Israeli jets strike near Syrian presidential palace after attacks warning
Israel's air force has struck near Syria's presidential palace after warning Syrian authorities not to march toward villages inhabited by members of a minority sect in southern Syria.
The strike came after days of clashes between pro-Syrian government gunmen and fighters who belong to the Druze minority sect near the capital, Damascus.
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The clashes left dozens of people dead or wounded.
Friday's strike was Israel's second on Syria this week, and attacking an area close to the presidential palace appears to send a strong warning to Syria's new leadership which is mostly made up of Islamist groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
(AP)
On Thursday, Syria's Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri harshly criticised Syria's government for what he called an 'unjustified genocidal attack' on the minority community.
Early on Friday, the Druze religious leadership said the community is part of Syria and refuses to break away from the country, adding that the role of the state should be activated in the southern province of Sweida and authorities should be in control of the Sweida-Damascus highway.
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'We confirm our commitment to a country that includes all Syrians, a nation that is free of strife,' the statement said.
In the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, where fighting occurred earlier this week, security forces deployed inside the area along with local Druze gunmen, and at a later stage heavy weapons will be handed over to authorities.
Clashes erupted in last two days between members of the minority Druze sect and pro-government fighters (AP)
As part of the deal, forces from the defence ministry will deploy around Jaramana without going inside.
The Israeli army said that fighter jets struck adjacent to the area of the Palace of President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus.
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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz said the strike was a message to Syrian leaders.
'This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,' said the joint statement.
Pro-government Syrian media outlets said the strike hit close to the People's Palace on a hill overlooking the city.
Clashes broke out at midnight on Monday (AP)
Over the past two days the Israeli military said it had evacuated Syrian Druze who were injured in the fighting.
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The Israeli army said a soldier was killed and three were lightly injured in an accident in the Golan Heights. An army statement added that the soldiers were evacuated to receive medical treatment and that the circumstances of the incident are being investigated.
The clashes broke out around midnight on Monday after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man criticising Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
The audio was attributed to a Druze cleric. But cleric Marwan Kiwan said in a video posted on social media that he was not responsible for the audio, which angered many Sunni Muslims.
The Druze sect is a minority group (AP)
Syria's information ministry said 11 members of the country's security forces were killed in two separate attacks, while the UK-based war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 56 people in Sahnaya and the Druze-majority Damascus suburb of Jaramana were killed in clashes, among them local gunmen and security forces.
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The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shia Islam. More than half of the roughly one million Druze worldwide live in Syria, largely in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus.
Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War and annexed in 1981.
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The Herald Scotland
43 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Israel and US perilously ‘gaming' over the fate of entire Middle East
But those were precisely the words posted by US Republican Senator Lindsay Graham on social media on Friday shortly after Israel launched its massive air strikes against Iran, targeting its nuclear programme, military facilities and killing two of the Islamic Republic's top military commanders. Graham - a Trump ally - was far from alone, with at least three other senior Republican politicians using the exact words; 'Please join me in praying for Israel' in their statements. Not to be outdone, US House Speaker Mike Johnson was also at pains to make clear that Israel's actions were justified, declaring on social media, 'Israel IS right – and has a right – to defend itself!' Many of course would choose to differ, arguing with some justification that Israel's attack was unprovoked and in clear violation of the international law as enshrined in the United Nations Charter and of anything that can be labelled a rules-based international order. In making their case, the same people might also point to the fact that today this is now almost par for the course when it comes to Israel. They might argue too that by embarking on ethnic cleansing in Gaza and persistently using excessive force in serial attacks on Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and the occupied West Bank, it's Israel itself that currently constitutes the biggest danger to the region. It was at around 3.30am Iran time on Friday that Israel launched at least six waves of air strikes in what it is calling Operation Rising Lion. In the wake of the strikes, Iran's state news agency confirmed that several senior military figures including Major General Hossein Salami, head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, were killed. (Image: First-responders gather outside a building that was hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran) Scientists killed Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, was also killed, state television reported. Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a prominent physics professor, and Fereydoon Abbasi, a former head of Iran's atomic organisation, also died, the state news agency confirmed Israel's wave of attacks also struck command-and-control centres, ballistic-missile bases and air-defence batteries. Some of the attacks are reported to have been carried out by operatives from Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and the electronic surveillance and targeting commando, military Unit 8200, who reportedly located key Iranian commanders and two leading nuclear scientists with precise accuracy. Israel also claims the operatives installed swarms of explosive drones deep inside Iran to neutralise air defence systems near Tehran. But aside from decapitating Iran's military leadership and missile production facilities, the prime target was the country's nuclear facilities at sites like Natanz and Fordow. Shortly after the attacks, social media showed footage of smoke rising from the uranium-enrichment plant near the city of Natanz about 150 miles south of the capital Tehran. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN watchdog, later confirmed the plant was 'among targets,' adding that it was in contact with Iranian authorities over radiation levels. Read more 'Messianic vision' Israel arming Gaza's crime gangs is certain to backfire badly 'Stakes could not be higher' Poland's election is a pivotal moment for all of Europe Scotland's oldest international medical charity is bringing hope to Himalayas Trump's sledgehammer politics are wreaking havoc in every sphere both home and away For three decades Netanyahu has spoken of the need to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons which he says poses an 'existential' threat to Israel. Israel has announced that the operation to knock out Iran's nuclear programme is likely to last four or five days. But the fear is that Israel has opened a new phase of war across the Middle East that has seen nearly two years of consistent conflict on a scale not witnessed in decades. Putting aside the fact that an escalation is now inevitable, predicting what will happen next is more tricky. But as Amir Tibon, diplomatic correspondent of the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz has highlighted, three questions will determine the pace and trajectory of events to come. The first of these is just how much damage did Israel's attack inflict? The second is what will be the nature and extent of Iran's retaliation? And finally, and perhaps most significantly, how will America be involved? Regarding the first of these questions, then certainly the killing of Iran's military chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Bagheri, and Maj. Gen Salami as well as several nuclear scientists and destroying swathes of Iran's air defence systems is unprecedented. (Image: People look beyond a barrier toward buildings heavily damaged after an overnight strike in Israel) Regime change Some reports also suggest that Ali Shamkhani, a national security adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, who has oversight of the nuclear programme, was injured. This indicates Israel has struck parts of Iran's political leadership too, signalling that among its objectives may in fact be regime change. Netanyahu suggested as much when on Friday in a speech he told Iranians that he hoped Israel's ongoing military operation will 'clear the path for you to achieve your freedom.' What is certain about the strikes however is that they pile pressure on an Iranian military infrastructure already degraded from previous Israeli strikes. Last year, Israel attacked Iran using air-launched ballistic missiles from far beyond the reach of Iran's most advanced air defences, the Russian supplied S-300 surface to air missiles. These Israeli strikes severely degraded Iran's most advanced air defences, particularly the S-300, and it is not clear what remains. But it's the question of how much damage Israel has been able to inflict on Iran's main nuclear sites that will be uppermost in the minds of the Israeli leadership right now. Israel on Friday said it had struck Natanz and 'damaged' the underground area of the site, a multistorey enrichment area with centrifuges, electrical rooms and other infrastructure. But both of Iran's nuclear facilities have been built to withstand the heaviest of strikes, buried as they are deep below mountains and under dozens of feet of reinforced concrete. Experts have previously estimated that even America's largest 30,000-pound 'bunker-buster' bomb, the GBU-57, which cannot be carried by Israeli warplanes, would need to be used many times on the same point for any significant damage to be done. The US has thus far refused Israeli requests to provide the biggest bomb in its arsenal, but reports last month indicate that the US sent fresh supplies of smaller bunker busting bombs such as the CBU-28 which the Israeli air force is capable of carrying. These may have enabled Israel so far to have targeted the entrances, tunnels and ventilation shafts of Natanz or Fordow in an attempt to put them out of action. Which brings us to the question of Iran's capacity to retaliate. Overnight Friday into Saturday Iran hit back at Israel with retaliatory missile strikes. Israeli paramedics said yesterday that at least three people had been killed and dozens injured by Iran's overnight salvos, with missiles slipping through the country's air defences and destroying buildings in Tel Aviv and Rishon Le Zion. But as The Economist magazine has highlighted, Iran faces few good options in the scale and type of retaliation it can mount. 