Syria has threatened to retaliate for an Israeli air attack while its ally Iran says there will be repercussions for Israel over the attack.
Ali Abdul-Karim Ali, Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, said in Damascus on Thursday that Syria “has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation”.
Ali said he could not predict when Syria would retaliate. It was up to the relevant authorities to prepare the retaliation and choose the time and place, he told Al Ahad, a website of Hezbollah, the Lebanese group is closely allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran.
It is unclear what the exact nature of the target of Wednesday’s Israeli air raids was.
The Syrian military has denied the existence of any weapons shipment and said a scientific research facility outside Damascus was hit by the Israeli fighter jets.
Syrian state media said that the attacks targeted a military research centre near the Syrian capital, while regional security sources told the Reuters and AP news agencies that the target was a convoy of lorries allegedly carrying anti-aircraft missiles for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
In Iran, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, as saying the raid on Syria will have significant implications for Israel.
Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s foreign minister, condemned the Israeli raid on state television, calling it a clear violation of Syria’s sovereignty.
Iran is Syria’s strongest ally in the Middle East, and has provided Assad’s government with military and political backing for years.
Lodged official complaint
Later on Thursday, Syria complained to the UN over the Israeli strike.
Although Israel and Syria are technically still at war, the ministry’s official complaint evoked a 1974 disengagement agreement between the neighbours, state news agency SANA said.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Iqbal Singha, commander of the UN Observer Disengagement Observer Force… and informed him of an official protest over the Israeli violation of the disengagement agreement of 1974,” the ministry said.
The ministry said Israel “and the states that protect it at the UN Security Council” are responsible for the air strike, and “affirms Syria’s right to defend itself and its territory and sovereignty”.
The ministry called on “all the competent UN bodies to take the necessary steps given this grave Israeli violation, and to guarantee that it will not happen again.”
The ministry denounced “the failure of the Security Council to take responsibility to prevent this grave Israeli attack, which poses serious threats to stability in the Middle East and security in the world”.
‘Barbaric aggression’
In a statement, Hezbollah condemned the attack as “barbaric aggression”, saying it “expresses full solidarity with Syria’s command, army and people.”
Hezbollah did not mention any convoy but said the raid aimed to prevent Arab and Muslim forces from developing their military capabilities.
Russia, Syria’s strongest international ally, said the Israeli raid appeared to be an unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation.
It said it is taking “urgent measures to clarify the situation in all its details”.
“If this information is confirmed, we have a case of unprovoked attacks on targets in the territory of a sovereign state, which grossly violates the UN charter and is unacceptable,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Whatever the motives, this is not justified.”
Late on Wednesday evening, the Syrian army confirmed that Israeli jets crossed into Syria below radar level at dawn and carried out raids against military targets.
“Israeli fighter jets violated our airspace at dawn today and carried out a direct strike on a scientific research centre in charge of raising our level of resistance and self-defence,” the army’s general command said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.
The attack came “after terrorist groups made several failed attempts in the past months to take control of the site”, the statement added, using the term the Assad’s government uses for rebel fighters.
The jets entered the Syrian airspace via Mount Hermon, or Jabal el-Sheikh in Arabic, the Syrian army said.
“They … carried out an act of aggression, bombarding the site, causing large-scale material damage and destroying the building,” Syrian state television quoted the military as saying.
The army added that two site workers were killed in the strike, and five others wounded.
News agencies quoted US and regional officials as saying that Israel had conducted an air raid inside Syria near the border with Lebanon, hitting a convoy of lorries.
The regional officials said Israel had been planning in the days leading up to the air raid to hit a shipment of weapons bound for Hezbollah.
They said the shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which would be strategically “game-changing” in the hands of Hezbollah.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the strike.
Israeli and US fears
In Israel, a parliamentarian close to Binyamin Netanyahu, prime minister, stopped short of confirming involvement in the attack. But he hinted that Israel could carry out similar missions in the future.
Among Israeli security officials’ chief fears is that Hezbollah could get Syrian chemical arms and SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles.
If that were to happen, it would change the balance of power in the region and greatly hinder Israel’s ability to conduct air violations in Lebanon.
The military in Lebanon, which shares borders with both Israel and Syria, said on Wednesday that Israeli fighter jets had sharply increased their activity over the country in the past week, including at least 12 sorties in less than 24 hours in the south.
Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace occur on a daily basis and Lebanese authorities routinely lodge complaints at the UN against the flights.
#1 by Blake on February 2, 2013 - 5:24 pm
They have a right to defend themselves.
#2 by Nancy on February 2, 2013 - 6:35 pm
Yeah, God forbid they are able to defend themselves from encroaching, offensive Israeli air power! The Zionist terrorists have real chutzpah. One day they will get their face smashed-in.
#3 by Ingrid B on February 2, 2013 - 6:47 pm
lodging complaints with the UN are probably a waste of time, however, Syria is quite right in pursuing the legal path..
#4 by Leo on February 2, 2013 - 7:23 pm
Talk is cheap, My advice to Assad, Put up or shut up …Fully realizing that Assad has had more than is hands full in regards to what is transpiring in his country but It is not like he is standing alone . GO FOR IT Assad . Shoot some missiles into Israel . Trust me you will feel better about yourself . I would …
#5 by KPRyan on February 2, 2013 - 8:17 pm
The US and Israel pay no attention whatsoever to the Geneva warand consequently in my name boys and men are repeatedly tortured then disappeared.
Israel pays no attention to airspace of other nations, yet when a Russian jet flies towards Israel, it is warned to not enter Israeli airspace or risk being blown out of the sky.
If Lebanon or Syria or (how about Palestine) were to fire on a US made and funded Israeli war jet, and drop it out of the sky, think of the outrage! The story would be at the top of the newscast.
