talk about the huge mass of water piled up behind the dam. They didn’t mention what would happen if the dam burst, but it was then that I began to think of that very thing. But I never think in terms of nuclear… it doesn’t enter my head…… heavy pinpoint bombing was what was in my mind.
@ Edgar G.: I agree that nuclear weapons cause enormous harm when used to innocent people, and that using them, or even publicly discussing them, would not enhance Israeli security. Possessing them does have some deterrant value, as long as people know you will use them only as a desperate last resort if facing annihilation. I respect Yamit’s opinions although I disagree with him about this particular issue
MEMRI has identified a Syrian Mudar Zahran. . Hope Ted will invite him to his next conference. .
@ yamit82:
Your rationale for preventing “future wars” is very flawed in my opinion. Yes, I am aware -as I’ve already said in my earlier post- that a variety of countries have the bomb and are pointing them at someone. But those closest to Israel don’t have it, and couldn’t use it being so close except by a UPS delivery system. And the release would rebound onto them… Not to forget the always lurking 2nd strike submarines…!!
Yes “the genie is out of the bottle” ….but since WW2 -which used 2 bombs-, there has not been a single instance of nuclear bomb use against an enemy. They are afraid of that very nuclear winter you earlier spoke about. For 50 years after, people didn’t sleep either at all, or soundly at nights because of that threat. And so it should be.
Any country which dared to use the bomb against Israel or anyone else, faces obliteration from the major powers.
Tell me.. has the EMP weapon been used against anyone….. It’s well developed I believe, but I’m not a military maven like you. I mean of course the EMP triggered by a nuclear explosion….of course it hasn’t. But as a caveat, I suggest that there may have been some far away use with very small bombs that were taken to be something else, and which I know nothing about. You would… which is why I ask you.
Oh yes, nearly forgot. About the Yom Kipur War. Many years later, I read previously “classified secret”…just released reports that Golda, after initially refusing the request from Dayan, actually DID order the assembly of nuclear bombs, and the writer says he saw parts being assembled. There were to have been several. Then the tide turned, and the need receded. So they were disassembled and stored away again. Have you seen that report…?
@ Edgar G.:
Let’s be serious and recognize some facts.
1- Egypt has a developed nuclear and CB program and reactors. So does Algeria and Iraq still retains the Knowhow from Saddam? Iran is by all accounts close. Syria may have acquired the product of what Saddam sent out of the country before the American attacks and invasion. Israel destroyed a Korean designed and built reactor discovered by Israel, not the stupid American Intelligence agencies.
2- The nuclear genies have escaped its bottle and proliferation is now widespread and in some cases quite advanced. It’s been reported the Saudis have a few nukes in payment for financing the Pakistan bomb.
3- Pakistan may have as many as 100 nukes and delivery platforms and they have a radical unstable Islamic regime. Even if they don’t attack Israel they remain a nuclear threat by selling their knowhow not only to the other Islamic States but to terrorist groups aligned against Israel.
4- Every weapon in history once developed has been used.
5- Israel faces from Hezbollah, Syria, Hamas and any other Arab or Islamic country willing to join in missile attacks against Israel well over 200k missiles just from Hezbollah, Syria, and Hamas. 1000 missiles a day will have the same effect as a couple of nukes and there is no reason not to expect some of those missles will have chemical and bio warheads. Some of those missiles will be guided and accurately able to hit ports, airfields chemical factories and storage tanks containing such chemicals as ammonia etc, all of our power generating plants can be put out of action. Military Installations microwave and telecommunications. Then there is vulnerable Dimona!!!
6- 75% of the population of Israel live between Tel Aviv and Haifa. Where can you hide and protect them?
7- They aim to knock out our defenses and ability to retaliate in the first day… In the 2nd Lebanese war that lasted over 30 days, they fired 100 dumb missiles a day for the full 35 days….. They emptied out the population of the north and shut half the country down.. Israel never got to most of their missiles-only the longer range ones by taking out most of the launchers… Now the launchers are underground in bunkers or are mobile. All of South Lebanon like Gaza are underground tunnels all interconnected.
8- Will Russia join in on the side of the Arabs either offensively and defensively?
Once you understand the magnitude of what we are facing there is only one conclusion and that is to make our Nukes not only a last resort option but a first option…
While our Nukes are an open secret nobody knows exactly what we now have but they have long since failed to be what they were designed for and that is deterrent…. Nobody believes we will use them and during the Yom Kippur war when we were close to losing and being overrun we did not use them against the Egyptians. That mistake cost us 10k casualties 2700 dead and the rest wounded and maimed for life.
My rationale is to prevent future wars that could end in another holocaust we have to scare the hell out of the West, not the crazy Arabs, The more rational Arabs will weigh their options and chances for success the crazy ones will use a different set of calculations.
The west values their oil and gas but they need to understand that we hold the matches. If we go down let’s take the world down with us——– known in some circles as the “Samson Option”…
@ yamit82:
Some TRICK…. sounds even crazier than the Ayatollas. Another nuclear bomb should NEVER be exploded in this world of ours. That the first two were, was an enormous tragedy… apart from slaughtering hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese and their descendants, it drove the world into frantic research and technology theft, with spy rings proliferating…And we fought the worst war in history to avoid this sort of life for our people. Nuclear armed antagonists halved the terror stricken world for the next 50 years, with the effects still reverberating around us. A nuclear weaponry reserve is no longer uncommon with the two great powers with thousands of them pointed at one another. Not to forget China, India..even Pakistan all pointing their weaponry at someone….