'If its response is too weak, it will not deter Israel; too strong, and it might draw America into the war. That would only compound the threat to the regime, which has not looked so vulnerable since the 1980s, when it fought a long war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq,' The Economist's assessment concluded, a view shared by other analysts. As it stands, Iran's most likely strategy will be to carry out further attacks using missiles and drones in the hope of depleting Israeli stocks of interceptor missiles and then send in its more advanced and harder-to-shot-down ballistic missiles. (Image: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu) No secret Israel's resupply of interceptors has become an issue of late. According to a report in the Financial Times (FT), Israel Aerospace Industries, the state-owned company which makes the Arrow interceptors used to shoot down ballistic missiles, said it was having to run triple shifts to keep its production lines running at full tilt, and that it was 'no secret that we (Israel) need to replenish stocks' In the past, any retaliation would have seen Iran turn also to its proxies in the region the most formidable of which was Hezbollah, the Shia militia and political party in Lebanon that had an enormous arsenal on Israel's northern border. But Hezbollah is not the force it once was, weakened by a year of war with Israel, in which its leaders were killed and many of its missile depots destroyed. Where Iran could turn tactically towards are its other proxies in places such as Iraq, mobilising them to attack American bases there or it might be tempted to go after other US installations in the region including in Qatar and Bahrain. All of that though has enormous risks of pulling America fully into the conflict, even if as many argue, Washington as ever is already committed when it comes to defending Israel. Other risky Iranian options - long discussed by regional strategists - might include blocking or disrupting oil exports from the region by shutting down the Strait of Hormuz. Merchant shipping is still passing through the Strait, but with increased caution. Iran has previously threatened to close this critical trade route through which a quarter of global oil supplies and a third of liquefied natural gas production is transported. Even the suggestion of such a move has already sent shockwaves through global markets, and sent the price of oil soaring, something that doubtless worries the Trump administration that's keen to keep the Gulf monarchs happy. Which brings us to the most significant question of all, as to what America knew about Israel's attack and the likely extent of US involvement in the conflict? To begin with, some observers now believe that the talks between Iran and the US that were scheduled for today in Oman were little more than a ruse, lulling Iran into a false sense of security before Israel struck. Or, to put this another way, while Trump was talking about 'diplomacy' Israel was preparing its onslaught. All the signs were there that Washington knew what was coming say some diplomats and observers. Just over a week ago the US moved some anti-missile defences from Europe to Israel. It then raised threat levels to US citizens, started withdrawing personnel and their families, putting major military bases on standby, and also recently supplying bunker busting bombs such as the CBU-28 to Israel. All this too before Israel's dependence on US intelligence and air defence support. It beggars belief then attest analysts, that team Trump wasn't aware of Israel's real plans. Washington 'knew this was coming, and they helped maintain this fiction that there would be a meeting' on Sunday (today) between Iran's foreign affairs minister Abbas Araghchi and Steve Witkoff, Trump's envoy, said Aaron David Miller, a former US state department negotiator in the Middle East now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'So to that degree, they co-operated with the Israelis in the ruse, and it clearly worked,' Miller added, in an interview with the FT, echoing the views of other Middle East experts. Deception Seen from an Iranian perspective, Trump's talk of giving diplomacy a chance will doubtless now be considered as the deception many now believe it was. In other words, Tehran was lured into a diplomatic trap orchestrated between Israel and the US aimed at blindsiding Iran as to the military operation that Israel had clearly long been planning with Washington's approval. If indeed that perception persists, then it's' unlikely the Iranians will return to the negotiating table any time soon. It signals too that despite so called 'differences' between Netanyahu and Trump, support for Israel in the US body politic remains - as most suspected - as strong as ever. It would also help explain the rush from some Republican politicians to send 'prayers' for Israel, as the bombs fell on Tehran while other less hawkish elements, expressed serious concern over the escalation. For Netanyahu, once regarded as a risk-averse leader, the strike on Tehran is a huge gamble. For Trump meanwhile, a president who campaigned on ending wars, not starting them, it's another arguably ignominious landmark in a shambolic foreign policy strategy. This weekend as the exchange of missile attacks between Israel and Iran intensify, it's hard to ignore the sense that both men are perilously 'gaming' over the fate of the Middle East, and that the region's future is being forged between them.
