Israel Threatened To Attack Syria Amid Earthquake Rescue Operations – Report
An Israeli F-16 fighter jet en route to an exercise in Germany in an undated photograph. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israel is ready to attack Syria if Iran ships weapons there under the guise of humanitarian aid following the major earthquake, the Saudi-owned Elaph news site reported on February 9, citing an Israeli official.
The unnamed official said “there is information indicating that Iran will take advantage of the tragic situation in Syria” and ship weapons to Lebanese Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed factions in Syria.
He went on to stress that Israel would not accept this and it would result in a “firm military response from us without hesitation.”
Several Iranian cargo planes carrying aid have landed in Syria since the February 6 earthquake, which originated in southeast Turkey.
In addition, Iran’s Quds Force commander, Brigade General Esmail Qaani, visited on February 9 the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which was badly hit by the recent earthquake, to inspect aid work there. The Quds Force is the foreign operations wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Israel claims is responsible for weapons supplies to Tehran’s allies across the Middle East.
As of February 10, the death toll from the devastating earthquake was at more than 22,500 people in both Turkey and Syria.
On the first day of the natural disaster, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel plans to send aid to Syria. However, Syrian foreign minister Faisal Mekdad vigorously denied requesting aid from Israel.
Israel has already attacked Syria on multiple occasions this year, allegedly to intercept Iranian weapons shipments. Tel Aviv’s new threat ignores all humanitarian considerations.
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