Netanyahu on Sunday confirmed that the IDF nailed hundreds of Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria, in addition to discovering a sixth and final tunnel dug by Hezbollah terrorists.
By Associated Press
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday confirmed that Israel has struck hundreds of Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria, including a weapons facility in a weekend airstrike, as the military announced the discovery of a sixth and final tunnel dug by the Lebanese terror group for cross-border attacks.
Speaking to the IDF Galilee Division near the Lebanese border, Netanyahu commented, “In the past 48 hours, Israel attacked an Iranian weapons warehouse at the international airport in Damascus. This reflects our consistent policy and strong determination to prevent Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria. If necessary, we will step up these attacks.”
He added, “At the same time, the IDF has exposed a sixth tunnel – the largest of all – that crossed into Israeli territory. This brings Operation Northern Shield to a successful close. We will continue to monitor all activity by Hezbollah, and by Iran and its proxies. We will do whatever is necessary to ensure the security of Israel.”
The statements marked a rare, public acknowledgement of Israeli attacks against Hezbollah and its patron Iran in neighboring Syria, where Israel is long believed to have targeted Iranian weapons shipments to the Lebanese Shiite group.
At his weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu also publicly confirmed the strike as he thanked outgoing military chief Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot for long years of service and particularly his marshaling of Israel’s campaign against Iran in recent years.
“We have operated with impressive success in thwarting Iran from establishing a military foothold in Syria, in the framework of which the military has struck hundreds of times against Iranian and Hezbollah targets,” Netanyahu said. “In the last 36 hours alone, the air force struck storage facilities with Iranian weapons at the Damascus International Airport. The bulk of recent attacks show how we are more committed than ever to act against Iran in Syria, as we promised.”
Coupled with the announcement that after Sunday’s discovery, Israel was wrapping up its operation to destroy Hezbollah’s tunnel network into Israel, the weekend strike in Syria is widely seen as Eisenkot’s “parting shot” as his four-year tenure as military chief ends. He will be replaced on Tuesday by Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi.
After keeping a low-profile throughout most of his term, Eisenkot gave a series on interviews over the weekend focusing on his shifting the military’s attention toward Iran directly, instead of just engaging its lesser proxies, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza.
In a New York Times interview published Friday, Eisenkot said that Israel “has struck thousands of targets without claiming responsibility or asking for credit” as part of his showdown with Qassim Suleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force.
Eisenkot also revealed the government approved his shift in strategy in January 2017, stepping up airstrikes in Syria. In 2018 alone, he said Israel’s air force dropped 2,000 bombs in Syria.
Operation Northern Shield
A far more visible part of his legacy has been the recent Lebanese border operation, which thwarted Hezbollah’s prime strategic investment for its next potential war.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Sunday the final tunnel was the largest discovered so far, running hundreds of meters from under a Lebanese home and deep into Israeli territory. Israel launched “Operation Northern Shield” early last month to detect and destroy a vast network of Hezbollah tunnels the group hoped terrorists could use to sneak across the border and attack Israeli civilians.
Conricus said the latest tunnel originated from the Lebanese border town of Ramyeh, was 55 meters deep and ran 800 meters inside Lebanese territory and also “dozens” of meters into Israel. It included stairs, a rail system and a wide a passageway that allowed for the movement of equipment and a large number of forces.
内塔尼亚胡周日证实，除了发现真主党恐怖分子挖的第六条也是最后一条隧道外，以色列国防军还在叙利亚钉了数百个伊朗和真主党目标。
美联社
以色列总理内塔尼亚胡周日证实，以色列在叙利亚袭击了数百个伊朗和真主党目标，其中包括周末空袭中的一个武器设施，与此同时，军方宣布发现黎巴嫩恐怖组织为越境袭击挖掘的第六个也是最后一个隧道。
内塔尼亚胡对黎巴嫩边境附近的以色列国防军加利利师说：“在过去的48小时里，以色列袭击了大马士革国际机场的伊朗武器仓库。这反映了我们一贯的政策和防止伊朗在叙利亚军事上固步自封的坚定决心。如有必要，我们将加大攻击力度。”
他补充说：“与此同时，以色列国防军还暴露了第六条隧道——其中最大的隧道——穿过以色列领土。这使北盾行动圆满结束。我们将继续监测真主党和伊朗及其代表的所有活动。我们将竭尽所能确保以色列的安全。”
这些声明标志着以色列罕见地公开承认以色列在邻国叙利亚对真主党及其支持者伊朗的攻击，在叙利亚，以色列长期以来被认为是针对伊朗向黎巴嫩什叶派集团运送武器的目标。
在每周的内阁会议上，内塔尼亚胡还公开证实了这次罢工，因为他感谢即将离任的军事首长艾森科特中将长期服役，特别是他最近几年对伊朗发动的以色列战役。
内塔尼亚胡说：“我们在阻止伊朗在叙利亚建立军事据点方面取得了令人瞩目的成功，在这一框架内，伊朗军队已经对伊朗和真主党的目标进行了数百次打击。”仅在过去36小时内，空军就在大马士革国际机场用伊朗武器袭击了储存设施。最近的大部分袭击表明，我们比以往任何时候都更致力于在叙利亚对伊朗采取行动，正如我们所承诺的那样。”
再加上周日被发现后，以色列正在结束摧毁真主党进入以色列的隧道网络的行动的声明，周末在叙利亚的罢工被广泛认为是艾森科特的“临别镜头”，作为他四年的军事首长任期结束。他将在周二被阿维夫·科查维少将接替。
在整个任期内保持低调之后，艾森科特在周末接受了一系列采访，重点是他将军队的注意力直接转移到伊朗，而不是仅仅与黎巴嫩真主党和加沙地带哈马斯的小代理人接触。
艾森科特在星期五发表的《纽约时报》采访中说，作为他与伊朗精锐的库兹部队指挥官卡西姆·苏莱曼尼摊牌的一部分，以色列“袭击了数千个目标，但没有声称对其负责，也没有要求得到赞扬”。
Eisenkot还透露，政府在2017年1月批准了他的战略转变，加强了对叙利亚的空袭。仅在2018年，他说以色列空军就在叙利亚投下了2000枚炸弹。
北盾行动
他遗产中一个更为明显的部分是最近的黎巴嫩边境行动，这阻碍了真主党为下一场潜在战争进行的主要战略投资。
军方发言人乔纳森·康利库斯少校星期天说，最后一条隧道是迄今为止发现的最大的隧道，距离黎巴嫩的一个家有数百米，并深入以色列领土。以色列上个月早些时候发起了“北方盾牌行动”，以探测和摧毁一个庞大的真主党隧道网络，该组织希望恐怖分子可以利用这个网络偷越边界，攻击以色列平民。
康利库斯说，最新的隧道发源于黎巴嫩边境城镇拉米耶，深55米，在黎巴嫩境内延伸800米，并“数十”米进入以色列。它包括楼梯、铁路系统和允许设备移动的宽通道以及大量的力。