Tensions continue to escalate inside Syria, following another round of unprovoked Israeli airstrikes on Monday night, which killed two civilians in Damascus. Israel has carried out four separate aerial assaults on Syria, since Thursday last week, with tensions continuing to rise as Iran vows to respond to the killing of its citizens in one of the deadly attacks.
During the past few weeks, Syria has again found itself center stage to regional rivalries, after its internal conflict came to a stalemate back in 2018. Although Israeli and US airstrikes have been a regular occurrence inside Syria, since the beginning of the war in 2011, the most recent developments indicate a coming change to the status quo. The latest attack on Syria targeted the Damascus international airport and killed two Syrian civilians, which was addressed with an unusually aggressive air defense response from Syria.
Perhaps the most concerning development in recent days, has been the US’ decision to reposition its USS George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier closer to Syria. According to Deputy Pentagon press secretary, Sabrina Singh, “increased attacks from IRGC affiliated groups targeting our service members across Syria” led them to make this decision, as a “response” to these attacks. This here is referring to an escalation, that started in late March, after a drone strike had killed an American contractor and injured a number of service members, to which President Joe Biden claimed a “right of defense” and directly ordered missile strikes on Eastern Syria. The US claims that the drone was of Iranian origin and launched by an Iran-backed militia, not specifying which one. Interestingly, in response to this, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and allied militias then decided to open fire on a number of US bases that are located in North-Eastern Syria. The US admitted that a number of traumatic brain injuries had been inflicted following the Syrian military’s response.
However, in the past weeks, the primary escalation has come from the Western side of Syria, with illegal Israeli airstrikes repeatedly targeting the Syrian Capital, Damascus. The US, having moved its aircraft carrier closer to Syria, doesn’t seem to indicate they are worried about an escalation in the East of the country alone, but instead that they are perhaps worried about the response that Iran has vowed, in retaliation to Israel’s killing of Milad Heidari and Meqdad Mehqani, both advisors working for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Israel has killed IRGC members in Syria before, to which the IRGC has responded with naval attacks on Israeli shipping in the Persian Gulf area and a ballistic missile strike against Mossad operatives in northern Iraq. What seems to separate this case is that the Iran has made a big deal of the deaths, holding a public funeral in Tehran for the two IRGC advisors, attended by tens of thousands. This indicates that they are taking this incident seriously, something that worries Tel Aviv and perhaps the US government as well.
If the US’ aircraft carrier was preparing to counter Iranian aligned militias in the East, it would be counterintuitive, as they can already strike in the East at will. Whereas, Damascus has air defenses that are positioned in the West, which would give warning of incoming strikes that would cross that territory and make it more difficult to score successful hits in Eastern Syria. Another possibility here, is that Washington is planning direct strikes against Syria, which they could claim as a retaliation to the return fire on US bases late last month. This would certainly make sense and could be coordinated with Israel, seeking to counter the efforts inside Syria to create a new response plan to US-Israeli aggression. As is normally the case when the US is trying to justify its illegal occupation of Syrian territory, it begins using the excuse that it is fighting Daesh (ISIS). US Central Command (CENTCOM) released a statement on Tuesday, claiming that they had killed a senior “Islamic State leader” in Syria.
In a previous piece I revealed that an order had allegedly been given, in Syria, to actively combat the US occupation forces if they open fire against Syrian government-held territories, creating a new dynamic and redlines for the Americans. In the South-West, close to the Israeli border, there seems to be an ongoing transformation there too, this time with local Syrian groups that could be preparing to respond to Israeli attacks in the future, outside the direct control of Damascus. It also seems that Palestinian resistance groups are growing in strength in southern Lebanon, which has Tel Aviv worried. If these two fronts are opened, against Israel, from Lebanon and Syria, it could create a scenario where armed responses to Israeli assaults can be launched, without bringing either side to all out war. A full-scale war is not desired by Israel, Lebanon, or Syria, which is why such a scenario has potential, however, this would be to the detriment of the Israelis.
On March 19, Israeli Mossad were accused of carrying out the assassination of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) commander, in Syria. Israeli media accused the PIJ commander of playing a role in the Megiddo bombing in mid-March, in northern occupied Palestine, an event which still appears to make no sense from the information that Israel has released. The Megiddo attack, according to the Israeli narrative, was carried out by a single man, or perhaps a few men, who crossed the Lebanese border with explosive devices and detonated one device, injuring an Israeli citizen. The attack was initially blamed on Hezbollah, then the story changed to blame Hamas, in collaboration with Hezbollah, while later depictions of events claimed that a Palestinian had crossed the border and that this was organised by Iran, with PIJ involvement also. Regardless of what the truth actually is, it is clear that this event seems to be the propaganda tool with which the Israeli regime is justifying its ongoing rampage inside Syria.
Thank you Robert. I appreciate your work.