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Iran fires fresh missiles amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes
The simultaneous attacks represented the latest burst of violence since a surprise offensive by Israel two days earlier aimed at Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme. New explosions boomed across Tehran as Iranian missiles entered Israel's skies in attacks which Israeli emergency officials said caused deaths around the country, including four in an apartment building in the Galilee region. Israeli security forces inspect destroyed buildings that were hit by a missile fired from Iran, near Tel Aviv (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg) A strike in central Israel killed an 80-year-old woman, a 69-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy, officials said. Casualty figures were not immediately available in Iran, where Israel targeted its Defence Ministry headquarters in Tehran, as well as sites that it alleged were associated with the country's nuclear programme. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed Iranian missiles targeted fuel production facilities for Israeli fighter jets, something not acknowledged by Israel. Amid the continued conflict, planned negotiations between Iran and the United States over Tehran's nuclear program were cancelled, throwing into question when and how an end to the fighting could come. 'Tehran is burning,' Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on social media. Both Israel's military and Iran's state television announced the latest round of Iranian missiles as explosions were heard near midnight, while the Israeli security cabinet met. Flames rise from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran (AP/Vahid Salemi) Israel's ongoing strikes across Iran have left the country's surviving leadership with the difficult decision of whether to plunge deeper into conflict with Israel's more powerful forces or seek a diplomatic route. World leaders made urgent calls to deescalate and avoid all-out war. The attack on nuclear sites set a 'dangerous precedent,' China's foreign minister said. The region is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza after 20 months of fighting. Israel — widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East — said its hundreds of strikes on Iran over the past two days have killed a number of top generals, nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear program. Iran's UN ambassador has said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded. The sixth round of US-Iran indirect talks on Sunday over Iran's nuclear programme will not take place, mediator Oman said. 'We remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,' said a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy. Iran launched its first waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early on Saturday. The attacks killed at least three people and wounded 174, two of them seriously, Israel said. The military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where. Rescuers work at the scene of an explosion after an Israeli strike in Tehran (Iranian Red Crescent Society via AP) US ground-based air defence systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures. Israel's main international airport said it will remain closed until further notice. First responders were looking for survivors and clearing the remnants of a missile that fell on a neighbourhood outside of Tel Aviv early on Sunday morning. Responders used a drone at points to look for survivors in some of the areas that were too hard to access. Some people were fleeing the area with their belongings in suitcases.
South Wales Argus
2 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Iran fires fresh missiles amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes
They also killed key leaders in the country's governing theocracy. Israel said hundreds of airstrikes over the past two days killed nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear programme, in addition to several top generals. Iran's UN ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded. People inspect the ruins of a house that was struck by a missile fired from Iran (AP/Daniel Rolider) The US and Iran had been scheduled to hold their sixth round of indirect talks over Iran's nuclear programme on Sunday in Oman, but Oman's foreign minister said the meeting was cancelled after Israel's strikes. First responders were looking for survivors and clearing the remnants of a missile which fell on a neighbourhood outside Tel Aviv early on Sunday morning. Responders used a drone to look for survivors in areas that were too hard to access. Some people were fleeing the area with their belongings in suitcases. People take shelter during sirens warning of incoming fire in Tel Aviv (AP/Baz Ratner) The Israeli military said early on Sunday it had targeted Iran's Defence Ministry headquarters in Tehran as well as sites it alleged were associated with Iran's nuclear programme around Tehran. It alleged the sites were 'related to the Iranian regime's nuclear weapons project'. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency have repeatedly said Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon before Israel unleashed its campaign of airstrikes on Friday. Three drones were launched toward a base housing US forces in Iraq following Israel's strikes on Iran, a US military official and a second US official said on Saturday. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly. The drones were shot down, the officials said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack on Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq. Flames rise from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran (AP/Vahid Salemi) A network of powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq has remained mostly quiet amid the escalating Israel-Iran conflict. In the past, the militias had periodically attacked US bases in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Washington's support for Israel in its war against the Iran-allied Hamas militant group in Gaza. Also on Saturday, for the second day, supporters of armed factions in Iraq demonstrated in central Baghdad to denounce the Israeli bombing of Iran. The protesters did not attempt to breach the heavily fortified Green Zone where the US Embassy is located.