And the chance -a large one- that some of these horrific bombs have come into the hands of terrorist gangs is very real…. The nuclear world knows that Israel has these last ditch defences, and no threats are needed. Why should we bomb New York, with it’s several million Jews..that statement alone is the product of an asylum inmate-if not worse. .
(Israel has always been reported to have between 80-120 bombs)..
Yamit, with all the respect I have, both for you and your opinions ..on this alone, you are as “mad as a hatter…” !!
Of course you surely are not serious…In that case I’m not serious either….!!
@ Michael S:
Israel nukes all ME and Siberian oil fields causing massive uncontrolled fire along with sand in the atmosphere would cause a worldwide nuclear winter/ It would wipe out at least 2/3 of all living things on the planet and return the world to the stone age so to speak. Add to those Nukes in every major national capital including NYC Chicago and LA all European and Russian major cities I would add the Vatican, Mecca, and Medina.
A low yield nuke hitting the Aswan dam would put all of populated Egypt under 30-50 ft of water. So far we have used less than a hundred nukes and if reports are true we have another three hundred-400 nukes left. What I am saying is that Israel must send the message to the world that we have the power and the means to destroy the world and the trick is making them believe that we are crazy enough to follow through with our threats….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_and_Israel#Stockpile
“… ‘So said HaShem, “My Firstborn Son is Israel.”‘” (Exodus 4:22)
“O nations: Sing the praises of His People, for He will avenge the blood of His Servants; He will bring retribution upon His adversaries, and He will appease His Land [and] His People.” (Deuteronomy 32:43)
“Sacred is Israel unto HaShem, [being] the first of His Crop; all who devour it will be held Guilty; Evil shall come upon them — [this is] the Oration of HaShem.” (Jeremiah 2:3)
“For, behold, in those Days, and in that Time, when I shall reverse the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all of the nations, and I will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat [Valley of God’s Judgment]; and I will issue Judgment against them there concerning My People and My Heritage Israel, whom they have scattered amongst the nations, and My Land that they have divided [amongst themselves].” (Joel 4:1-2)
“For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those that shall escape.”
Yoel 3:5 and Ovadia 1:17.
@ yamit82:
Hi, Yamit
The problem with revealing the number and targeting of Israeli nukes, is that
1. they do not assure “mutual” destruction. Israel has many enemies — the whole world, in fact, when someone like Obama takes the helm of the US. Israel would “assuredly” be destroyed by a nuclear attack by anyone, even probably North Korea; but an Israeli nuclear reprisal would not assure the destruction of big enemies such as the Soviet Union. If dictators like Putin are willing to risk nuclear war even with the US, I am sure they will also risk it with Israel.
2. To some fanatic theocrats, such as the Ayatollah, mutual assured destruction is considered a virtue. To them, it’s just a jihadi suicide attack, on a larger scale. (The Ayatollah himself, of course, would be snug and secure in a secret bunker)
Edgar G. Said:
I have been advocating this position wrt to nukes for many years and have stated so in a myriad of posts here on Israpundit over the years. Past comments are in the Israpundit archives… I am dead serious about elevating our Nuke deterrent publically and making them the cornerstone of our military defense and war doctrine,
Edgar G. Said:
The moderator knows me well and nothing new. He must have either a new spam blocker or has adjusted his old one to super sensitive,
@ Edgar G.:
No, I think I used too many links
Michael S Said:
MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction, prevented the Cold War from becoming WWIII. Arabs won’t attack a dangerously Mad Israel. A country prepared for total war will live in total peace. Besides, Israel has no choice economically other than to rely on nuclear weapons.
@ Edgar G.:
No, I think I used too many links
@ yamit82:
Hi, Yamit
There definitely seems to be history-changing military activity going on right now in the ME, especially the Israeli attacks on Iranian targets in Syria. Having said that, I notice that not many people, apart from you, appear to be much perturbed by it all. I checked Trump’s tweets, Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera, JP, Sputnik, Breitbart… nobody seems to care much about the Israeli attack.
Concerning Israel’s alleged nukes, I think Israel does well to play its cards close to its chest. There isn’t any advantage, to telling people how many warheads you have and where they’re pointed.
@ yamit82:
You sound serial (as the comedian used to say) but I know you can’t be….. Trying to make controversial statements again just to stir up something.eh??…maybe you stirred up the “Moderator”…..??
@ yamit82:
Well….. maybe you said a naughty word……???!!!***
Why is my comment in moderation???
First test for IDF’s Kochavi: 10,000 pro-Iran troops massing to cross into Syria from Iraq?
Russia and Syria join forces to repel Israeli air strikes. Iron Dome downs Syrian missiles over Golan
Most extensive Israeli attack ever on Soleimani’s military resources in Syria
IDF: Iran’s Al Qods aimed the Fateh-110 missile at Golan, which Iron Dome intercepted
The ground-to-ground missile aimed at the Golan on Sunday, Jan. 20 was fired by Al Qods and made in Iran,
The Fateh-110 intercepted over Golan Sunday was Iran’s second surface missile attack on Israel
The Persians may have invented Chess but Israelis have the most world chess Grandmasters
IMO it’s time to bring out our Nukes from our basement and flaunt them.
Announce our preprogrammed targeting and let all know it’s set on automatic.
Looks like Israel is pushing Now for a major confrontation with Iran.
Why Now?
Is there a deal with Russia?
Is there a deal with Trump?
Is there an agreement with the GCC?
According to reports the S-300 in Syria not yet operational and Syrian crews not yet trained??? Mis-information?
IMO it’s time to bring out our Nukes from our basement and flaunt them. Announce our preprogrammed targeting and let ait’s sett’s set on automatic.
So proud of Israel!!!