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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Soldier Killed as Israel Bombs Syria Army after Golan Attack |
| 2014-03-20 |
| [An Nahar] Israel launched air raids against Syrian army positions early Wednesday and issued a stark warning to Damascus just hours after a bomb on the occupied Golan Heights maimed four Israeli soldiers. The Syrian army said one soldier had been killed and seven others maimed in strikes on its bases in the Quneitra region, which it denounced as "acts of aggression" that endangered regional stability. The bombing marked the most serious escalation along the ceasefire line with Syria since the 1973 Middle East War, with Israel's defense minister warning that Damascus would pay a "high price" for helping Death Eaters bent on harming the Jewish state. Although there was no claim of responsibility for Tuesday's roadside kaboom which targeted soldiers patrolling the Israel-Syria ceasefire line, Israel has raised the alarm about increased activity there by Leb's Hizbullah ... Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistanceand purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... , calling it a "new threat" for the Jewish state. Militants from the powerful Shiite movement, who fought a bloody war with Israel in 2006, are now fighting alongside the Syrian army against rebels seeking to overthrow the Damascus regime. Following the Golan attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would act "forcefully" to defend itself, with the air force making good on his pledge several hours later. The pre-dawn strikes targeted a Syrian army training facility, a military headquarters and artillery batteries, the Israeli army said. "Our policy is clear: we hurt those who hurt us," Netanyahu told ministers on Wednesday. Tuesday's attack, which injured four paratroopers, one severely, was the third such incident in two weeks along Israel's northern frontiers. Two previous attempts to strike soldiers along Israel's northern borders on March 5 and March 14 were blamed on Hizbullah. "We see the Assad regime as responsible for what is happening under its authority, and if it continues to cooperate with terror elements who seek to harm Israel, we will make it pay a high price," Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement. "We will react with determination and force against anyone operating against us, at any time and any place, as we have done tonight," he said. Calm returned following the strikes although three Israeli tanks could be seen positioned along the ceasefire line, just southeast of the Druze town Majdal Shams, an AFP correspondent said. In the town, which is populated by Druze residents many of whom are fiercely loyal to Damascus, there was anger over the Israeli raids. "It was an unacceptable act," said Ali Abu Saleh, a man in his 30s with an outsized moustache, accusing Israel of trying to topple Assad. "Israel has no right to strike inside Syria," agreed bookshop owner Sagar Abu Slah. "It's a Syrian internal war. Israel shouldn't interfere but nor should Hizbullah." |
| Posted by:Fred |