Tag Archive for Syrian unrest

| July 22, 2012
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Sunday Telegraph: US tells Israel not to seize Syrian WMDs

US reportedly ‘trying to persuade’ Israel not to attack Syria’s unconventional weapons’ stockpiles

By Yitzhak Benhorin, AP

 

WASHINGTON – Concerns over the fate of Syria‘s unconventional weapons’ stockpiles are growing, as the West is perplexed by conflicting reports regarding their position and security.

Chemical weapons (Archives) Photo: AP

Chemical weapons (Archives)
Photo: AP

Some media reports suggest that Syrian President Bashar Assad has begun moving the stockpiles; others say he may have used them against rebel forces; while others still say that Syria’s cache of chemical weapons – considered the largest in the world – is still under the regime’s tights hold.

Israel is following the situation carefully, as the defense establishment is concerned Syria will try to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah, and in fact, may have already begun to do so. Continue Reading »

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| July 21, 2012
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Israel’s Defense Minister Barak: Israel may have to seize advanced weapons in Syria

Israel’s Defense Minister says IDF prepared for military operation should Syrian government  hand missiles or chemical weapons over to Hezbollah.

By REUTERS

 

Israel is preparing for a possible military intervention in Syria in case the Syrian government hands missiles or chemical weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Friday.

IDF's Givati Brigade excercise - Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office

IDF’s Givati Brigade exercise
Photo: IDF Spokesman’s Office

“I have instructed the military to increase its intelligence preparations and prepare what is needed so that … (if necessary) … we will be able to consider carrying out an operation,” Barak said in an interview on Channel 10 television. Continue Reading »

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| July 19, 2012
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IDF intel chief: ‘Golan Heights turning into terror base like the Sinai,’

Assad has pulled troops out of the Golan to fight the rebels, creating a power vacuum there • Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi warns “The Golan is liable to become an arena of operations against Israel in much the same way the Sinai is today” • Hezbollah’s arsenal six times larger than Lebanon War II of 2006.

By Mati Tuchfeld, the Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Israel Defense Forces Director of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi on Tuesday warned that global jihadists have moved into Syrian territory bordering the Golan Heights and could soon use the area to stage attacks on Israel.

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| July 17, 2012
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Israel advised to brace for Syrian conventional or chemical missile attack

Britain, believe Assad is preparing a campaign of ethnic cleansing at centers of revolt

DEBKAfileSpecial Report

As the already unthinkable pace of slaughter in Syria accelerates further, Western military sources warned Saturday, July 14, that not only Israel, but additional strategic targets in Middle East lands deemed enemies by Bashar Assad should prepare for him to launch surface-to-surface missile attacks. The assaults would start out with conventional warheads, but as the regime continued to be hammered, the beleaguered ruler might well arm the next round of missiles from his huge stockpile of mustard gas – not to mention sarin nerve poison and cyanide. Continue Reading »

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| July 14, 2012
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WSJ Report: US watching Syria move its chemical weapons stockpiles

The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. intelligence shows Syria has started to move some of its sizable arsenal of chemical weapons out of storage facilities• “This could set the precedent of weapons of mass destruction being used under our watch” • Over 200 people massacred yesterday by Syrian government forces, activists say.

By Reuters & the Israel Hayom Staff

 

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials said that Syria has started to move part of its chemical weapons arsenal out of storage facilities, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Archive photo of experts dismantling chemical warheads in Russia in 2006.
Photo credit: AP

The country’s undeclared stockpiles of sarin nerve agent, mustard gas and cyanide have long worried U.S.

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| June 22, 2012
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Golan Heights: Syrian infiltrates Israel

Defense sources say this isn’t first time Syrian citizen tries to breach border; man questioned by security forces

Yoav Zitun

 

 

A Syrian man infiltrated Israelvia the northern Golan Heights and was caught near the border after touching the fence. IDF forces turned him over for questioning with security forces.

