THE Israeli military has clashed with Syria over Lebanese airspace in
the beginning of what could be
a series of post-ISIS powerplays in the
troubled region.
THE Israeli military said it struck and destroyed
an anti-aircraft battery deep in Syria after it had opened fire on
Israeli jets flying over Lebanon — a rare incident of Syrian forces
targeting Israeli planes since the civil war began in 2011.
The strike on Monday, local time, came as Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, was visiting Israel.
Moscow
is one of the staunchest supporters of the Syrian government and
Russian forces have helped President Bashar Assad’s troops score
significant victories in the war.
Israeli military spokesman Lt Colonel Jonathan Conricus said Israeli
planes were on a routine reconnaissance mission near the Lebanese-Syrian
border when they came under fire. They were not hit and returned to
base safely.
In response, Israel hit a Syrian anti-aircraft
battery about 50km east of Damascus and “incapacitated” it, he said.
Anti-aircraft fire has been deployed before against Israeli jets since
the civil war began in 2011, but it is rare.
In March, Syria fired
missiles at Israeli warplanes on a mission to destroy a weapons convoy
destined for the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah,
prompting Israel to deploy its missile defence system. Russian forces in
Syria were notified in real time, Conricus said, adding that Israel
holds Syria responsible for any attack from its territory.
Israel has largely stayed out of the fighting in neighbouring Syria
but it has carried out dozens of airstrikes on alleged weapons convoys
bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon. It has also occasionally carried out
limited reprisals along its frontier with Syria in the Golan Heights,
after spillover of Syria’s fighting.
Conricus said Israel has no
interest in destabilising the situation but says the military will
“preserve our ability to act and thwart” any hostile activity against
it.
“Our policy is clear. Whoever tries to harm us, we harm them,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
“Today
they (the Syrian military) tried to hit our planes — that is not
acceptable. The air force acted quickly and precisely and destroyed what
it needed to destroy.”
The Syrian army denounced the Israeli
strike as a hostile act and said in a statement that the Israeli
warplanes entered Syrian airspace from the direction of eastern Lebanon.
“The
General Command of the Army and Armed Forces warns of the dangerous
repercussions of these repeated hostile attempts by Israel,” the Syrian
military said.
Visiting Russian Defence Minister Shoygu was received in a military
ceremony later on Monday, ahead of meetings with senior Israeli
officials. Israel and Russia have established a special mechanism to
prevent friction between their air forces in Syria, officials said.
Israel
has long identified Iran as its biggest threat, citing its suspect
nuclear program, development of long-range missiles and hostile
rhetoric.
But gains by Syrian troops and their Iranian-backed
allies, including into territory formerly held by ISIS, have given those
concerns new urgency.
Israel fears the
establishment of a Shiite “corridor,” with land links from Iran to
Lebanon, allowing the movement of fighters and weapons across the
region. At the heart of those fears is Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia
that battled Israel to a stalemate in a monthlong war in 2006 in which
it fired thousands of rockets at Israel.
The group has greatly
beefed up its arsenal of rockets and missiles since then, and after
years of fighting in Syria, is more battle-tested than ever.
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