Israeli jets 'drop ammunition' in sortie over Syria

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-- Israeli jets 'drop ammunition' in sortie over Syria

Posted by Magnetonium on Sep-07-2007 01:14:

Israeli jets 'drop ammunition' in sortie over Syria

Yet another act of Israeli agression aimed at Syria, hoping to provoke it into a war, it seems:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world...icle2938965.ece

quote:

Israeli jets 'drop ammunition' in sortie over Syria
By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor
Published: 07 September 2007

Syria was considering its response last night after an Israeli warplane violated Syrian air space and was accused of dropping ammunition inside the country. The incident, near the Turkish border on Wednesday, came just after midnight at a time when tensions are running high between the two neighbours. It prompted Syrian air defence units to open fire on the Israeli jets, Syrian officials said.

The Israeli aircraft "infiltrated Syrian air space through the northern border, coming from the direction of the Mediterranean, and headed towards northeastern territory, breaking the sound barrier," said the official Syrian news agency, Sana. "The Syrian Arab Republic warns the government of the Israeli enemy and reserves the right to respond according to what it sees fit."

A Syrian official added: "They dropped bombs on an empty area while our air defences were firing heavily at them." Residents said they heard the sound of five planes or more above the Tal al-Abiad area on Syria's border with Turkey, about 100 miles north of the Syrian city of Rakka.

The Israeli army refused to comment on the incident but no casualties or damage were reported. "We cannot discuss military operations," a spokesman said.

However, it is not the first such incident and there was speculation yesterday that the Israeli planes may have jettisoned their fuel tanks over the deserted area to make them more manoeuvrable, possibly after being targeted by Syrian forces. The Israelis may also have been probing Syria's defences, or could simply have experienced a technical problem during a flight.

In 2003, Israeli jets struck what Israel described as a Palestinian training camp on Syrian soil, in retaliation for a suicide bombing in Haifa on the eve of the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. Rime Allaf, a Syrian defence specialist based in Damascus, said yesterday: "The Israeli military sends what it calls 'messages to Syria' in this way."

In June last year, Israeli jets buzzed the summer residence of Bashar Assad, the Syrian President, after the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose leader is sheltered by Damascus, captured an Israeli soldier in Gaza. Aircraft also broke the sound barrier over his palace in Damascus at the beginning of the Lebanon war, in what was seen as a clear message about Syria's support for the guerrilla group Hizbollah. Mohsen Bilal, the Syrian Information minister, said: "Israel does not want peace. It cannot survive without aggression, treachery and military messages." The recent offer to Israel of $30bn (�14.8bn) in American aid over the next 10 years had encouraged the Israeli government to "such arrogance that it delivered this morning message", he claimed. Mr Bilal added that his government was "seriously studying the nature of the response" but did not say whether it would be military or diplomatic.

In the past, Syria has approached the UN Security Council in response to Israeli violations of Syrian territorial integrity and has not retaliated directly. But the two nations have been sending mixed messages to each other about their peace prospects. Syria has stepped up calls for talks to discuss the return of the strategic Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967. But since last summer's 34-day Lebanon war, in which Hizbollah fighters stood up to Israeli forces, hardline MPs in Damascus have argued that Syria "should be ready to show it is ready for war if need be", Ms Allaf said.

Posted by Krypton on Sep-07-2007 01:31:

The region is a powder keg waiting to explode, I feel like its pre-world war I right now. Everyone's tense, and suspicious of each other. Just waiting for that one spark to start the frenzy.

Posted by hiram on Sep-07-2007 13:00:

they dropped their external gas tanks, not bombs, and booked it.

Posted by Magnetonium on Oct-30-2007 14:30:

A very intriguing explanation of the event by Haaretz media, which I think is the most truthful (why would Israel send planes deep into Syrian territory?). Makes the most sense, since Syria has not made a prolific case out of this incident, and we havent seen any photos, videos of whatever the things were that were dropped. Some reports even say that North Koreans were some of the people killed in this attack on the building.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/917183.html

Satellite imagery showing the Syrian site in August (L) and recently.

quote:

Experts: Syria cleared site hit by IAF, apparently to hide evidence

By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

A group of analysts said Thursday that satellite imagery has shown that Syria cleared a site believed to have been targeted in an Israel Air Force strike in November, in what was a speedy effort that only raised suspicions regarding the nature of the site.

International media reports based on comments by American officials have said that Israel targeted a nuclear facility built with North Korean assistance.

Syria has said Israel targeted a largely unused military building, however, and both Damascus and Pyongyang have vehemently denied nuclear cooperation. Israel has refused to confirm the air strike or comment on the reports.

Satellite images taken recently, two months after the strike, show the area was completely cleared out.

On Wednesday, the same group of analysts said photographs taken prior to the September 6 strike pointed to the facility being a nuclear reactor similar to the North Korean design. Those photographs were published by the Washington Post.

The images were analyzed by a team of experts at the Institute for Science and International Security, headed by David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector.

The Syrians "are clearly trying to conceal evidence," he said.