The more I think about it I don’t think we’ll ever get change until we in the US dramatically slash all military spending. As long as all our taxes not going to cover our ‘debt’ are used to fund this war machine, we run an ever higher risk of provoking and provoking until finally someone kicks the bully’s ass. And it will be a painful ass-kicking.
#6 by Leo on February 2, 2013 - 9:21 pm
When all is said and done. Israel and the U S will pay a high price for their past and current action, perhaps with the downfall of both nations . It could be in the making .
#7 by annebeck58 on February 2, 2013 - 11:08 pm
Uhmmm. “surprise”, we might “surprise” you..?
I don’t know if I want to see Syria do this, but if they do, I really hope they have the help of ALL of their neighbors (including Russia) to pull it off. Otherwise, Israhell is going to go further into Syria than the Golan Heights, and just annex more of their land.
And the US will be only too happy to oblige Israhell.
#8 by Darwin26 on February 3, 2013 - 8:31 am
Warning? uhhhhh they still don’t get it in Syria ~ you don’t need to warn when you are going to retaliate sheeeeeesh why not just ask the fn’g Isralies if you can bomb them? Syria should have scrambled Jets and retaliated with in min ~ or was it just Business?
#9 by Ingrid B on February 3, 2013 - 5:00 pm
According to a text on CCTV, Syria has released pics of the site targeted by the parasitic tribe..
#10 by Ingrid B on February 3, 2013 - 5:06 pm
Darwin26, it is you who “don`t get it”..
#11 by Ingrid B on February 3, 2013 - 5:07 pm
@Darwin26, it is you who has the parasitic “kill kill” mentality..
#12 by annebeck58 on February 3, 2013 - 8:24 pm
Oh, Darwin, I think it would have been (prolly) STUPID for Syria to scramble jets and retalliate, immediately. You have to consider that the USA is ever on the side of the bastard-state. Were Syria to get it together and counter-attack, what do you think the US would do? israhell wouldn’t have to lift a finger. We would (stupidly) do whatever NuttyYahoo wants. Why do you think he’d be so BRAZEN in this unprovoked attack? If nothing else, hes proving that Obama is UP HIS ARSE so completely, nobody is going to risk attacking the little lunatic.
War takes strategy. Iran, Russia, and even Syria, may be huffing and puffing in order to prevent further attacks. But, when it comes down to it, Russia, Iran, Syria, etc…, do not want a full-blown nuclear war. And were they to go off all half-cocked, this is what they would get.
Better to fight smart than fight (even back) right away, without thinking.
#13 by Leo on February 3, 2013 - 8:58 pm
@ Annebck58 would not be so sure on your remarks regarding Russia . Why have they got their attack submarines sailing the Gulf of Mexico so close to the U S for weeks ? Just military exercises ? I do not think so . America..Take heed .
#14 by Isaac on February 3, 2013 - 9:34 pm
Darwin26. All these attacks by the parasitic entity of Israhell have been done in the shadow of the night in a surprise attack. you need to undesrstand that Israhell takes every one by surprise. How the Syrian army were suppossed to see something out of the dark?.
#15 by annebeck58 on February 3, 2013 - 10:41 pm
I don’t know, Leo.
If Russia has what they need (economically and otherwise, like other nations to go along with them), they may do it.
But, more likely I think, they are warning us.
I tried to find info on Russians calling their countryen home (do you mean from the States or from Syria?) and was unable to find anything. The link did not work, and if it’s not opening after a few seconds, I do not keep trying to open. Can you provide title of the article or whatever it is?
I still think Russia and Iran and Syria are doing the prudent thing in waiting rather than reacting, right away. I am sure Israhell and the USA expected immediate retalliation, but that they didnt makes them seem more sane.
#16 by annebeck58 on February 3, 2013 - 10:44 pm
(again- typo)
Countrymen… is Russia calling them home from USA or from Syria, or both?
#17 by Darwin26 on February 4, 2013 - 1:37 am
It’s hard to know what will set off some conflagration that i and no one else wants. Being a combat disabled vet during the ‘Tet Offensive’ ’68 i know full well the terror and horror of war ~ (and no i’m not into revenge kill – killing).
i don’t mean to be cavalier with some countries nat’l security but what’s the point of having the air capability only to keep it under wraps…even a SAM or two at these Israeli Invasions might be better than enduring the punishment.
It’s hard to know:…when a full scale attack on your US Navy (USS Liberty) will set off the conflagration or ten guys with ‘box cutters’ does an inside job…or even made up shit like in the Tonkin Gulf … what to do what to do? At this blog level playing General is at best cute.
The reasons to not retaliate may be as simple as we’re not finished arming our allies yet; To possibly garnering all the forces that Syria can bring to bear on Israhell? Waiting for a better shot at taking out the monsster? who knows but i tend to feel that this attack will not go unanswered. And Israhell will get what it’s spoiling for.
#18 by Leo on February 4, 2013 - 1:21 pm
@ annebck58 The Russian Federation is not a part of the Zionist financial system like the U S and the E U . Agreed the Russian Federation is warning the U S but when those warnings are continuously ignored then what ? I was referring to Russia referring to Russians having funds in U S Banks as the Kremlin has given warning to close said accounts in Western financial institutions .
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1651.htm
It is the arrogance of the west and Israel that are casing the problems in the middle east . The Russian Federation has warned time and again that military action against Iran is unacceptable . believe me western and NATO intervention is being planned for Iran . it is in the making . The only course of action is war, the only question is which side will blink first, Russia or the U S .
http://www.pakalertpress.com/2013/02/04/russia-says-use-of-force-against-iran-unacceptable/