Syrian military appears to confirm media reports of attack on research centre near Mediterranean coast in night-time raid

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Israeli jets have reportedly bombed a Syrian government facility in north-west of the country believed to be associated with Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons programme.

The strikes were initially reported by Hebrew and Arab media sources on Thursday morning. A Syrian military statement appears to confirm the reports.

The airstrike on the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre was reported to have taken place overnight. Western intelligence reports have linked the centre near the town of Masyaf to Syria’s chemical weapons programme.

A statement from the Syrian military said the attack had occurred early on Thursday and hit a facility close to the Mediterranean coast. It said Israeli warplanes fired several missiles after entering neighbouring Lebanon’s air space.

Syrian regime dropped sarin on rebel-held town in April, UN confirms Read more

“Israeli warplanes at 2.42am fired a number of missiles from Lebanese air space, targeting one of our military positions near Masyaf, which led to material damage and the deaths of two members of the site,” the army said in a statement.

It warned of the “dangerous repercussions of such hostile acts on the security and stability of the region”.

Syrian opposition sources said four Israeli warplanes were involved in the strike. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, along with others, identified the target as the al-Talai facility, a site that had been subject to US sanctions for its role in the Syrian non-conventional weapons agency.

The strikes follow a series of statements by Israel in recent weeks accusing Iran of seeking to establish itself in Syria and Lebanon and of building a weapons factory, as the six-year Syrian civil war has continued to swing in favour of Assad.

Israel rarely confirms its strikes inside Syria but it has launched numerous strikes during the country’s civil war, usually against arms convoys and weapons storage sites associated with Hezbollah, a key Assad ally.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Israeli armed forces take part in their largest military drill in 19 years. Photograph: Atef Safadi/EPA

An Israeli army spokeswoman declined to discuss reports of a strike in Syria, but Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, tweeted that the reported attack was not routine and targeted a Syrian military scientific centre.

“The facility at Masyaf also produces chemical weapons and explosive barrels that have killed thousands of Syrian civilians,” he said.



Amir Eshel, a former Israeli air force chief, suggested in August that Israel had conducted dozens of airstrikes on weapons convoys destined for the Hezbollah over the past five years.

Washington claims the al-Talai centre developed the sarin gas weapon allegedly used in a chemical attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun in April, which left about 80 people dead.

UN war crimes investigators announced on Wednesday they had an “extensive body of information” that indicated Syrian warplanes were behind the attack.

In a conference call with journalists, the former Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Amidror said the fact that the target was a Syrian military facility took Israeli intervention to a new level.

“I know the organisation and facility,” he said. “For many years it has been one of the Syrian centres for research and development for weapons systems including chemical weapons … and weapons that have been transferred to Hezbollah.”



The only logical explanation for the attack was that the facility was producing weapons systems for Hezbollah, he said.



Even before the outbreak of the war in Syria, the al-Talai centre was on Israel’s radar. The director of the Israeli national security council’s counter-terrorism bureau called for the destruction of the centre in 2010, alleging it had provided weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas.



Israel is conducting its biggest military exercise in 19 years on its northern border, involving tens of thousands of troops. It has been widely described as a dress rehearsal for a future war with Hezbollah, including civilian evacuation drills.

The strike, if confirmed, follows increasingly bellicose statements from senior Israeli government officials, including the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, about the advances Assad has made in the civil war, backed by Iran, Hezbollah and Russia.

Netanyahu accused Iran last week of building sites to produce precision-guided missiles in Syria and Lebanon, but the commentator Amos Harel suggested in Haaretz that the Israeli action may have been a message aimed as much at Washington and Moscow as Tehran and Hezbollah after Israeli disquiet over a Russian-backed partial ceasefire in Syria.

“The United States, whose interest in Syria has been on the decline, acceded to the Russian initiative. Washington and Moscow also failed to heed Israeli protests that the agreement to reduce friction in southern Syria failed to require Iran and allied militias to steer clear of the Golan Heights,” he wrote.



