Earlier this week the Israeli military conducted airstrikes within the Syrian borders. The target was a shipment of weapons and ammunition intended for the Hezbollah in the neighboring country of Lebanon. Syria’s allies, Iran and Russia, were quick to condemn the “open aggression” that they said challenged the legitimacy of the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Syria’s ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul Karim Alim called the attack part of an attack by criminals from all around the world with American sponsorship, Gulf financing and the help of European intelligence services.” Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the strike “blatantly violates the United Nations Charter and is unacceptable and unjustified, whatever its motives.”
This type of condemnation however may not be enough to deter Israel from conducting such strikes again. “Israel finds itself, like it has many times in the past, facing a dilemma that only it knows how to respond to. And it could well be that we will reach a stage where we will have to make decisions,” Israeli lawmaker Tzachi Hanegbi told Israel’s Army Radio.
The Israeli government is concerned mostly with Assad’s vast arsenal of weapons and ammunition falling into the hands of Hezbollah in the event that Assad falls from power. Israeli officials appear to have determined that taking preemptive action to avoid this scenario is worth provocation of Assad’s allies and what Iran’s deputy foreign minister said would be “grave consequences for Tel Aviv.”
Such retaliation could realize the fears of many that Syria’s bloody civil war might spill over its borders and trigger a broader conflict throughout the Middle East.
“From the moment they chose to say Israel did something, it means someone has to do something after that,” said Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel’s National Security Council and a longtime military leader. “Contrary to what I could hope and believe yesterday, that this round of events would end soon, now I am much less confident.”
