American paper cites anonymous officer who says Israel acted to contain Iranian efforts to establish bases in Syria, but later amends report to reflect IDF’s official position.
By: Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Although nobody would confirm the admission officially, a senior member of the IDF was quoted in the New York Times Monday as stating that Israel did indeed attack a Syrian air base a week ago.
“It was the first time we attacked live Iranian targets — both facilities and people,” said the source, according to the paper.
The T-4 base that was hit by at least three missiles had been the launchpad of an Iranian drone sent into Israeli airspace on February 10th which had been quickly shot down by an Israeli air force helicopter.
Israel had openly reacted to the violation of its sovereignty at the time by hitting the base with several IAF jets in what was the largest strike on Syria since the First Lebanon War. IAF Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Tomer Bar described that mission as an attack on advanced long-range surface-to-air missiles, components of Syria’s air-defense system, and the Iranian mobile control center that had been responsible for the drone.
美国报纸援引匿名官员的话称，以色列采取行动遏制伊朗在叙利亚建立基地的努力，但后来修正了报告，以反映以色列国防军的官方立场。
按：Batya Jerenberg，以色列新闻世界
虽然没有人会正式确认这次入境，但纽约时报星期一援引以色列国防军的一名高级成员的话，称以色列确实在一周前袭击了叙利亚空军基地。
该消息人士说：“这是我们第一次袭击伊朗的生活目标，包括设施和人员。”。
T-4基地遭到至少三枚导弹被伊朗进入以色列领空的无人机2月10日已迅速由以色列空军直升机击落发射台。
以色列曾公开对侵犯其主权的时间用在最大的罢工在叙利亚第一次黎巴嫩战争以来几IAF战斗机打基础。空军参谋长准将。将军，任务是描述客户酒吧先进的远程地面攻击对空导弹，叙利亚的防空系统的组成部分，与伊朗移动控制中心曾负责无人机。
Last week’s missile strike was therefore the second go at the same target, but this time seemingly with intent to specifically hit the Iranians hard, as the source said. Fourteen people were reported killed, including seven Iranian Quds Force members and the head of their drone unit. In fact, the purpose of the attack was reportedly to totally eliminate Tehran’s drone program at the central Syrian base.
The timing of the raid – right after Syria had bombed a rebel-held enclave with chemical weapons that killed dozens and injured hundreds – led Syria to first accuse the American administration of it. But the Americans denied any role, and Syria, along with its Russian and Iranian allies, quickly pointed the finger at Israel, which remained silent. And still does — officially.
Previously, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly and repeatedly warned that Israel would not allow its deadliest enemy to build missile factories or set up forward bases in Syria that endanger Israel’s existence. And as the military source also noted, “This is the first time we saw Iran do something against Israel — not by proxy. This opened a new period.”
The question is whether this new period of direct confrontation between the two powers in the Middle East will be a limited one or not.
The author of the NY Times article, Thomas Friedman, later updated the piece after the IDF spokesman’s office contacted him, adding the following: “After the story appeared, the Israeli Army’s spokesman’s office disputed the characterization and accuracy of the raid by my Israeli source, and emphasized that Israel maintains its policy to avoid commenting on media reports regarding the raid on the T4 airfield and other events. He would not comment further.”
因此，上周的导弹攻击是第二次在同一个目标，但这一次似乎是故意打击伊朗人硬，如消息人士说。十四人丧生，其中包括七伊朗圣城军成员和他们的无人机单位负责人。事实上，据报道，这次袭击的目的是彻底消除德黑兰在叙利亚基地的无人驾驶飞机项目。
袭击的时机——在叙利亚轰炸了一个叛军占领的飞地，用化学武器杀死数十人，炸伤数百人之后，叙利亚首先指责美国政府。但是美国人否认了任何角色，叙利亚和俄罗斯和伊朗的盟友迅速地将矛头指向了以色列。而且仍然是官方的。
此前，本雅明·内塔尼亚胡首相曾公开多次警告说，以色列不会允许其最致命的敌人建立导弹工厂或在叙利亚建立威胁以色列生存的前沿基地。军方人士也指出，“这是我们第一次看到伊朗对以色列采取行动——而不是通过代理。这开启了一个新的时期。”
问题是，中东这两个大国之间新的直接对抗时期是否将是有限的。
在纽约时报的文章，作者Thomas Friedman，后来更新后的块的IDF发言人办公室联系他，添加以下内容：“故事出现后，以色列军方发言人办公室争论的来源和我以色列突袭准确表征，并强调以色列坚持政策要避免评论媒体报道关于T4机场和其他事件的袭击。他不愿作进一步评论。”