Syria fires missiles at Israeli jets

[brassmonkey]

hotlinked

JERUSALEM (AP) - Syria fired missiles at Israeli warplanes on a mission to destroy a weapons convoy destined for the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah prompting it to deploy its missile defense system, Israeli officials said Friday, in a rare military exchange between the two hostile neighbors.

The Israeli military said its aircraft struck several targets in Syria and were back in Israeli-controlled airspace when several anti-aircraft missiles were launched from Syria toward the Israeli jets.

Israeli aerial defense systems intercepted one of the missiles, the army said, without elaborating. It would not say whether any other missiles struck Israeli-held territory, but said the safety of Israeli civilians and Israeli aircraft was "not compromised."

Israel is widely believed to have carried out several airstrikes in recent years on advanced weapons systems in Syria - including Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles and Iranian-made missiles - as well as Hezbollah positions. It rarely comments on such operations and the military statement detailing the raid and comments confirming the operation by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were highly unusual.

"Our policy is very consistent. When we identify attempts to transfer advanced weapons to the Hezbollah, and we have the intelligence and the operational capability, we act to prevent that. That is what was and that is what will be," Netanyahu said.

Hezbollah is fighting alongside President Bashar Assad in the brutal Syrian civil war. The Iran-backed group is sworn to Israel's destruction and fought a month-long war with the Jewish state in 2006.

The firing of missiles from Syria toward Israeli aircraft is rare, though Israeli military officials reported a shoulder-fired missile attack a few months ago. Israeli Channel 10 TV reported that Israel deployed its Arrow defense system for the first time against a real threat and hit an incoming missile, intercepting it before it exploded in Israel.

However, Arrow is designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles high in the stratosphere, so it remained unclear why the system would have been used in this particular incident. The Israeli military would not comment on the type of system used.

Israel's powerful transportation and intelligence minister Yisrael Katz told the station "our message is clear, we will not be complacent with a Syrian policy that arms Hezbollah." Katz said "the fact that the incident developed into a situation where Israel claimed responsibility and the Syrians responded is significant."

A Syrian military statement said four Israeli warplanes violated Syrian airspace - flying into Syria through Lebanese territory - and targeted a military position in central Syria. Damascus said Syrian anti-aircraft systems confronted the planes and claimed one of the jets was shot down in Israeli- controlled territory and that another was hit. The Israeli military denied the claim, saying none of the jets had been hit.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. The pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV, which has good sources within the militant group, dismissed reports by other Arab media outlets that a Hezbollah commander, Badee Hamiyeh, was killed in one of the airstrikes. It said Hamiyeh was killed Thursday in the southern Syrian region of Quneitra, near the Israeli-held Golan Heights.

Jordan, which borders both Israel and Syria, said parts of the missiles fell in its rural northern areas, including the Irbid district. The Jordanian military said the debris came from the Israeli interception of missiles fired from Syria.

Radwan Otoum, the Irbid governor, told the state news agency Petra that the missile parts caused only minor damage. A chunk of missile crashed into the courtyard of a home in the community of Inbeh in northern Jordan, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Syrian border.

Umm Bilal al-Khatib, a local resident, said she heard a blast at around 3 a.m. and initially thought a gas cylinder had exploded. When she went outside she found a small crater and a 3-meter-long (10-foot) cylinder.

Israeli media said the interception by the Arrow system took place north of Jerusalem. Arrow is part of what Israel calls its "multilayer missile defense," comprised of different systems meant to protect against short and long range threats, including the thousands of missiles possessed by Hezbollah in Lebanon and rockets used by Hamas and other Islamic militant groups in Gaza.

Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war raging next door, suffering mostly sporadic incidents of spillover fire that Israel has generally dismissed as tactical errors by Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces. Israel has responded to the errant fire with limited reprisals on Syrian positions.

The Syrian conflict, which began in March 2011 as a popular uprising against Assad, eventually descended into a full-blown civil war, with Syrian government forces fighting an array of rebel groups. The chaos has allowed al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria and the Islamic State group to expand their reach.

