Tag Archive for Syria Unrest

| January 28, 2013
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Report: Hizbullah Bases Sets Up Close to Syria’s Chemical Depots

According to an Israeli media outlet, Hizbullah terrorists are setting up bases in Syria very close to known chemical weapons storage facilities.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

The Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist organization is setting up bases in Syria close to known chemical weapons storage facilities, according to a source quoted in a report published Monday by Israeli Hebrew-language news outlet Ynet.

Chemical war drill

Chemical war drill – IDF Spokesman’s Unit

Hizbullah, which is generously funded and equipped by Iran, has been working to shore up the government forces backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, together with Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

But even with that assistance, the loyalists are beginning to lose their grip on the country, and it appears likely that Assad’s regime may soon fall. Continue Reading »

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| January 23, 2013
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Khameini aide says Iran’s backing Assad to avert collapse of anti-Zionist front

Iranian official says rebel leader’s vow to establish relations with Israel & the US, justifies Iran’s involvement.

 

The main reason behind Iran’s support for Syrian President Bashar Assad is to prevent the collapse of the rejectionist front against Israel, a senior aide to the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Religious Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a television interview that was broadcast on Sunday.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards personnel -AP - June 28, 2011.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards personnel watch the launch of a Zelzal missile during maneuvers by the city of Qom, Iran. June 28, 2011.- Photo by AP

“If Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is toppled, the line of resistance in the face of Israel will be broken,” Ali Akbar Velayati told the Arab satellite channel Al-Mayadeen, which is operated by former Al Jazeera reporter Ghassan Ben Jeddo. Continue Reading »

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| January 14, 2013
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Syrian Generals ordered to attack Israel & Egypt should Assad fall

Assad’s reason for attacking Israel is obvious. Syria is officially in a state of war with Israel & hosts numerous terror groups dedicated to the Jewish state’s annihilation.

By Israel Today Staff

 

Embattled Syrian dictator Bashar Assad has ordered his military chiefs to launch ballistic missiles at Israel if he is killed by rebel forces, according to sources in Damascus cited by Israeli media this week.

Syrian threat aimed at Israel & Egypt

The online newspaper Inyan Merkazi reported that Assad met with his top generals recently to express concerns that he could be taken out by advanced American missiles recently provided to rebel forces, or by a violent mob similar to the one that violently murdered former Libyan dictator Muamar Gaddafi. Continue Reading »

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| January 9, 2013
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Palestinian camp in Damascus comes under fire

Five killed in Yarmouk camp, Palestinian representatives call for immediate cease-fire.

By the Associated Press

 

Representatives of Palestinian factions in Syria are calling for an immediate cease-fire after fighting flared at a refugee camp in Damascus.

מגייסים פלסטינים לשורותיהם ומחמשים אותם. מורדים סורים (צילום: רויטרס)

Syrian rebels enlisting Palestinians – Photo: Reuters

Activists say five people were killed in the Yarmouk camp Tuesday, including four who died when a shell struck their street and a fifth shot by a sniper.

The fighting pits gunmen loyal to President Bashar Assad against rebels, who now control much of the camp.

The camp was the scene of heavy clashes in the past, but the battles subsided last month after rebels battled the loyalists to a stalemate. Continue Reading »

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| January 8, 2013
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Report: Obama Listened to Israel which Avoided Chemical War within Syria

Israeli surveillance identified Syria’s army preparing chemical bombs. Israel alerted the White House, who gained Russian support to stop Assad.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

Israeli surveillance that spotted Syria preparing chemical bombs to load them on airplanes spurred President Barack Obama into action to win rare support from Russia to stop the plan, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The report follows bits of information published over the past several weeks, according to which Syrian soldiers were spotted mixing chemicals, but details of Israeli surveillance and American involvement were not previously disclosed.

IDF commanders informed Washington in November, according to the newspaper, after satellite imagery showed Syrian soldiers filling 500-pound bombs with a substance that may have been the deadly “sarin” nerve gas. Continue Reading »

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| January 6, 2013
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Netanyahu promises construction of fortified fence along Syria-Israel border

Prime Minister Netanyahu expresses concerns that Syrian violence may spill over, or worse, that the Assad regime will fall and be replaced by Islamic extremists armed with chemical weapons.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Sunday to build a fortified fence along the frontier with Syria, warning that radical Islamist forces have taken over the area.

The Israel-Syria border.

The Israel-Syria border. – Photo by Yaron Kaminsky

Israel has largely stayed out of the civil war that has engulfed Syria and killed more than 60,000 people, but it is concerned that violence could spill over into Israel.

Israel worries that Syrian President Bashar Assad might try to draw Israel into the fighting as a distraction if his situation becomes desperate. Continue Reading »

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| December 24, 2012
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Russia: Assad consolidated chemical weapons into 1 or 2 sites

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: “The Syrian gov’t has concentrated the stockpiles in 1 or 2 centers, unlike in the past when they were scattered across the country”

Report says Russia & the U.S. have given 2 options to Assad: Step down & receive asylum, or a transfer of power will be arranged without you.

By News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

 

 

The U.S. and Russia have come to an agreement on the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to a report in the London-based international Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.

The message given to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: Either step down from power, or be sidestepped out of power.

Continue Reading »
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| December 23, 2012
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Prime Minister Netanyahu: Israel is adapting to the dramatic changes in Syria

Netanyahu told his ministers at their weekly cabinet meeting that Israel is cooperating with the U.S. and int’l community ahead of the Assad regime’s upcoming downfall.

By and DPA

 

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel is getting ready for the downfall of President Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria, and the implications this will have for the regime’s chemical weapons cache.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. – Photo by Olivier Fitoussi

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, the prime minister said that Israel “is following dramatic developments in Syria, cooperating with the U.S. and the international community, and taking the necessary steps to prepare for the possibility of radical changes to the regime with all the consequences these may hold for networks of sensitive weapons.” Continue Reading »

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| December 18, 2012
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Syrian Rebels Control Damascus’ Palestinian Refugee Camp

Rebels have taken control of the Yarmouk ‘camp’ which is home to thousands of ‘Palestinian refugees’.

Defectors of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) called to arrest group’s head Ahmed Jibril who fled Yarmouk .

By Elad Benari

 

Syrian rebels have taken full control of the Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus, rebel and Palestinian Authority Arab sources said on Monday.

View of the Syrian capital Damascus

View of the Syrian capital Damascus – AFP/File

The takeover of the camp, which is home to thousands of people who are recognized as “Palestinian refugees,” came after days of heavy fighting which pitted rebels against fighters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Continue Reading »

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| December 11, 2012
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Contrary to Western reports, Israel sees no Syrian chemical weapons threat

Israel’s Diplomatic-Security Bureau chief Amos Gilad says WMD are “still secure, but we need to monitor this”

Remarks come contrary to mainstream media saying weapons have been moved

Propaganda: Syrian rebels post videos alleging Syrian army used chemical munitions to kill civilians.

By Daniel Siryoti, Eli Leon, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Syrian chemical weapons are still under the control of President Bashar al-Assad, contrary to reports saying Damascus could lose such arms in the chaos of civil war, Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry Diplomatic-Security Bureau, said Sunday.

Syrian fighters check a tank they took after storming a military base in Aleppo on Nov.

Continue Reading »
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| December 9, 2012
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Sunday Times reports that Israel has waged ‘secret war’ in tracking Syria WMD

Israeli sources quoted as saying Syria’s WMD munitions cache has been moved to new locations over the past week; The U.S. and its allies are weighing military options to secure Syria’s   biological & chemical weapons, White House officials said last week.

 

 

Israel has embarked on a “secret war” to track down Syria’s chemical and biological weapons, the Sunday Times has reported.

As part of the operation, said the Times, Israel has deployed spotters across the border to monitor the movement of Syria’s non-conventional arms cache.

A satellite image of al-Safir, Syria's main chemical weapons facility, near Aleppo.

A satellite image of al-Safir, Syria’s main chemical weapons facility, near Aleppo.

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| December 6, 2012
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Syrian military arming their chemical weapons

NBC reports that Assad’s forces have ‘loaded chemical weapons into bombs’ and are now awaiting orders to strike rebels with deadly sarin gas-bombs

By Ynet

 

Could Syrian President Bashar Assad be gearing to use chemical weapons on rebel forces? NBC News reported Wednesday that the Syrian military “has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs.”

Archives Photo: AP

Archives – Photo: AP

Citing US intelligence officials, the report said that Assad, who has been fighting to stay in power since March 2011, is prepared to use chemical weapons against his own people.

Syria is believed to have the largest stockpile of non-conventional weapons in the world, and according to the report, Damascus’ military is now awaiting the president’s order to strike rebel forces. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| December 5, 2012
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Syria Fires Mortar that Falls in Golan

IDF reports: The mortar shell fired from Syria fell on the Israeli side of the border fence on the Golan Heights Wednesday afternoon.

By David Lev

 

A mortar shell fired from Syria fell on the Israeli side of the border fence on the Golan Heights Wednesday afternoon, security sources said Wednesday night. The incident occurred near the Tel Azeka IDF post on the Golan. IDF sources said that they did not believe that the shell was fired on purpose, but was a stray shell that was misfired by either government or rebel forces engaged in fierce fighting on the Syrian side of the border. Continue Reading »

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| December 5, 2012
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Double trouble in Syrian: WMDs with jihadis on Israel’s border

Israel may take part in a joint military operation against the weapons of mass destruction, along with the armed forces from the US, Turkey & Jordan

Israeli intel: Assad is only in power due to the Syrian Air Force, but even this power is being eroded as rebels bring down more & more helicopters & fighter-jets.

Foreign jihadis massing along Golan border.

By Yoni Hirsch, Shlomo Cesana, Daniel Siryoti & News Agencies

 

There is growing concern in Israel that the faltering regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will use its stockpiles of chemical weapons as a last resort. According to a report in The Times of London and Maariv, Israel would take part in a joint military effort against the weapons of mass destruction, together with armed forces from the U.S.,

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| December 4, 2012
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U.S. Report: Syria Preparing Chemicals for using Sarin Gas

U.S. official report that Syrian Engineers that are working for Assad are combining the 2 chemical precursors needed to weaponize sarin gas.

By Elad Benari

 

Engineers working for President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in Syria have begun combining the two chemical precursors needed to weaponize sarin gas, an American official with knowledge of the situation told Wired.com’s Danger Room on Monday.

International observers are now more worried than they’ve even been that the Damascus government could use its nerve agent stockpile to slaughter its own people, the report said.

The U.S. doesn’t know why the Syrian military made the move, which began in the middle of last week and is taking place in central Syria, nor are they sure why the Assad government is transferring some weapons to different locations within the country, as the New York Times reported on Monday. Continue Reading »

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