http://www.debka.com/article/22724/Russia-slams-Israeli-attack-on-Syria-US-forces-in-Jordan-on-alert
and....
http://www.debka.com/article/22722/Syria-Israeli-jets-strike-Jamaraya-arms-depot-near-Damascus-leaving-casualties
Furthermore, two days earlier, President Barack Obama made it clear that he was not getting the United States involved in the Syrian conflict. In an interview to The New Republic, he asked rhetorically: “In a situation like Syria I have to ask: can we make a difference in that situation?”
After the Israeli air raid, the Pentagon pointed a finger at its authors, answering reporters’ question with a terse: Ask Israel.
By publishing the Israeli air raid, Bashar Assad seems to be treating it with all the seriousness of an act of war. His next step may well be to fight back.
http://www.debka.com/article/22722/Western-sources-Israeli-aircraft-target-Hizballah-missiles-in-Zabadani-S-Syria
A western diplomat and a security source told Reuters that Israeli jets attacked a target on the Syrian-Lebanese border overnight.
Russia slams Israeli attack on Syria. US forces in Jordan on alert
DEBKAfile Special Report January 31, 2013, 9:51 AM (GMT+02:00)
Israeli Air Force F-15 Eagle takes off
The Syrian announcement of an Israeli air strike on a military site near Damascus Wednesday, Jan. 30, drew strong condemnation from Moscow the next day: “Such action if confirmed would amount to unacceptable military interference in the war-ravaged country,” said the statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry Thursday. “If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violate the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.”
Israel has made no comment on the Damascus statement which described in detail an Israeli air strike against a “military research institute” near the capital. Witnesses say it was a plant for manufacturing “unconventional weapons.” The facility was destroyed and two staff members killed.
Israel has made no comment on the Damascus statement which described in detail an Israeli air strike against a “military research institute” near the capital. Witnesses say it was a plant for manufacturing “unconventional weapons.” The facility was destroyed and two staff members killed.
Lebanese sources later reported a Russian Mig-31 fighter had crossed over Sinai Wednesday in the direction of Israel. It veered west over the Mediterranean after encountering an Israeli warning not to intrude into its air space and continued flying over Lebanon.
DEBKAfile’s military sources say that the only external military force in the eastern Mediterranean region is a fleet of 18 Russian warships, which includes landing-craft – among the largest in the Russian Navy – with 2,000 marines aboard.
According to various Middle East sources, the Syrian report of an Israeli air strike has touched off high military alerts across the region. Syria has put its Golan forces on the Israel border on combat readiness and the Lebanese and Jordanian armies are on alert. So too are the Russian fleet opposite Syria and the Lebanese army.
According to various Middle East sources, the Syrian report of an Israeli air strike has touched off high military alerts across the region. Syria has put its Golan forces on the Israel border on combat readiness and the Lebanese and Jordanian armies are on alert. So too are the Russian fleet opposite Syria and the Lebanese army.
Our military sources report that Turkish units on the Syrian border are on high preparedness although Ankara played down the reports of the Israeli air strike in Syria, uncomfortable over the fact that the Israeli Air Force was the first external power to intervene directly in the Syrian conflict.
So too are the US air force units stationed at the Turkish Incerlik air base, the US special forces deployed at the Jordanian Mafraq air facility and the American, German and Dutch Patriot missile interceptors deployed in Turkey opposite Syria. Israel has been on high alert since last week.The prevailing estimate in military and intelligence circles in Washington and NATO capitals is that the Israeli air attack on the Syrian military site near Damascus was but the opening shot for the coming round of military blows they expect to be exchanged in the near future between Israel, Syria and Hizballah, with Iran possibly waiting in the wings for a chance to pitch in.
and....
http://www.debka.com/article/22722/Syria-Israeli-jets-strike-Jamaraya-arms-depot-near-Damascus-leaving-casualties
Syria: Israeli jets strike Jamaraya arms depot near Damascus leaving casualties
DEBKAfile Special Report January 30, 2013, 10:24 PM (GMT+02:00)
Israeli warplanes attack Syrian arms depot
The Syrian government, by admitting that the Israel Air Force attacked the Jamaraya “Military Research Institute” (a euphemism for an arms deport), near Damascus, broke the barrier of silence the Israeli government had clamped down on its initial involvement in the Syrian conflict. It also indicated that Bashar Assad may have decided to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by Israel. The Syrian statement also refuted the report by foreign media from “Israeli sources” that Israeli jets had struck a convoy carrying sophisticated weapons from Syria to the Hizballah in Lebanon.
The Syrian statement was detailed: It said that the “Military Research Institute” developed Syrian army and Hizballah combat capabilities, that two Syrian solders were killed and five injured in the raid, and that a building had been leveled along with serious damage to military vehicles parked outside.
Israeli warplanes were described as coming in low from the north to evade Syrian [and Iranian] radar after flying over the Syrian peaks of the Hermon ridge. The Israeli jets were reported to have flown back to home base by the same route.
