Photos said to show Iranian warehouse flattened by Israeli strike in Syria
Satellite images show the extent of damage from an alleged Israeli strike in Syria this week, with one photo indicating that a large storage facility was completely destroyed, an Israeli satellite imaging company said Thursday.
The photos, taken December 26 and published by ImageSat International, were of the remains of an Iranian warehouse at a base belonging to the Syrian army’s 4th division and located west of the capital Damascus, the company said. The 900-square-meter (8,000 square foot) structure appeared to have been obliterated by the attack, it said.
However, by contrast, the images showed no evidence of an attack at Damascus airport. Initial media reports of the airstrike had speculated that a 747 cargo jet, belonging to Iran’s Fars Air Qeshm, had been targeted after it landed at the airport.
The civilian company has been accused on multiple occasions of smuggling Iranian arms to Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group that fought Israel in a 2006 war, and media speculated that its cargo had been the target of the strikes.
An Israeli security official confirmed to the Associated Press on Wednesday that Israel carried out the overnight airstrike in Syria, saying a series of Iranian targets were hit.
Jerusalem official confirms Israel struck Iranian arms depot in Syria
An Israeli security official confirmed Wednesday that Israel carried out an overnight airstrike in Syria, saying a series of Iranian targets were hit.IDF Hezbollah tunnel-destroying material discovered in Lebanese homes
The Israeli official said the air force had attacked several Iranian targets in three main locations late Tuesday and early Wednesday. He said the targets were primarily storage and logistics facilities used by archenemy Iran to ship weapons to Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group that fought Israel in a 2006 war.
He said Israel also destroyed a Syrian anti-aircraft battery that fired at the Israeli planes, and claimed that Iranian forces are operating less than 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Israeli border, contrary to Russian assurances.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity under standard security protocols. The Israeli military has not commented on the incident.
Earlier Wednesday, Russia criticized the airstrikes, saying they had endangered civilian flights. The Israeli official said, however, that Israel alerted Russia about the airstrikes ahead of time and the flights were endangered by Syrian anti-aircraft fire.
Twenty-three days after Israel launched Operation Northern Shield and found the first tunnel dug into northern Israel from southern Lebanon by Hezbollah, the military has completed the destruction of a number of tunnels which infiltrated close to the community of Metula.
According to IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis the military destroyed the tunnels by filling them with material which would prevent the Shiite terror group from every using them again.
The material he said, has come out of the tunnel in several places in the southern Lebanese village of Kafr Kila where the tunnel was dug from, including in a residential building next to the border fence which was used to make bricks.
“This fact indicates Hezbollah's use of civilian structures in the heart of an urban area in southern Lebanon, in flagrant violation of Resolution 1701 and endangering its citizens by using them as human shields,” the military said in a statement.
“It is clear that this factory belongs to Hezbollah and was used to build tunnels,” Manelis said, adding that there were other locations in Kafr Kila which were connected to tunnels and therefore the IDF saw material come out in several locations, including into residential homes.
“Whoever decides to live above a terror tunnel endangers his life, just like someone who decides to live above a weapons storehouse,” Manelis said.
The operation which began on December 4 to find and destroy the tunnels dug by the Shiite terror group has so far found five cross-border attack tunnels and last week the military began the process of destroying them.
On Wednesday, the military announced that it had destroyed a fifth cross-border attack tunnel crossing into northern Israel from the southern Lebanese village of Ayta as-Shab. It was discovered several days ago and destroyed by an explosion Wednesday night.
WATCH: We neutralized this attack tunnel dug from Lebanon into Israel by Hezbollah and poured cement into the openings on the Israeli side. The cement spilled out of the opening on the Lebanese side - revealing it was dug between homes and a factory. pic.twitter.com/KKXGIsqxW3
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 27, 2018