The Syrian regime has reportedly prepared to launch missiles on Israel, after the Jewish State struck a series of targets in Syria in consecutive overnight attacks Saturday and Sunday.
According to the website of Lebanese Al Mayadeen TV, a media considered close to both Bashar al Assad’s regime in Syria and Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, Assad’s forces has stationed missile batteries in preparation to launch an assault on Israel, after Syrian information Minister Omran Zoabi was quoted as claiming that the highly covert Israeli Defence Force (IDF) operation had “opened the door to all possibilities”.
Al Mayadeen further reported that four people had been killed and 70 wounded as a result of the Israeli incursion which the Syrian foreign ministry claimed also resulted in widespread structural damage. Unofficial video footage and eyewitness statements suggested rocket attacks had hit weapons dumps targeting Iranian rockets destined for Hezbollah.
Following a written appeal to the UN for condemnation of what the Syrian government has branded a “terrorist” attack by Israel, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the leader “calls for all sides to exercise maximum restraint, and to act with a sense of responsibility to prevent an escalation of what is already a devastating and highly dangerous conflict”.
Ban’s official comment continued to call for “respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in the region, and adherence to all relevant Security Council resolutions”, as the Syrian regime sought to draw links between the Israeli authorities and al Qaeda militants. A foreign ministry statement claimed the attacks left “no room for doubt Israel is the beneficiary, the mover and sometime the executor of the terrorist acts which Syria is witnessing and which target it as a state and people directly or through its tools inside”.
Despite refraining commenting on the secret operation, IDF Gaza Division Commander Brig. Gen. Mickey Edelstein told an open meeting in the Israeli southern city of Sderot, itself the target of a series of rocket attacks from Gaza in recent weeks, ahead of the incursions Friday that the army characterises the region as “very volatile”.
“The Arab world is preoccupied with itself, but any incident can expand and become a larger event,” he cautioned, continuing to insist that “the IDF also invests greatly in intelligence and tries not to intervene in the events occurring in the Middle East”. Israeli officials confirmed its forces had instigated an attack on Syria in January, insisting that weapons trucks transferring missiles to Hezbollah had been its intended target.
The Israeli government similarly held its silence over the latest developments, which have earned US backing, despite being the subject of widespread criticism from across the Arab World. Refusing to confirm reports of Israeli strikes on Syria Saturday, US President Barack Obama, who has himself struggled to characterise recent evidence proving the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons which he previously claimed would represent a “clear red line”, told Spanish language media Telemundo that “the Israelis justifiably have to guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry to terrorist organizations like Hezbollah”. “We coordinate closely with the Israelis recognizing they are very close to Syria, they are very close to Lebanon,” he added.
The Egyptian presidency, which successfully negotiated a ceasefire in Gaza to bring an end to last November’s escalation with Israel, said the Jewish State had "violated international law and principles that will further complicate the situation".
"Despite its strong opposition to bloodshed in Syria and the Syrian army's use of weapons against its people... Egypt rejects at the same time the assault on Syria's capabilities, violation of its sovereignty, and exploitation of its internal crisis under any pretext," the presidency's statement said.
The Arab League meanwhile echoed the Syrian regime’s calls for the UN to “act immediately” to staunch the Israeli assault