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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syrian media: air defenses repel Israeli targets in Masyaf region

2020-12-25

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

Syrian media: air defenses repel Israeli targets in #Masyaf region #Syria pic.twitter.com/sDNFXg7VF2
— Press TV (@PressTV) December 24, 2020

Candidates for targets tonight around Masyaf, Homs, Syria. pic.twitter.com/h3tk7aVIKc
— ELINT News (@ELINTNews) December 25, 2020

Israeli Jets Fly Low over Lebanon to Strike Syria's Hama
[AnNahar] Israeli warplanes violated Leb
Leb

...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
's airspace late Thursday to carry out a strike in neighboring Syria, sparking panic among residents on Christmas Eve.

The jets were heard flying at low altitude over Beirut and Sidon shortly before the strikes. Social media reports also said that blasts were heard in the northern regions of Akkar and Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
. It was not immediately clear whether those were bombardment sounds or the sounds of jets breaking the sound barrier.

Israeli jets regularly violate Lebanese airspace and have often struck inside Syria from Lebanese territory. But the Christmas Eve flights were louder than usual, frightening residents of Beirut who have endured multiple crises in the past year, including the catastrophic Aug. 4 explosion at the city's port that killed over 200 people and destroyed parts of the capital. That explosion resulted from the detonation of a stockpile of ammonium nitrates that was improperly stored at the facility.

Syria's state news agency SANA said Syrian air defenses intercepted missiles fired by Israel on the western province of Hama.

"Our air defenses intercepted an Israeli attack on the Masyaf area" in rural Hama, SANA reported.

Syrian state TV aired footage purporting to show air defenses responding to the Israeli attack.

The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported strikes on Masyaf, saying Israel was "likely responsible."

The war monitor said the attack targeted "positions of regime forces and Iran-backed militias," without providing additional details.

Israel, which did not immediately comment on the reports, has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011.

It has targeted government troops, allied Iranian forces and fighters from Lebanon's

Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
It rarely confirms details of its operations in Syria, but says Iran's presence in support of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
is a threat and that it will continue its strikes.

The Jerusalem Post adds:

A security source told Sputnik news that the airstrike targeted the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center in the Masyaf area.

The area of Masyaf has been a target in several attacks in recent years, mostly attributed to the Israeli Air Force (IAF). The last time an airstrike attributed to Israel targeted the area of Masyaf was in early June, when an alleged Israeli airstrike targeted Syrian defense factories near the city. At least nine people, including four Syrian nationals, were reported dead as a result.

A site belonging to the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) is located in Masyaf and has been targeted by Israeli airstrikes in the past. In 2017, two soldiers were killed in an airstrike blamed on Israel, according to the BBC. The SSRC site in Masyaf was used to produce chemical weapons, according to the BBC.

And from The Times of Israel:

Masyaf is a significant military area for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime that includes a military academy and a scientific research center. The general area around Masyaf is also believed to have a major Iranian presence.

Posted by:Fred

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