</s>Beirut: Israeli warplanes targeted a Syrian military position near Masyaf in Hama province early on Thursday , causing deaths and material damage, the Syrian army general command said in a statement.

It said the jets launched air strikes from Lebanese airspace.

The army said Israel targeted one of its positions, which a war monitor said was a branch of the government agency accused by the US of producing chemical weapons.

The army statement said the air strike killed two people and caused material damage and warned against the "dangerous repercussions of this aggressive action to the security and stability of the region".

The war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the strikes hit a Scientific Studies and Research Centre facility, the agency the US describes as Syria's chemical weapons manufacturer.

The Observatory also said that a military storage camp next to the centre was used to store ground-to-ground rockets and that personnel of Iran and its allied Lebanese Hezbollah group had been seen there more than once.

It gave the total number of dead and wounded in the strike as seven.

Israeli officials have in the past admitted that Israel has attacked weapons shipments bound for Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, without specifying which ones.

An Israeli army spokeswoman declined to discuss reports of a strike in Syria, saying the army does not comment on operational matters.

Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, tweeted that the reported attack was not routine and targeted a Syrian military scientific centre.

"The facility at Masyaf also produces chemical weapons and explosive barrels that have killed thousands of Syrian civilians," Yadlin said in the tweet.

There was no independent confirmation that this was the target but the United Nations has said in the past that the Syrian government has carried out chemical weapons attacks, which Damascus denies.

Israeli officials have also previously said that Israel and Russia, another Assad ally, maintain regular contact to coordinate military action in Syria.

Jets flying over Lebanon overnight broke the sound barrier and Lebanese media reported that some Israeli jets had breached Lebanese air space.</s>Israeli fighter jets have struck a military facility in western Syria, killing two people, according to a Syrian commander quoted by the state-run news agency SANA.

The site in Hama province, 46km north of Homs, is believed to have been damaged in Thursday’s attack.

The air strike was carried out from Lebanese airspace and two people were killed at the site, SANA said, adding that it would embolden “terrorists” in Syria fighting the government.

An Israeli army spokesperson declined to discuss reports of the air strike, saying the army did not comment on operational matters.

“Israeli warplanes at 2:42am today fired a number of missiles from Lebanese air space, targeting one of our military positions near Masyaf, which led to material damage and the deaths of two members of the site,” the Syrian army said in a statement.

Masyaf is a town in western Syria, approximately 60km east of the coastal city of Tartus, where Russia maintains a naval base.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the site targeted by Israel is home to a research centre sanctioned by the US as part of Syria’s non-conventional weapons agency.

An AFP news agency report said Syria’s army operates a military facility north of Masyaf that includes a training camp and a branch of the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC).

The US has accused the SSRC of developing the sarin gas weapon allegedly used in a chemical attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun in April, which left dozens dead.

On Wednesday, UN war crimes investigators announced they had an “extensive body of information” indicating Syrian warplanes were behind the attack.

Syria’s army did not mention the SSRC in its statement. The government has rejected accusations of chemical weapons use in Khan Sheikhoun as “fabrications”.</s>State-run news agency says two killed in air strike conducted from Lebanese airspace targeting facility in Hama.

Israeli fighter jets have struck a military facility in western Syria, killing two people, according to a Syrian commander quoted by the state-run news agency SANA.

The army statement said the air strike caused material damage near the town of Masyaf and warned against the "dangerous repercussions of this aggressive action to the security and stability of the region".

The air strike was carried out from Lebanese airspace and two people were killed at the site, SANA said, adding that it would embolden "terrorists" in Syria fighting the government.

"Israeli warplanes at 2:42am today fired a number of missiles from Lebanese air space, targeting one of our military positions near Masyaf, which led to material damage and the deaths of two members of the site," the Syrian army said in a statement.

An Israeli army spokesperson declined to discuss reports of the air strike, saying the army did not comment on operational matters.

