Tensions are escalating between Iran and Israel. Israel has said it had destroyed nearly all of Iran’s military capabilities in Syria. It was reportedly retaliation for an Iranian missile attack on the Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s meeting with President Joe Biden comes as tensions rise with its regional arch-enemy, Iran, and Israel renews its bombardment of the Syrian Latakia port.
Israel hits Iranian targets
Israel has routinely carried out airstrikes on Syria since the civil war began in 2011, mostly targeting Syrian government troops, allied Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters.
Iran finances, arms, and commands many Syrian and foreign militia groups fighting alongside the regular armed forces, including fighters from Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The latest attack was the second time in a month that it had hit the port of Latakia in the heartland of Bashar Assad’s minority Alawite community. So far this year, Israel has targeted Syria nearly 30 times, killing 130 people, including five civilians and 125 loyalist fighters, according to Observatory figures.
S-400 SAM is a disgrace
Iran also said they do not trust the Russian S-400 against Israeli F-16 and F-35 fighter jets. Russian S-300 and S-400 are disgraced in Syria.
Syrian Latakia Port is protected by layers of air defense systems, including S-400 and Pantsir-S1.
Despite the protection of the Russian air defense system, Israeli warplanes launched devastating airstrikes early on Tuesday targeting the Syrian port of Latakia, destroying weapons and ammunition storage depots operated by Iran, reports Al Jazeera news.
Israeli airstrikes against targets in Syria may be one of the main reasons for the growing crisis between Russia and Turkey. They’re highlighting the Russian-made S-400 air defense systems may not be as effective as Turkey believed.
Israel can strike Iran
Operation Opera, also known as Operation Babylon, was a surprise airstrike conducted by the Israeli Air Force on 7 June 1981, which destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor located 17 kilometres southeast of Baghdad, Iraq.
Operation Outside the Box, also known as Operation Orchard, was an Israeli airstrike on a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor, referred to as the Al Kibar site (also referred to in IAEA documents as Dair Alzour), in the Deir ez-Zor region of Syria, which occurred just after midnight on 6 September 2007.
The Jewish state has the military capabilities the world cannot even imagine and will use them against Tehran if necessary, warned Israel’s foreign minister.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has made it clear that his country can use force to curb Iran’s nuclear development without notifying US President Joe Biden.
“Israel will do whatever it takes to protect its security. And we don’t need anyone’s permission for that. This has been the case since the first day we established this state”, Lapid told Israeli Channel 12 on the last day of 2021.
A slender majority of Israelis would support an attack on Iran, even if the United States did not back it, according to an Israel Democracy Institute poll published Wednesday.
Senior Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to go it alone to protect themselves against Iran, given what is thought to be reluctance in Washington to embark on a costly military engagement.
In October, The Times of Israel reported that the Israel Air Force would begin practising for a strike on Iran’s nuclear program in 2022, setting aside funding and updating its training schedule for the mission.
In light of growing uncertainty regarding a return by Iran to the 2015 nuclear deal, the IDF has ramped up its efforts to prepare a credible military threat against Tehran’s nuclear facilities in recent months.
At the beginning of this year, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi announced that he had instructed the military to begin drawing up new attack plans. Last week, the government reportedly allocated billions of shekels toward making those plans viable.
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