JERUSALEM — Israeli airstrikes against several Syrian Army positions across the decades-old cease-fire line in the Golan Heights on Wednesday came as a specific response to abomb attack against Israeli forces along the frontier a day earlier, according to Israeli officials. But for many here, the unusually sharp exchange signaled the possibility of a broader Israeli slide into regional turmoil.
The airstrikes, against a Syrian Army training facility, a military headquarters and artillery batteries, were the first in Syrian territory that Israel has openly acknowledged since the Syrian civil war began three years ago. The bombing on Tuesday that prompted the strikes was the first to cause Israeli casualties, wounding four soldiers, one severely. Both events raised the stakes along a frontier that has been largely quiet for 40 years.
The statement added that the Syrian leadership viewed Israel’s “new aggression” as an attempt to divert attention from the recent victories of the Syrian Army, particularly in retaking the town of Yabrud. It warned that Israel’s actions endangered stability in the border area and could open up “all possibilities.”
The Israeli military said the Syrian positions it struck had “aided and abetted” the bomb attack on Tuesday. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Wednesday, “Our policy is very clear: We attack those who attack us.”
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon warned in a statement that Israel viewed President Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria as “responsible for whatever happens in his territory, and if he continues to cooperate with terrorist elements who are striving to harm Israel, we will continue to exact a heavy price in a manner that will bring him to regret his actions.”
Israel has declared a policy of neutrality regarding Mr. Assad’s struggle against rebel forces, but at the same time, it has been carrying out a covert campaign to prevent the transfer of sophisticated weapons from Syria to Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese Shiite organization.
Israel and Hezbollah engaged in a monthlong war in 2006, and Hezbollah is fighting in Syria on the side of the Assad government.
At least half a dozen airstrikes against weapons convoys and warehouses, mostly in Syrian territory, have been attributed to Israel over the past year. Israel has refused to confirm or deny involvement, largely to stave off retaliation. But in his remarks on Wednesday, Mr. Netanyahu said that Israel was, to the best of its ability, “interdicting the transfer of weapons by sea, air and land, and this activity will continue.”
Further complicating the situation, a senior Israeli military officer told reporters recently that only a third of the Israeli-Syrian frontier in the Golan Heights was under the control of Syrian government forces, and the rest was controlled by up to 20 rebel groups, including radical jihadi forces. Mr. Netanyahu said Tuesday that the frontier “has been filling up recently with jihadi elements and Hezbollah,” presenting a new challenge to Israel.
No comments:
Post a Comment