Why Israel Attacks Syria?

Rasa - Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes on Damascus on Saturday. Details of the attack are still unclear, as the first reports were in the Israeli media, and within a matter of hours were removed.

News ID: 435122

Date: 03 December 2017 - 23:59

RNA - The Israeli reports claim the strikes targeted the “Iranian base” South of Damascus. This military facility has never been confirmed by anybody as actually belonging to Iran, but Israeli outlets played that narrative up as part of the so-called “Iranian threat.”

This isn’t entirely unusual within Israel, as the military censors often compel the media not to report stories. It is unusual, however, for them to let the story out and then recall it after the fact. This is while media outlets outside of Israel reporting on the incident make no mention of an “Iranian base,” saying that what was targeted was a Syrian Army ammunition depot.

Since neither cross-border violence nor the threats are new, the question remains: Why does Israel attack Syria, including routine attacks in the form of rocket fire - as well as assassinations and air raids carried out exclusively by Israel - that have intensified since the US-led war on Syria began in 2011 – of course, with a helping hand from the terrorist group of ISIL, among other proxies?

Surely, Israel is climbing up too high a tree over Iran’s presence in Syria:

1- According to Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, “There is no Iranian military force in Syria. Iran is not on our border. It’s true that there are some experts and advisers, but there is no military force there.” This is the same Lieberman who only two weeks ago, while visiting the Israeli army’s Northern Command, warned that “Israel would not allow an entrenchment of Shiite and Iranian forces in Syria. Anyone who doesn’t understand what I mean would do well to try and understand.”

2- The Zionist regime’s officials accuse Iran of trying to establish a military foothold in Syria, where Tehran has been supporting Damascus's fight against ISIL and other terrorists with major results. Benjamin Netanyahu claims the goal is “using Syria as a base from which to destroy Israel.” His remarks seem baseless, as Iran has never attacked any nation in the past 200 years. Besides, Iranian military advisors are in Syria upon an official request from Damascus and they will stay there as long as they are wanted. Unlike the US forces, Iranians are not there to occupy Syria permanently. Then again, if Israel tries to compel the Iranians to leave, it could lead to military friction which could deteriorate into a wider conflict.

3- Israel's attacks on the Syrian Army happen intentionally. There is also intentional 'spillover' by US-backed terror proxies to prod Israel to attack the Syrian military. They never take place because of stray fire falling within the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, or when arms convoys pass near the border. There are no Iranian fighters launching rocket fire into the occupied Golan Heights, either. All these lies and more are fabricated by Israel and company for one purpose only: to prolong the violence in Syria and protect Israel.

4- True, the violence has spilled over the border and into occupied Palestine. But blowback was inevitable. In fact, the violence even affected the security in Europe and beyond. Virtually every country in Western Europe has reported that some of its Muslim citizens have gone to Syria. A small but significant number have died in the war, mostly from the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and other states with sizable Muslim minorities. Americans are now fighting in Syria as well.

5- In the case of stray fire, the Israeli regime and its American-Arab allies are responsible. They are the ones that turned Syria into a failed state and it is Damascus that under international law has every right to retaliate. The warmongers better accept spillover.

6- Syria and Israel have technically been in a state of war since 1948, after the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli war that ensued that year. In 1967, Israel occupied the Syrian territory of the Golan Heights and continues to occupy part of it to this day. The two countries signed a disengagement agreement in 1974 following the 1973 war between Israel, Syria and Egypt. The border region has remained relatively quiet since then, but the eruption of the war on Syria unleashed a new chapter in Israeli-Syrian relations. The fact that the US-led war on Syria failed is critical to understanding the increase in Israeli attacks over the past few months.

7- The US-backed terror proxy forces were making substantive gains in the first leg of the war, and the intervention of Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah on the side of Syrian armed forces, tipped the scales in the government's favor. The growing power and influence of the allied forces, mainly Iran and Hezbollah, is why Israel is now concerned - a fear that it does not conceal. From now on, the focus in the Muslim world will once again be on Palestine and their legitimate struggle for freedom and self-determination. Muslims are now taking a more severe view of the daily activities associated with Israel’s occupation, including the deaths of many Palestinian civilians in the rounds of war in Gaza.

8- Netanyahu claims that Iran intends to turn Syria into a base of military entrenchment and use Syria and Lebanon as war fronts to eradicate Israel. By attacking Syrian and Hezbollah arms convoys the usurper regime cannot escape its fate. It will be the Palestinian people and not foreign armed forces who will soon turn the tables in favor of Palestine.

At any rate, the collapse of ISIL rule in Syria and Iraq is further indication that the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia no longer have the upper hand in the region and can no longer strike any target they want in Syria. They are free to collaborate with terrorist groups and use their stray fire as an excuse to target the Syrian government and allies. But they are wrong to assume they can still win the failed regime-change war. Surely, there is no light at the end of ISIL tunnel.

The ISIL war was concluded without Israel’s input – and its new strikes show how Israel can no longer continue to shape the Syrian battlefield on its own. It also sends a message to the Trump administration that any political resolution of the Syrian conflict will not take into account Israel’s long-term security interests.

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