Syrian TV & radio merrily cover its Army’s claim of hitting IDF fighter-jets, ignoring IDF denials, while bringing out analysts for panel discussions etc. Meanwhile, a Syrian journalists laugh off the story, tweeting President Bashar al-Assad lacks the courage to even attack an Israeli cat.

By Roi Kais

Syrian media has been extensively covering the reportedly false claim made by the Syrian Army that Syrian ground-to-air missiles have managed to strike down an IDF drone and fighter jet.

A Syrian news anchor covering the story – Screenshot of Syrian TV

A row of Syrian experts and analysts have been called upon for television and radio interviews, one of whom opened his remarks by saying, “Congratulations to the Syrian Army” for on their reported accomplishment. The Israeli Army, on the other hand, has consistently been denying that the strike ever happened, with IDF Spokesperson issuing a statement saying, “The air force planes were far from the source of the (missile) shooting, which did not threaten our forces.”

Expressing enthusiasm that the Syrian Army managed to hit their targets, the Syrian public broadcasting network ran videos that displayed missiles of different kinds. For their part, official Syrian media outlets have also been covering the way the Israeli media has been denying what they report is a successful Syrian hit.

The Syrian Arab News Agency’s website published the Syrian Army’s statement—in Arabic, English and in Hebrew—on the perhaps completely bogus story of the hit IDF planes. “The General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces announced on Tuesday that the Israeli enemy’s air force attacked a Syrian military position in the countryside of the southern Quneitra province … The General Command said in a statement the Syrian air defense forces responded to the attack and shot down an Israeli warplane to the southwest of Quneitra and an Israeli drone to the west of Sa’sa’ town in the southwestern countryside of Damascus. It noted that the Israeli attack came in support of the armed terrorist groups and in a desperate attempt to raise the deteriorating morale of their members due to the heavy losses they have suffered in Quneitra.” Similar reports have surfaced on Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese media network Al Mayadeen.