SyriaA first: Israeli air strike kills dozens of pro-Assad Iraqi fighters in Syria

Published 20 June 2018

Israel has not commented on background-only briefing by a senior U.S. official, who said that Israeli air-strike early Monday morning killed 52 Assad regime-allied troops eastern Syria. What is notable about the attack is its location — the town of al Hari in Deir Ezzor, near the border with Iraq, hundreds of miles from Israel – and the fact that among those killed were 22 members of Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia militia.

Israel has not commented on background-only briefing by a senior U.S. official, who said that Israeli air-strike early Monday morning killed 52 Assad regime-allied troops eastern Syria.

What is notable about the attack is its location — the town of al Hari in Deir Ezzor, near the border with Iraq, hundreds of miles from Israel – and the fact that among those killed were 22 members of Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia militia.

The information about the number and nationality of those killed was provided by the usually reliable London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group. 

Syrian state news accused the U.S.-led coalition for the deadly attack, and the Assad government said it would demand an explanation from Washington. The Iraqi government condemned the attack on Iraqi militias, calling it “support for ISIS.”

U.S. Central Command denied any involvement in the attack, saying in a statement there were “no strikes by U.S. or Coalition forces in that area during the time in question.”

CNN reports that an unnamed U.S. officials told AFP news agency that the strike was carried out by the Israeli air force.

 – a move that would represent several new developments for Israeli involvement in neighbouring Syria’s civil war.

The Jerusalem Post notes that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not comment on the strike, which is in line with IDF policy.

Analysts say that it was the first time Israel has targeted Iraqi Shia forces operating in Syria, and did so far outside the normal Israeli area of operation, which much closer to the Israel-Syria border.

“We will take action – and are already taking action – against efforts to establish a military presence by Iran and its proxies in Syria both close to the border and deep inside Syria. We will act against these efforts anywhere in Syria,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday at a cabinet meeting.

Israel has carried out nearly 200 strikes since 2014 in areas in south and west Syria. Most of these attacks were aimed to prevent advanced weapon systems from being shipped by Iran and Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In the last eight months. Most of the Israeli strikes were aimed at Iranian military targets in Syria, as part of a declared Israeli policy of preventing Syria from establishing a permanent military presence in the country.

Last month, Israel launched its largest air attack on Syrian soil since the 1973 war, destroying more the 50 Iranian military targets, among them arms caches, training facilities, airstrips, observation posts, command and control centers, and logistical hubs. 

The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported that the Israeli airstrike were meant to make Tehran’s route to the Mediterranean more difficult, and send a message to Iran to remove its forces and the Shi’a militias it supports from Syria.

The Israeli newspaper Maariv, quoting sources in the Arab media, reports that Israel was given a green light from Russia to attack Iraqi Shiite militias that are affiliated with Iran in Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria.