It hit Damascus again on Tuesday night. Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes on several targets around the capital, killing two people. It was the fourth attack in a week. The day before, Israel’s army had confirmed that a drone coming from Syria that had been shot down over Israel’s north was of Iranian manufacture.
In the shadow war that Israel and Iran have been fighting for years, including on the Syrian battlefields, there is a risk of a new escalation. With vague references to this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has even postponed the dismissal of his Defense Minister Joav Gallant.
Israeli air strikes on Syrian territory have been regular for years, but the current frequency is unusual. The army or the government practically never take responsibility for this in public, and even now there is official silence. However, Israel has never made a secret of the fact that the Iranian presence in neighboring Syria, which has been expanding since the beginning of the civil war in 2011, is just as little tolerated as arms deliveries from there to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, which is closely allied with Iran. Defense Secretary Gallant warned only on Sunday: “We will not allow Iran and Hezbollah to harm us. We will push them back from Syria to where they belong, to Iran.”
The dismissal also caused a stir in the United States
Israeli reports attribute the new escalation to an event in mid-March. A bomb planted at a highway intersection in Megiddo, in northern Israel, exploded. An Arab-Israeli who drove by at that moment was injured. Israelis are used to terror attacks of all kinds, but such a street bomb was a new quality – and even more alarming was the assessment of who could have been behind it. The bomber, who was caught and shot a short time later, entered Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah is suspected to be the client, as an extended arm of Iran on Israel’s northern border.
Obviously, Israel does not want to take revenge in Lebanon because this could lead directly to war. Instead, attacks on Iranian and Hezbollah facilities in Syria are likely to be intensified. According to Iranian media reports, two members of the Revolutionary Guards were recently killed. One answer could have been the drone that was shot down by Israel’s army. A little later, another drone was destroyed by Israel’s air force over the Gaza Strip.
Secretary of Defense Gallant immediately drew a line connecting the various scenes of the threat. The Iranians “extended their tentacles” not only into Syria and Lebanon, but also into the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank. He expressly warned external enemies against the misconception that Israel is distracted or weakened by internal conflicts over judicial reform. He directed the appeal inward: “We must face the enemy with a united front.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu immediately took up this ball. He had fired Gallant nine days ago in the dispute over judicial reform – but never completed the dismissal. The hesitation is probably due to the fact that Gallant’s resignation caused a stir not only in Israel, but also in the protecting power USA. Now Netanyahu’s office has let it be known that the release will not be lifted due to the tense security situation, but will be postponed for the time being. The opposition immediately criticized the fact that Israel could not afford a defense minister on call in tense times.