Report: IDF raid seized nuclear material before Syria air strike
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/906334.html

quote:

Israel Defense Forces commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a raid on a secret military site in Syria before the Israel Air Force allegedly bombed it this month, British newspaper The Sunday Times reported Sunday.

The report, based on what the newspaper called "informed sources in Washington and Jerusalem," said the air strike was carried out with United States approval after Washington was shown evidence the material was nuclear related.

The paper quoted Israeli sources as saying Israeli special forces had been gathering intelligence for several months in Syria, and had located the nuclear material at a compound in the country's north.

In another report, Newsweek quoted Uzi Arad, a former senior Mossad official and ex-policy advisor to then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as saying of the reported operation: I do know what happened, and when it comes out, it will stun everyone."

Netanyahu stirred anger among aides to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week when he appeared to confirm reports of the operation - about which Israeli officials have maintained a rare silence - during an interview with Israel Channel One Television.

The Sunday Times reported that diplomats in North Korea and China believe a number of North Koreans were killed in the strike, based on reports reaching Asian governments about conversations between Chinese and North Korean officials. The officials noted that ballistic missile technicians and military scientists had been working for some time with the Syrians.

According to the report, the Bush Administration was given Israeli intelligence suggesting North Korean personnel and nuclear-related material were at the Syrian site over the summer, but the administration demanded "clear evidence of nuclear-related activities before giving the operation its blessing."

As a result, the newspaper said, IDF commandos "almost certainly dressed in Syrian uniforms" seized samples of the nuclear material and took them back to Israel for testing. The sources confirmed that the samples were identified as being from North Korea.

According to the Sunday Times, the site - near Dayr az-Zawr - now lies in ruins following the IAF strike.

The report said the operation was personally directed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who according to The Sunday Times is said to have been largely preoccupied with it since taking up his post on June 18. The newspaper quoted military experts as saying that the operation probably could not have taken place under former defense minister Amir Peretz.

Syria has said IAF planes violated its airspace and fired missiles at targets on the ground, but both Damascus and Pyongyang have vehemently denied the reports of nuclear cooperation.

The Sunday Times also quoted an Israeli intelligence expert as saying, "Syria has retaliated in the past for much smaller humiliations, but they will choose the place, the time and the target."

The IAF dispatched several fighter jets toward Syria Saturday, after a Syrian airplane disappeared from the Israeli radar screens, army sources said.

The jets returned to base after they ascertained that the Syrian plane had crashed.

Barak: Israel must operate as though war is around the corner
Israel must act as though the next war is right around the corner, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday at the state's official commemoration of soldiers killed in the Yom Kippur War.

Barak said that the lesson from the 1973 war is that "on security matters, we cannot be deceived by apparent and imagined calm. We need self-control, vigilance, and an experienced and stable hand at the helm."

The defense minister also said that "on matters pertaining to our national security, the strength of Israel must be alert and fit at all times. We must always cultivate and enhance the decisive and quality advantage of this strength, along with the warrior spirit and the tools of war."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday morning during a cabinet meeting that the "security establishment operates incessantly in all sectors and brings the most successful of achievements.

"Many times, these achievements are not exposed to the public, but this doesn't mean that successful operations are not carried out."

Posted by hardcore trancer on Oct-30-2007 16:31:

It is so clear that Israel just wants to start a war and they know soon or later Iran will be involved too and once Iran is involved the U.S will invlve and thats exactly what the U.S wants AN EXCUSE for another war.

The region is beyond fucked. look at the situation in Turkey,Aghanistan,Pakistan,Iraq.

Posted by Magnetonium on Oct-30-2007 22:27:

quote:
Originally posted by hardcore trancer
It is so clear that Israel just wants to start a war and they know soon or later Iran will be involved too and once Iran is involved the U.S will invlve and thats exactly what the U.S wants AN EXCUSE for another war.

The region is beyond fucked. look at the situation in Turkey,Aghanistan,Pakistan,Iraq.

I thought so for a moment, but then something tells me that something within Syria got Israeli special troops spooked. I was so interested in this incident, as I immediately thought that it wasnt just an "oops", I tried looking hard for this flightover thing, and eventually my search ended up in the bombing sortie.

Syrians have not shown anything, and Israel has not said anything.

So the pro-Iranian folks have said that Israel was testing Syrian-Iranian anti-aircraft weapons capabilities, while the pro-Israeli folks have said they attacked a very dangerous installlation that was building some nuclear-related stuff.

To me, in my opinion (I dont support either side in this incident), I think Israel attacked an object in Syria which it had strong intelligence on that scared it shitless. Reminiscent of the Israeli raid on that once-famous Iraqi nuclear plant ...

Whatever the case, I am 100% certain that this was not an accident - it was very well planned out and carried out for a specific agenda. This sortie was so risky, that it had to have had some sort of critical importance for Israel to be carried out. Logically speaking ...

Because if it would have failed and Israeli plane would have been shot down, this would have been a terrible loss for Israel, especially the political saga. And Israel is in no interest of sagging deeper in the region's problems ...

Posted by Krypton on Oct-31-2007 02:06: