MESOP NEWS TOP OF THE AGENDA / COMMENTARIES BY YNET – TASS – WaPo – HAARETZ et.al

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Israel Strikes Iranian Forces in Syria

Israel launched a major attack on Iranian forces in Syria, the Israeli military said on Thursday after alleging that Iran’s Quds Force attacked Israeli military positions in the Golan Heights, territory controlled by Israel since 1967.

Israel’s defense minister said the Iranian missiles either fell short of their targets or were successfully intercepted (Reuters) and claimed the counterattack “hit almost the entire Iranian infrastructure in Syria” (Ynet). There were no injuries reported (WaPo) among Israeli positions, though explosions were heard throughout Wednesday night. Russia’s defense ministry said the Israeli missiles targeted Iranian armed groups and Syria’s air defenses and that the barrage was carried out on the “pretext” of an attack (Tass) in the Golan.

ANALYSIS

“Israel-Iran tensions have been escalating in Syria for weeks now and we may very well get to a boiling point. This would only exacerbate the already disastrous situation in Syria and open another front between two regional powers,” writes Georgetown University’s Ariane Tabatabai.

“The Israeli reaction was completely disproportionate: Massive bombing of about 50 Iranian targets in Syria, which probably set back Iran’s effort to establish a military presence there by several months,” Amos Harel writes for Haaretz.

“U.S. withdrawal [from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal] has accelerated the escalation between Israel and Iran. Iran faces less restraint in terms of the timing for a retaliation,” the International Crisis Group’s Ofer Zalzberg said in an interview with the Washington Post.