Israel Hints It Was Behind Airstrike on Syria

Israel has indicated that it might have been behind last week’s airstrike against Syria. On January 30, airplanes bombed a target near the Lebanese border, about 15 miles northwest of Damascus. The Syrian government has released images of a damaged research facility, and blames Israel for the attack. However, U.S. defense officials say that the strike hit a convoy of anti-aircraft weapons.

The Pentagon said that the airstrike targeted trucks carrying Russian-made SA-17 missiles. The missiles were bound for Hezbollah, a terrorist group in Lebanon.

For years, Israel has been able to fly warplanes over Lebanon largely unchallenged. Should Hezbollah acquire sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles, that status quo would change.

Israel has not officially taken responsibility for the bombing. But on Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak hinted that Israel was indeed behind the attack. At a security conference in Munich, Germany, Barak initially said he could not add anything to the media reports about the attack. But then he added something.

“I keep telling frankly that we said—and that’s proof when we said something we mean it—we say that we don’t think it should be allowed to bring advanced weapons systems into Lebanon.”

As Syrian President Bashar al Assad loses his grip on power, Syria’s weapons could go to Israel’s other enemies. Watch for the situation in the Middle East to become increasingly unstable. Israel will seek help to defend itself from its enemies. Bible prophecy shows that eventually, it will turn to Germany for protection. For more on this subject, read Jerusalem in Prophecy.