By ISRAEL HAYOM— Although the veil of secrecy over the strikes that occurred in Syria in recent days has not yet been lifted, something is clear: Israel appears to be working to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Syria and Hezbollah are reluctant to respond and the Obama administration continues to be…
By DEBKAFILE-— Israeli Air Force jets were reported flying over Damascus in the last few hours by foreign sources. According to debkafile’s Iranian and intelligence sources, Iran has been pushing Bashar Assad hard to let Hizballah have sophisticated weapons, including self-propelled SA-17 interceptor missile systems. Tehran is reminding the Syrian ruler of the debt he…
By CAROLINE GLICK— The time has come for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to confront US President Barack Obama. A short summary of events from the past three days: On Tuesday morning, the head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Analysis Division Brig. Gen. Itay Brun revealed that the Syrian government has already used “lethal chemical weapons,”…
BY DOUGLAS MURRAY, GATESTONE— Syria’s civil war has now entered its third calendar year. With worse still to come, in recent days it has been estimated that the number of people killed in Syria since the uprising began now stands at more than 90,000. Any death is a tragedy for someone and the people close…
By BARRY RUBIN, GLORIA— Here’s the perfect parable for understanding not just the contemporary Middle East but the wider world today. So far, it’s only being covered in the Finnish media which, I assume, means nobody outside that country knows about it. Two unarmed Finnish soldiers assigned to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO)…
By JONATHAN SCHANZER, FDD POLICY BRIEF— Multiple sources suggest that the winds of war are blowing to Israel’s north, and that such a war could erupt very soon. Lebanese parliamentarian Jean Ogassapian of the Future Bloc issued a warning over the weekend of “dangers of an Israeli strike against Lebanon. There is information that Israel…
By ISRAEL HAYOM— Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that he sees the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as imminent, and that this will be a major blow to Israel’s regional archrival, Iran. This is the second time that Barak has commented on the imminent demise of Assad. He first said this only months…
By YITZHAK BENHORIN, YNET-— The White House on Thursday warned Syria not to transfer weapons to Hezbollah, as tensions mounted following reported Israeli raids on a military research center and a weapons convoy. “Syria should not further destabilize the region by transferring weaponry to Hezbollah,” said Ben Rhodes, a US deputy national security advisor. The…
By STEPHEN BRYEN and SHOSHANA BRYEN, GATESTONE— Israeli jets struck something Tuesday night; Wednesday’s guessing game has been, “what was it?” First reports from Western news services said the Israeli Air Force hit a convoy of weapons moving west from Syria toward, or even in Lebanon. A Lebanese army source said nothing was hit there…
