In Israel, everyone wants to counter Iran’s military strategy in Syria
Israel has intensified attacks on Shiite militia positions in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. Meir Javedanfar says Israel does not want Syria to become a base for Iranian attacks on Israeli territory. Iran denies involvement in these attacks.
Israel’s Prime Minister has threatened that Iran will be safe nowhere and Israeli military forces will take action wherever necessary.
The Israeli military on Saturday, September 2 (August 24) bombed two Syrian air bases. The army spokesman announced that Iran-backed forces were planning to attack targets in Israel by mounting weapons and explosives on drones.
Meir Javedanfar, a journalist based in Tel Aviv, told Deutsche Welle: “In Israel, everyone, even opposition forces and critics of Benjamin Netanyahu, want to counter Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which wants to turn Syria into a launchpad for attacking Israel. Israel has no problem with Iran’s support for Assad or Iran’s economic activities in Syria, but the deployment of Shiite militia forces backed by the Revolutionary Guard Corps on the Syria-Israel border is Israel’s red line.”
The Israeli military says it targeted a base in the Agarba area south of Damascus that was under the control of Iran’s Quds Force and Shiite militias. Israel announced that offensive drones capable of carrying weapons and explosives were stationed at this base and were intended to be used for attacks on Israel. Israel has identified Iran as the planner of such operations. Iran has denied this report.
Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, responded to this report saying: “This is a lie” and simultaneously threatened that the defenders of Syria and Iraq will respond to the actions of Israel and America.
Ali Saderazadeh, a Middle East expert in Germany, told Deutsche Welle: “The Israeli military’s attacks on Shiite militias backed by Iran carry a very important message for the Islamic Republic of Iran. That is, you cannot rely on your backed forces in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon for a proxy war in the region.”
Hardline factions in Iran have repeatedly threatened that if there is military conflict between the United States and Iran, Israel will not be spared. However, Iran-backed forces in the region, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, have not responded to Israeli attacks so far. Ali Saderazadeh says: “Hezbollah Lebanon is present in the country’s government coalition and has two ministers in the cabinet. Hezbollah knows that confrontation with Israel could involve Lebanon in a war with Israel.”
Fox News reported that in Israeli military attacks on the two air bases “Al-Mezzeh” and “Agarba” in Damascus, 27 people were killed: 15 were members of the Syrian Army, 8 were members of the Quds Force of the Islamic Republic, and 4 were members of Hezbollah.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, has openly taken responsibility for these attacks. The Israeli government also implicitly acknowledged a month ago that it targeted positions of Shiite militia groups of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq to counter Iran’s growing power in that country.
Javedanfar, in response to a question about the intensification of Israeli attacks against Iran-backed forces and the possibility of war between the two countries, said: “The Popular Mobilization Forces support the transfer of missiles and military equipment from Iran to Syria. The important issue for Israel is that they want to cut off the weapons supply route to the Syria-Israel border. Currently, neither Israel nor Iran wants war. But as long as Iran’s military strategy in Syria does not change, Israeli attacks on Shiite militia positions will continue.”
Source: DW
