Israel bombs Syrian government positions as anti-Assad opposition forces lose ground
By
Jean Shaoul
13 September 2017
Last week, Israeli fighter jets attacked major military facilities near the town of Maysaf in western Syria from Lebanese airspace with the full backing of Israel’s paymasters in Washington.
The first attack killed two people and caused extensive damage, while a second killed or wounded a further seven people.
According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights—a British-based monitoring group with ties to forces opposed to the government of President Bashar al-Assad—Israeli missiles hit facilities belonging to the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) and a military base storing ground-to-ground missiles.
The SSRC is a Syrian government agency that the US and Israel claim is producing chemical weapons.
These strikes are part of a broader push by Israel to create “facts on the ground,” under conditions where Assad’s regime in Syria—with Russia and Iran’s backing—has been gaining the upper hand. They indicate the multiple rivalries in the region that threaten a wider conflagration in the resource-rich Middle East.
While Israel, as usual, did not confirm or deny the attacks, military intelligence chief Major General Herzl Halevi said that Israel was “dealing with threats near and far.” He added, “The threats to Israel are from armed militant groups, most of them aided and funded by Iran. They are grave threats, but not existential ones.”
Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman was more explicit. He said that Israel was determined to resist Iran’s influence in the region, stating, “Everything will be done to prevent the existence of a Shiite corridor from Tehran to Damascus.”
Just a few days earlier, Prime…