The skies over Syria are now crowded, with Russian and Syrian aircraft backing Assad's forces and a U.S.-led coalition striking Islamic State and al-Qaida targets.

Associated Press writers Zeina Karam and Bassem Mroue in Beirut, and Omar Akour in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

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[Bladewire]

[Sarn]

War inside war.(israel-hezbollah)

[Rochard]

This is most interesting really.

On one hand, kudos to Israel for the pre-emptive strikes. They know Hezbollah is constantly planning attacks against them so they attack them any chance they get. On the other hand, Israel just attacked positions in a foreign country which is an act of war.

[Steve Rupe]

Originally Posted by Rochard

This is most interesting really.

On one hand, kudos to Israel for the pre-emptive strikes. They know Hezbollah is constantly planning attacks against them so they attack them any chance they get. On the other hand, Israel just attacked positions in a foreign country which is an act of war.

They attack positions inside foreign countries at will. They have knocked out Syria's nuclear power plants as well as Iraq's nuclear power plants and they will eventually take out Iran's nuclear power plants as well.

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by Steve Rupe

They attack positions inside foreign countries at will. They have knocked out Syria's nuclear power plants as well as Iraq's nuclear power plants and they will eventually take out Iran's nuclear power plants as well.

they are going to wake up in hell one day. you can't keep doing shit like that.

[Steve Rupe]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

they are going to wake up in hell one day. you can't keep doing shit like that.

They can when they are the baddest mother fucker on the block. They have won every conflict they have ever engaged in with very few consequences to themselves and they are outnumbered by more than a billion to one. No one in the area can really harm them it seems.

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by Steve Rupe

They can when they are the baddest mother fucker on the block. They have won every conflict they have ever engaged in with very few consequences to themselves and they are outnumbered by more than a billion to one. No one in the area can really harm them it seems.

the region they are outnumbered! hamas is going to give it another go. i suspect this time they will have better anti-air

[Bladewire]

[Paul Markham]

It's the Middle East and we know nothing we do will stop the killing.

[Sarn]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

i suspect this time they will have better anti-air

Israel sends 3 missiles to intercept intruder drone from Syria? unsuccessfully ? media
https://www.rt.com/news/351844-israe...les-intercept/

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by Sarn

Israel sends 3 missiles to intercept intruder drone from Syria? unsuccessfully ? media
https://www.rt.com/news/351844-israe...les-intercept/

i was talking about hamas

[danep]

No winners in this conflict, absolutely non.

[directfiesta]

Israel violates every law, as they are under the shadow of their big protector , the USA .

Russia'a air defense system will eventually shoot them down, as they should ...

If China would violate US airspac and bomb Camp Lejeune, wouldn't the US react ?

[Sarn]

Originally Posted by danep

No winners in this conflict, absolutely non.

We need Israel for balance Iran's ambitions in region. I think for Israel our control of Syria will be better than Iran's control on Syria. But need coordinate this bombing with us.

[Steve Rupe]

Originally Posted by directfiesta

Israel violates every law, as they are under the shadow of their big protector , the USA .

Russia'a air defense system will eventually shoot them down, as they should ...

If China would violate US airspac and bomb Camp Lejeune, wouldn't the US react ?

It is what it is. Big dog on the block etc. has its privileges.

[Barry-xlovecam]

A big fuck you to Syria.
And to anyone else that is stupid enough to shoot a missile at an Israeli warplane.

One of Syria's missiles was shot down by a jerico 3 ABM. Word to the wise: Israel is not North Korea their missiles do not miss.

[seeandsee]

[Relic]

Goddamn right they did.

[Sarn]

Originally Posted by Barry-xlovecam

A big fuck you to Syria.
And to anyone else that is stupid enough to shoot a missile at an Israeli warplane.

One of Syria's missiles was shot down by a jerico 3 ABM. Word to the wise: Israel is not North Korea their missiles do not miss.

[1215]

Always wonder who's up there snapping pics of a jet moving faster than sound and they're able to keep up.