Around 2:00am Sunday morning local time, Israeli fighter planes conducted another round of air strikes against Syrian targets. This was the second round of Israeli preemptive strikes in the last 48 to 72 hours.
The targets were in and near the capital city of Damascus, and early reports indicate they included storehouses for advanced missiles that the Assad regime was preparing to transfer to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.
Big questions:
- Are more Israeli air strikes coming?
- Will the Assad regime — or Hezbollah, or Iran — retaliate? Syrian officials are already calling Israel’s actions a “declaration of war.”
- Will this trigger a new regional war, or help prevent one by sending a clear message to Israel’s enemies not to cross certain red lines?
- How will the Obama administration and other world governments respond?
One thing is clear: Netanyahu is not waiting any longer for Obama to act. Israel is taking the lead in protecting its own national security.
Israeli officials see Syria imploding, and Iran, Hezbollah and other terror forces moving into the vacuum. They see Syria having used chemical weapons twice. Yet neither President Obama nor other world powers are doing anything about it. Israel has decided it cannot wait any longer for Washington.
Latest Headlines:
- Israel deploys Iron Dome in North amid Syria tensions (Jerusalem Post)
- Haifa mayor orders preparations for possible Syrian retaliation (Times of Israel)
- Netanyahu off to China with slight delay due to Syria: Despite tensions in north, rare visit to China takes place as planned. On agenda: Promotion of trade relations, support for harsher sanctions on Iran (Ynet News)
- Before leaving for China, Netanyahu holds three hour meeting Sunday afternoon with his Security Cabinet, ends at 6:30pm local time (Haaretz live blog on the situation)
- Israel’s northern front isn’t quiet anymore: Will Damascus retaliate?