Israeli jets strike strategic military base deep inside Syria

The Israeli Air Force attacked a Syrian military site that was reportedly involved in the development and production of chemical weapons.  

Israel’s Air Force (IAF) attacked a sensitive Syrian military installation in Hama, deep inside the country, early Thursday morning.

The Syrian army stated through SANA, the country’s official news agency, that Israeli warplanes fired several rockets from Lebanon’s airspace, targeting a Syrian military posts near Massyaf in the Hama countryside, killing two army personnel and causing material damage to the site.

“This aggression comes in a desperate attempt to raise the collapsed morale of the ISIS (Islamic State) terrorists after the sweeping victories achieved by the Syrian Arab Army against terrorism at more than one front, and it affirms the direct support provided by the Israeli entity to the ISIS and other terrorist organizations,” the Army Command said in a statement.

Syria has long alleged that Israel is secretly collaborating with ISIS in its war in Syria.

Syria Warns About ‘Dangerous Repercussions’

Syria warned there could be “dangerous repercussions of such hostile acts on the security and stability of the region, reiterating determination to eliminate terrorism and uproot it from all the Syrian territories whatever the type of support provided to these terrorist groups is.”

According Arab media, the site attacked is a Syrian center for the development and production of weapons, including long-range missiles and possibly chemical weapons.

AFP reported that Syria’s army operated a military facility at the targeted site that included a branch of the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC).

The US has accused the SSRC of developing the sarin gas used in a chemical attack on the Syrian civilians in April, which killed 83.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said two facilities were hit, a scientific research center and a nearby military base where short-range surface-to-surface missiles are stored. He said the attack killed two people and wounded five.

“Many explosions were heard in the area after the air raid,” said Abdurrahman, whose group relies on a network of activists across the country. He said some of the blasts may have been secondary explosions from a missile storage facility being hit.

He said Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Iranian military officials often visit the site.

Israel has remained silent, as was its conduct in similar previous incidents.

First Israeli Attack on Syrian Target in Years

If confirmed, this would be the first Israeli attack on a Syrian target in years. While Israel has repeatedly attacked Hezbollah weapons shipments and convoys within Syria, it has refrained from striking at Syrian targets which were involved in the terror group’s military buildup.

Speaking to IDF Radio, former IDF intelligence chief Amos Yadlin called the incident “an escalation” because it targeted a “Syrian center for the development and production of accurate missiles.”

Speaking last month, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman stated that Israel will not stand by while Iran advances in Syria and establishes itself militarily on Israel’s northern border.

By: World Israel News 
AP contributed to this report.