The Bidenites are on the verge of signing a catastrophic deal with Iran which will free up $700 billion for Tehran to use to finance both its proxies all over the Middle East, including the Houthis in Yemen, Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and — far more worrisome — its nuclear program. David Barnea, the director of Mossad, calls it a “done deal” and describes it as a “disaster.” So Israel soldiers on, continuing to do what it must to whittle away at Iran’s ability, directly or through proxies, to harm the Jewish state. The most spectacular attack so far took place on August 27, when Israeli airstrikes destroyed a weapons warehouse in Masyaf, Syria. According to the Syrian opposition, more than 1,000 Iranian-made missiles were destroyed in that single attack – the most significant destruction of Iranian weaponry in Syria since Israel began its campaign of airstrikes in 2013. A report on the attack, and its spectacular results, is here: “Israeli strike destroyed over 1,000 Iran-made missiles in Syria – SOHR,” Jerusalem Post, August 27, 2022:
An airstrike Thursday on the Syrian city of Masyaf that was attributed to Israel struck a missile warehouse containing more than 1,000 Iranian-made missiles, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Saturday.
The warehouse, in the city’s Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) complex, stored thousands of medium-range, surface-to-surface missiles assembled under the supervision of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “expert officers,” the report said.
Syrian air defense systems were activated in northwestern Syria on Thursday, with Syria’s state news agency SANA reporting that local forces were “confronting hostile targets” above Masyaf .Later, the agency said the airstrike was an Israeli attack.
However those “local forces” – Iranian and Syrian – were “confronting” the Israeli airplanes, they had no effect. Most likely, there was no response either by Syrians or Iranians on the ground to Israeli planes that In a matter of seconds flew over Masyaf, dropped their bombs, then flew off before anyone on the ground could respond.
Civilians injured, Masyaf area ablaze following alleged Israeli strike
According to SOHR’s report, 14 Syrian civilians sustained injuries with varying levels of severity during the Masyaf airstrike, in addition to casualties reported among officials of Iranian-backed militias guarding the SSRC.
In addition, several fires broke out in areas surrounding Masyaf due to shrapnel from the explosions of the warehouse, with nearby civilian houses and property suffering material damage, the report said.
According to Syrian reports, secondary explosions continued for hours after the strikes, along with the blazes caused immediately by them. Local residents were reportedly instructed to shelter in place until the fires were brought under control.
The SSRC has allegedly been targeted by Israeli airstrikes multiple times in the past, including in a rare daytime strike on April 9.
This is the “war between the wars” that the IDF has been conducting in Syria against Iranian sites – weapons manufacturing plants and warehouses of weapons intended ultimately for transfer to Hezbollah – since 2015. The results in this case differed from all such previous attacks, however, in the enormous scope of the destruction.
Israel has three separate audiences it is attempting to impress.
First, there is Syria itself, where Bashar Assad, who no longer needs Iranian help in the civil war that he has largely won. He would like to halt Israeli attacks on his own territory, and has started to signal the Iranians that he would like them to withdraw from his country, because when their bases in Syria are targeted by Israel, Syrians too are wounded or killed, and damage is rarely confined only to those bases.
Furthermore, Iran has been building its own power base in Syria, a development that naturally alarms Assad. In the province of Deir al-Zour, the Iranians have been successfully recruiting local Syrians to Iranian-allied militias, providing services the deeply distrusted government cannot deliver and putting down roots in a strategic province that could further Tehran’s regional interests even after the Syrian civil war eventually ends and Iran’s support for President Bashar al-Assad is no longer as vital.
A report on Iran’s building its power base, and recruiting Syrian soldiers, in Deir al-Zour, can be found here: “Iran is putting down roots in eastern Syria, outcompeting Assad’s regime in signing up fighters,” by Sarah Dadouch, Washington Post, January 28, 2022:
Iran has been building schools, opening schools, and distributing food baskets, local experts have said. It has tried to convert mosques in the Sunni Muslim province to Shiite Islam, the official religion of Iran, and while few Syrians have actually converted, the Shiite call to prayer is now heard for the first time.…
While the Syrian army in Deir al-Zour pays a monthly salary of 27,000 Syrian pounds, about $7.50, the Iranian-backed militias offer more than double that, with even higher pay in places like Bukamal city on the Iraqi border…
For much of Syria’s war, Iranian-backed militias have been crucial supporters of the Syrian government. But in some places, particularly in the east of the country, they are also competitors for local influence.
The Israeli attack on Masyaf caused casualties among the Syrians at Iran’s missile warehouse, as well as fires in the vicinity of the target, reminding Bashar Assad yet again that Syria will pay a price for its continuing to allow Iran to keep bases inside the country.
Second, the IDF was sending a message to Iran: We know where you are hiding your missiles in Syria, and will not hesitate to attack them. The complete destruction of more than 1,000 missiles in one strike at Masyaf must have enraged Tehran, but also made it more fearful of Israel’s intelligence and its willingness to act. The Iranians keep threatening to destroy Israel, but after these many attacks in Syria by the IAF, with the most devastating being the one just accomplished at Masyaf, they have yet to strike back against the Jewish state.
Third, Israel was also sending a message to Washington. Whatever “done deal” with Iran you Bidenites arrive at, we will not be bound by it and will do whatever it takes to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons. Masyaf is only the latest example of what we can do. There will be many others.