However, Yaakov Amidror, a former head of the National Security Council, told Israel's Army Radio on Thursday that the strike would be an effort to weaken Iran and the Lebanese armed Hezbollah group who operate in Syria. 



"We do not interfere in the question of who will rule in Damascus; we interfere with the question of how strong Iran and Hezbollah will be in the region,"Amidror said.

Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, tweeted that the reported attack was not routine and targeted a Syrian military scientific centre.

"The facility at Masyaf also produces chemical weapons and explosive barrels that have killed thousands of Syrian civilians," Yadlin said in the tweet.

Masyaf is a town in Hama province in western Syria, approximately 60km east of the coastal city of Tartus, where Russia maintains a naval base.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the site targeted by Israel is home to a research centre sanctioned by the US as part of Syria's non-conventional weapons agency.

An AFP news agency report said Syria's army operates a military facility north of Masyaf that includes a training camp and a branch of the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC).

The US has accused the SSRC of developing the sarin gas weapon allegedly used in a chemical attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun in April, which left dozens dead.

On Wednesday, UN war crimes investigators announced they had an "extensive body of information" indicating Syrian warplanes were behind the attack.

Syria's army did not mention the SSRC in its statement. The government has rejected accusations of chemical weapons use in Khan Sheikhoun as "fabrications".</s>Israel has attacked a military site in Syria by launching air strikes from Lebanese air space, according to the Syrian military.

The Syrian military said the Israeli jets struck in the early hours of Thursday morning (local time) and reportedly hit a military base north-west of the city of Hama.

The base is run by the organisation behind the Syrian Government's chemical weapons program, but is also allegedly involved in developing surface-to-surface missiles.

Those missiles have been the key weapons in previous conflicts between Israel and Syria's ally in Lebanon, the Shiite militia group Hezbollah.

The attack came the morning after UN investigators concluded that the Syrian Government was directly responsible for a sarin poison gas attack in April, killing more than 80 civilians, as well dozens of other chemical attacks.

The air strike killed two soldiers and caused damage near the town of Masyaf, a Syrian army statement said, while warning of the "dangerous repercussions of this aggressive action to the security of the region".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, reported that the attack was on a facility of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre, an agency the United States describes as Syria's chemical weapons manufacturer — officials and witnesses on the ground also made the same claims.

Syria's Government has strongly denied using chemical weapons — in 2013 it promised to surrender its chemical weapons, which it says it has done.

The Observatory said strikes also hit a military camp next to the centre that was used to store ground-to-ground rockets and where personnel of Iran and its ally Hezbollah had been seen more than once.

An Israeli army spokeswoman declined to discuss reports of a strike in Syria, but a former Israeli intelligence chief also corroborated the chemical weapons site claims on social media.

"The factory that was targeted in Masyaf produces the chemical weapons and barrel bombs that have killed thousands of Syrian civilians," Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, said in a tweet.

The strike sent a message that Israel would not let Syria produce strategic weapons, would enforce its own red lines, and would not be hampered by Russian air defence systems in Syria, he added.

The Syrian army statement said the Israeli strike came early on Thursday morning (local time) from inside Lebanese airspace. Overnight, Lebanese media had reported jets breaking the sound barrier and breaching its airspaces.

The reported attack took place on the 10th anniversary of Israel's destruction of a nuclear reactor in Syria.</s>Israeli warplanes have reportedly pounded a chemical weapons facility belonging to the Syrian regime headed by President Bashar al-Assad. Damascus has confirmed at least two people were killed in the air strike.

Israeli forces regularly launch attacks against positions of Assad's regime and Hezbollah militants inside Syria though most of the operations are not officially acknowledged by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The latest aerial operation comes shortly after the IDF held a massive drill.

At least four Israeli fighter jets were involved in the air strikes against the chemical weapons plant in Masyaf, suggest Arab and Israeli media reports. The operation is reported to have taken place overnight on Wednesday, 6 September.

