One Syrian soldier and three pro-Iranian fighters reported killed, seven others injured in attack east of Palmyra.
An Israeli airstrike in central Syria has killed one Syrian soldier and three pro-Iranian fighters, according to a UK-based war monitor.
The Syrian state news agency SANA had earlier quoted a military source as saying that Wednesday’s attack near the city of Palmyra in Homs province had killed a soldier and wounded three others.
“At approximately 23:34 (20:34 GMT) the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression… on the area of Palmyra targeting a communication tower and several positions in its vicinity,” the source told SANA.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor, said the attack targeted several Iranian positions, among them the communication tower, near the T4 airbase east of Palmyra.
The Observatory said Israeli fighter jets flew over the Iraqi- Syria-Jordan border triangle when it carried out the attack.
It reported that the attack killed one Syrian soldier and three pro-Iranian fighters, but their nationality was not immediately clear.
According to the Observatory, several other Israeli missiles were intercepted by Syrian air defences.
Seven other people, including three Syrian soldiers, were wounded.
The incident came days after Syrian state media reported that Syrian air defences intercepted an Israeli missile attack above the Homs countryside, wounding six Syrian soldiers and causing some material damage.
The Observatory reported that two pro-Iranian foreign fighters were killed in that attack.
SANA said six soldiers were also wounded in the incident.
Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has routinely carried out airstrikes inside Syria, mostly at Syrian government troops, as well as Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces allied to the Damascus regime.
The Israeli army rarely acknowledges individual strikes but has said repeatedly that it will not allow Syria to become a stronghold of its arch-foe Iran.
According to a report, two civilians were killed, another civilian and six soldiers were injured in an Israeli attack on the city of Homs, learned BulgarianMilitary.com, citing Russia’s Interfax news agency and the state-run Syrian news agency SANA.
“The aggression resulted in the death of two civilians and the serious injuries of another civilian, six servicemen were injured and material damage was inflicted,” the statement said. A field source at BulgarianMilitary.com reports that the Israeli attack began at 1:26 a.m. this morning [November 24].
According to SANA, the airstrikes came from northeastern Beirut. Most of the Israeli missiles were allegedly shot down by the Syrian air defenses. Earlier, Syrian state media reported that air defense systems had repulsed an Israeli attack on the city of Homs.
There is no official comment from the Israeli air force on the strikes. Israel has no practice of commenting on such attacks. The only things he has officially commented on are attacks carried out as a result of revenge against an attack on Israelis, or Israeli property.
The civil war in Syria
The Syrian civil war has been going on for almost a decade. Attempts by movements such as the Syrian Democratic Forces to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have failed.
The Syrian democratic forces are armed by allies and the United States, while the Syrian army is armed mainly by Russia. Russia is the only country officially invited to Syria by President Bashar al-Assad.
In 2017, the United States launched a massive missile strike on Bashar al-Assad’s forces after a report emerged that the Syrian president had used chemical weapons to attack his people in the country. Syria and Russia deny such actions.
During his tenure, US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw much of US troops from Syria, leaving several troops to guard Syria’s oil fields on the pretext of “falling into the hands of Islamic State.”
With the withdrawal of the United States, Turkey comes to the fore, declaring it necessary to deal with the Kurds and the PKK movement in the northern part of the country, which borders Turkey. That is why Erdogan is sending troops in an attempt to build a stable and secure 30km zone between Syria and Turkey, which will prevent future terrorist attacks on Turkish territory, as it is.
Ceasefire
In February 2020, Turkey lost at least 62 troops killed in Syria. Nearly 100 soldiers were wounded, Syrian-backed forces destroyed dozens of Turkish armored vehicles, and more than ten drones, including drones, were shot down. Washington has repeatedly accused Moscow of involvement in the deaths of Turkish soldiers, Russia rejects these allegations.
In early March 2020, the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed that a ceasefire came into force in the Idlib de-escalation zone. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad later said that if the US and Turkish military did not leave the country, Damascus would use military power.
The reason for the Russian-Turkish negotiations was a sharp aggravation of the situation in Idlib, where in January, a large-scale offensive by the Syrian army against the positions of the armed opposition and terrorists began.
Government forces recaptured nearly half of the Idlib de-escalation zone and left behind several Turkish observation posts. After that, Ankara sharply increased its military contingent in the region and launched the operation “Spring Shield” to push the Syrian troops. Militants are loyal to Ankara and support Turkey.
Israeli-Iranian proxy war / cold war
Communication between Israel and Iran is mostly threatening and hostile. Such has been the relationship between the two countries for a very long time. This situation is known as the proxy conflict, the proxy war, or the Cold War between the two countries.
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The conflict “appeared” on the world map after the Iranian revolution in 1979. In all the years to this day, Tehran supports groups and organizations that are hostile to Israel. On the other hand, Israel terrorises any organisation that is loyal to Iran as it worries about It’s nuclear program.
The proximity of the two countries worries Tel Aviv that Iranians could use them against Israel if Iran has nuclear weapons. Israel also finds its allies in the face of the United States and Saudi Arabia, which are apparent opponents of Iran.
Thus, this conflict gradually turned into an Israeli-Iranian war. The competition has been going on since the start of the Syrian civil war. According to Iran, Israel rules by an illegitimate “Zionist regime,” a Tehran problem. Iran’s other point of reference is that the United States is hostile to Muslims because it supports Israel despite all it’s war crimes and acts of terrorism against the muslims.