Syrian border Photo: George Ginsburg

Syrian border - Photo: George Ginsburg

Sources in the defense establishment said this is not the first time this year that a Syrian citizen tries to infiltrate Israel via the Golan Heights.

Defense officials recently estimated that clashes in Syria could spill over to the border area and conjectured that Syrians may seek refuge in Israel. Continue Reading »

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| June 13, 2012
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‘Hezbollah may move Syrian arms to Lebanon’

Israel expresses concern after reports state Assad may be losing control over military assets, including air defense base.

 

 

Concern is mounting inIsrael over the possibility that Hezbollah will try to move sophisticated weaponry, including Scud missiles, from Syria to Lebanon to protect them in the event of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s downfall.

The concern stems from reports that Assad might be losing control over certain military capabilities including an air defense base which was captured by rebels earlier this week.

 

 

Syria is believed to have allocated a number of Scud D missiles – the most advanced missile in its arsenal – to Hezbollah already in 2010 but they have been stored in bases in Syria.

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| June 9, 2012
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Likud MK: Israeli doctors treating Syrians wounded in uprising

Deputy Minister Ayoob Kara says that Assad regime has used chemical weapons against men, women, and children during its violent suppression of uprising.

By Haaretz

Deputy Minister Ayoob Kara (Likud) said in an interview on Israel Radio on Saturday that Israeli doctors in the Turkey-Syria border area are treating Syrians wounded in the uprising against the Bashar Assad regime.

Likud MK Ayoob Kara Jan. 2, 2012 (Shiran Granot)

Likud MK Ayoob Kara - Photo by Shiran Granot

Kara, a member of Israel’s Druze community, said that Israel is prepared to absorb Syrians wounded in the unrest in that country and also to send doctors to Jordan to treat the wounded. Continue Reading »

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| June 8, 2012
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Report: Assad’s Forces Using Unidentified Gas on Civilians

Syrian opposition claims Assad using toxic material, unidentified gas on Syrian civilians.

Syrian opposition sources claimed on Thursday that aircraft belonging to the Syrian Air Force have dropped toxic material into the province of Daraa, the Al-Jazeera network reported.

Bashar Assad

Bashar Assad - Reuters

According to the report, the unidentified material smells like sulfur and causes drowsiness and unconsciousness.

No further information on these materials was provided, but the report also said that Assad’s forces had used unidentified gas shells on civilians in Daraa, Hama and Deir ez-Zor.

The fact that Syria has a stockpile of unconventional weapons, including chemical weapons, is well-known. Continue Reading »

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| June 7, 2012
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Lebanon: Syrian Army Killed TV Cameraman

Lebanon has charged the Syrian Army with the murder of an Al-Jadeed television journalist

Lebanon has charged the Syrian Army with the murder of an Al-Jadeed television journalist.

Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr on Thursday charged members of the Syrian armed forces in connection with the cameraman’s death on April 9. Charges of attempting to murder the cameraman’s two colleagues, who were with him at the time, have also been filed.

Along the Lebanese-Syrian border

Along the Lebanese-Syrian border - Reuters

The case has been referred to Military Investigative Justice Riyad Abu Ghida.

Ali Sha’aban, 30, was shot and killed while on assignment for the Al-Jadeed television network in the northern area of Wadi Khaled, near the Lebanese border with Syria, according to the Daily Star. Continue Reading »

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| June 7, 2012
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Hama massacre: ‘Is this child an Israel collaborator?’

Amid reports that Assad forces massacred some 100 people in central Syria, video posted on web exposes the horror; meanwhile UN envoy Anan to present new plan for ending crisis

 

International envoy Kofi Annan on Thursday will propose tasking a group of world powers and key regional players including Iran to come up with a strategy to end the 15-month conflict, UN diplomats said.

'Is this a terrorist?'

'Is this a terrorist?'

Annan will present the United Nations with a plan for creating a “contact group” whose final proposal must be acceptable to Syria’s allies Russia and China, which have blocked all UN action, as well as the US and its European allies, who insist that President Bashar Assad must go, they said. Continue Reading »

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