Israel has refused to comment on the strikes but the Syrian army general command has confirmed the attack. The facility is thought to be the regime-backed Scientific Studies and Research Centre near the city of Masyaf in Hama region in central Syria.

Though it is unclear if it is related, Lebanese media had reported early on Thursday, 7 September, that Israeli jets were seen in Lebanese airspace.</s>Syria says Israeli jets have hit a military base in the west of the country, amid reports of a strike on a chemical weapons factory.

An army statement said rockets fired from Lebanese airspace targeted the site near Masyaf, killing two soldiers.

Unconfirmed Arab media reports say a chemical weapons production facility was hit in the attack.

Israel, which has carried out clandestine attacks on weapons sites in Syria before, has not commented.</s>Syria says Israeli jets have hit a military base in the west of the country, amid reports of a strike on a chemical weapons factory.

An army statement said rockets fired from Lebanese airspace targeted the site near Masyaf, killing two soldiers.

Unconfirmed Arab media reports say a chemical weapons production facility was hit in the attack.

Israel, which has carried out clandestine attacks on weapons sites in Syria before, has not commented.

The incident comes a day after UN investigators said they had concluded that the Syrian government was behind a deadly chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in April.

At least 83 people died in the attack on Khan Sheikhoun, the UN says. Damascus has always denied using chemical weapons.</s>An Israeli airstrike hit a military facility in the central province of Hama during the night, killing two soldiers, the Syrian army said on Thursday.

The airstrike was fired from Lebanese airspace on Wednesday, the army said in a statement carried by the state-run news agency, SANA.

The statement claimed the attack would embolden “terrorists’’ in Syria fighting the government.

“This aggression comes as a desperate attempt to raise the morale of the Daesh (Islamic State) terrorist organisation after the overwhelming victories achieved by the Syrian Arab army against terrorism,” the statement said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, reported that Israeli rockets had targeted military facilities in rural Hama.

Observatory Head, Rami Abdel-Rahman, said that the struck facilities included a pro-government training camp manned by Iranian Revolutionary Guards and their allies in the town of Masyaf west of Hama.

At least two government soldiers were killed and five others injured in the bombardment, he added.

The observatory said the raid also targeted an arms depot of short and medium-range missiles and a scientific research centre in the same area.

The Israeli Army declined comments on the reports.

Yaakov Amidror, a former head of Israel’s National Security Council, said the attack would constitute “another level” of Israeli actions in Syria.

He added in a phone conversation with journalists that Israel was attempting to curb the actions of the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and Iran in Syria.

“Israel will not allow Hezbollah to use the chaos in Syria to be stronger in the future,” he said.

Iran along with Hezbollah are allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a civil war that has ravaged the country, killing hundreds of thousands.

Israel says that Iran is seeking to open a new front against Israel on the Syria-Israel border.

Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, fought a war with Israel in 2006.

Residents in Lebanon’s eastern city of Baalbeck said that they heard on Thursday the sounds of at least four warplanes flying over the area.</s>The Israeli warplanes struck the positions of the Syrian armed forces near the city of Masyaf in northwestern Syria, in the Hama Governorate, the Reuters news agency reports citing sources in the Syrian army. The Israeli jets aimed to attack a military facility and caused an extensive damage.

Israel has been long opposing Iran's presence in Syria. Recently Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Israel's concerns that Tehran is allegedly trying to increase its presence in Syria, is effectively in control of Libya and attempting to influence Iraq and Yemen calling it "a global threat."

Iran and its allies, including Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement, support President Bashar Assad's government in the ongoing war in Syria and fights terrorists alongside the Syrian army. Israel regards Iran as its number one threat, pointing at Tehran's nuclear potential, its hostile rhetoric and support offered to anti-Israel forces throughout the Middle East.
It is suspected that Israeli jets bomb a military research facility near the city of Masyaf, Hama Governorate, killing at least two Syrian Army soldiers. The facility was rumoured to contain chemical weapons.