Israel’s latest round
of airstrikes
against southern Syria continued into a second day today, after
stray artillery shells crossed the disputed border and landed on the
Israeli-held Golan Heights. Today’s Israeli strikes were somewhat deadlier, killing at
least two civilians in Quneitra.
Israel had insisted
that they had exclusively targeted military targets, saying they’d destroyed an
“ammunition truck” and artillery positions, along with attacking a tank inside
Syria. This is a fairly common reaction to stray shells by Israel, which has repeatedly
attacked the Syrian military over the course of the protracted war within the
country.
The Syrian Army and Assad aren’t very happy with the timing of this latest Israeli foray, however, noting
that today’s strikes came at the exact same time al-Qaeda’s Nusra
Front launched an offensive in the exact same area, accusing
Israel of effectively providing air cover for the terrorists.
Israel is known to be providing
substantial amounts of aid to rebels in this area of Syria,
including some Islamist-leaning groups. It has never been confirmed that Nusra
was among those getting supported by Israel, however it has been speculated by
Syria that this might be the case, and Israel has accepted wounded
al-Qaeda fighters crossing into Syria for treatment.
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