The January 2013 Rif Dimashq airstrike was an aerial attack in the Rif Dimashq Governorate of Syria, which targeted a convoy alleged to be carrying weapons from Syria to the Lebanese Shi'a militia Hezbollah.[1] The convoy was attacked on 31 January 2013. According to several media sources, Israeli forces allegedly conducted the strike, however Israel has not officially responded to the allegations.
The convoy was attacked while parked at a facility of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, Syria's main research center on biological and chemical weapons, at Jamraya, several miles northwest of the Syrian capital of Damascus. In addition to Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, secondary explosions from the attacked munitions also damaged a building of the Scientific Studies and Research Center.[2] [3] [4] [5] Satellite images taken a few days after the attack showed a scorched and blackened parking lot at the center, where the arms convoy was apparently hit.[6]
Israel did not officially confirm responsibility for the bombing, but Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak suggested that it could have been behind the attack, saying on 3 February, "I cannot add anything to what you've read in the newspapers about what happened in Syria several days ago, but I keep telling, frankly, that we've said – and that's another proof that when we say something we mean it – we say that we don't think that it should be allowable to bring advanced weapon systems into Lebanon."[7]
See main article: Israel–Iran proxy conflict. The attack in January 2013 was reportedly part of Israel's efforts to stem the flow of sophisticated weapons from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi'a Islamic militant group and political party that is designated a terrorist organization by some countries. Israel's newly re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to have notified the United States and Russia of the impending attack a few days beforehand.[8]
Despite the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 from 2006 which called for an embargo on arms shipments to Lebanon, Hezbollah has reportedly continued to arm itself with assistance from Iran and Syria. Those weapons include, according to reports, Scud D surface-to-surface missiles originating in North Korea, with a range of 700km (400miles).[8]
This was the first attack in Syria, in which Israel was accused, since Operation Orchard in 2007, when Israeli jets destroyed an unfinished Syrian nuclear facility.[9]
The attack consisted of about ten jets, flying from the Mediterranean over southern Lebanon. The jets were tracked by both NATO and Lebanese radars. An early report said some planes crossed into Syria, fired eight missiles at their target, and then flew back over the Mediterranean.[10] It was later reported that the warplanes did not enter Syrian airspace, but launched the attack from Lebanese airspace.[11]
Hussam Hush Nawis (also known as Hassan Shateri), a senior commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was supervising a shipment of weapons and rockets to Lebanon and was killed in the airstrike, according to a Free Syrian Army spokesman. Several of his aides were also killed, but their deaths were not reported due to "the consequences" of such a disclosure.[12]
Syria maintained that Israel had bombed a "scientific research center" at Jamraya, several miles northwest of Damascus, and Syria's ambassador to Lebanon said Syria had the option of retaliating against Israel.[4] [13] According to a security analyst, Amir Rapaport, footage broadcast on Syrian television showed a damaged armored vehicle that seemed to belong to the SA-8 missile system. He speculated that the vehicle may have been placed on the scene after the attack, because Syria had guaranteed the Russians not to transfer the more advanced SA-17 system to Lebanon.[5]
Israel: Boaz Ganor, director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, warned that if Syria's weapons falls into the hands of jihadist groups like al-Qaeda, that would be a global threat.[13]See main article: May 2013 Rif Dimashq airstrikes. Additional air strikes in Rif Dimashq in Syria reportedly took place on 3 and 5 May 2013. According to Jerusalem Post, the attacks targeted accurate short-range Fateh-110 surface-to-surface missiles destined for Hezbollah from Iran.[15] [16] Israeli politician Tzachi Hanegbi made a statement to Israel Radio that if any raids were made, those were "only against Hezbollah, not against the Syrian regime" without explicitly admitting Israel made the strikes.[17] The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that rebel forces claimed that other targets were destroyed during the strike on the airbase, including fuel and ammunition depots and a cargo plane that had arrived from Iran.[18] [19]
However, according to Abdulkader Saleh, a commander in the Free Syrian Army, opposition forces were about to receive a transfer of weapons with the help of several pro-rebel high ranking Syrian officials when Israel attacked to prevent this from occurring. Saleh stated: "This assault, of course, was intended to support the Assad administration".[20]
According to anonymous US officials, Israel allegedly launched another airstrike on 5 July 2013. It targeted Russian-made Yakhont anti-ship missiles near the city of Latakia and killed several Syrian troops.[21] Hezbollah's Al-Manar claimed that the explosions were caused by "stray mortars" from "local clashes."[22]