Last week, DEBKAfile reports, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent two senior aides to Washington and Moscow with an identical message: If Bashar Assad ventures to permit Syrian arms, conventional or chemical, to reach Hizballah, the Israeli Defense Forces will prevent their delivery by force.
Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen Aviv Kochavi handed this message to Obama administration officials in Washington and National Security Adviser Yakov Amidror delivered it for Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Last week, DEBKAfile reports, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent two senior aides to Washington and Moscow with an identical message: If Bashar Assad ventures to permit Syrian arms, conventional or chemical, to reach Hizballah, the Israeli Defense Forces will prevent their delivery by force.
Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen Aviv Kochavi handed this message to Obama administration officials in Washington and National Security Adviser Yakov Amidror delivered it for Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources report the message was sent out too late and soon overtaken by events:
1. Assad has passed the point of being accessible to outside influence or receptive to international condemnation. He no longer listens even to the advice of allies, such as President Vladimir Putin.
2. The Syrian ruler is no longer interested in how the sophisticated weapons owned by Hizballah and stored in Syria are disposed of. For years they were stored in Syrian military storehouses and kept from crossing the border into Lebanon by Israeli threats. Now, as far as Assad is concerned, Hizballah can collect the weapons systems or leave them where they are, whatever they wish. But they will have to take charge of keeping them secure since the Syrian army has no manpower to spare for this task.
3. On the other hand, Assad acknowledges his debt to Hizballah for the great assistance it has rendered his war against the Syrian insurgency. He will therefore not deny his Lebanese ally assistance in preparing for war with Israel.
For all these reasons, the Kochavi and Amidror missions were a wasted effort.
Furthermore, two days earlier, President Barack Obama made it clear that he was not getting the United States involved in the Syrian conflict. In an interview to The New Republic, he asked rhetorically: “In a situation like Syria I have to ask: can we make a difference in that situation?”
From that point on, it was obviously up to Syria’s neighbors to pick up the Syrian ball themselves, including the threat of chemical warfare.
After the Israeli air raid, the Pentagon pointed a finger at its authors, answering reporters’ question with a terse: Ask Israel.
By publishing the Israeli air raid, Bashar Assad seems to be treating it with all the seriousness of an act of war. His next step may well be to fight back.
http://www.debka.com/article/22722/Western-sources-Israeli-aircraft-target-Hizballah-missiles-in-Zabadani-S-Syria
Western sources: Israeli aircraft target Hizballah missiles in Zabadani. S. Syria
DEBKAfile Special Report January 30, 2013, 3:00 PM (GMT+02:00)
Israeli warplanes carried out overnight sorties up until Wednesday, Jan. 30 against missile and arms convoys standing ready in southern Syria for transfer to Hizballah in Lebanon, according to Western sources.. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the consignments were destroyed. The Lebanese army reported the heavy presence of an approximate 12 Israeli jets over its territory during the night up until 0200 hours Wednesday. Our sources report that it was suspected in Israel that Syria and Hizballah would take advantage of the rainy and overcast weather conditions in the last 24 hours to push advance weapons systems across the border from Syria into Lebanon.
The operation aimed at giving teeth to Israel’s longstanding threat ever since 2011 to hit military targets in Syria if necessary to prevent the handover of those sophisticated missiles to Hizballah.
The operation aimed at giving teeth to Israel’s longstanding threat ever since 2011 to hit military targets in Syria if necessary to prevent the handover of those sophisticated missiles to Hizballah.
It was also a warning that Israel would again send its bombers to destroy chemical weapons or nerve gas to prevent them reaching the hands of Hizballah or any other terrorist groups.
http://www.businessinsider.com/israeli-warplanes-struck-target-on-syrian-lebanese-border-2013-1
Israeli Warplanes Struck A Convoy Entering Lebanon From Syria [REPORT]
AP
"There was definitely a hit in the border area," the diplomat said, according to The Jerusalem Post.
"The Israeli air force blew up a convoy which had just crossed the border from Syria into Lebanon," an unnamed security source told Agence France-Press.
The reported strike comes amid Israeli concerns that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's chemical and/or conventional weapons could fall into the hands of extremist rebels or Hezbollah guerrillas.
On Sunday Israel's vice premier Silvan Shalom said that any sign Syria's grip on its chemical weapons is slipping could trigger Israeli military strikes.
Tuesday Dan Williams of Reuters reported that Israeli officials said Syria's advanced Russian-supplied weapons — including anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles — represent as much of a threat as unconventional weapons.
Earlier the Lebanese army reported that three sets of Israeli jets flew entered its airspace throughout the night.
On Tuesday Israeli air force chief Major-General Amir Eshel told an international aerospace conference said the air force was involved in "a campaign between wars," working with Israeli intelligence agencies in often covert missions "to reduce the immediate threats [and] to create better conditions in which we will be able to win the wars, when they happen."
The Israeli military declined to comment on the reported strike.
"We do not comment on reports of this kind," an Israeli Defense Force spokeswoman told Reuters.
In October Sudan accused Israel of bombing a arms factory that was widely believed to be owned by Iran and used to supply weapons to Hamas in Gaza.
We'll have more information when/if it becomes available.
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