Syria prepared to fire missiles at Tel Aviv

Assad regime puts advanced surface-to-surface Tishreen missiles on standby with orders to hit Tel Aviv should Israel launch another airstrike. Expert: Missiles 'extremely accurate' and can cause 'serious harm'

 Syria has put its most advanced missiles on standby with orders to hit Tel Aviv if Israel launches another strike on its territory, The Sunday Times reported overnight Sunday.

According to the British newspaper, reconnaissance satellites have been monitoring preparations by the Syrian army to deploy surface-to-surface Tishreen missiles.

 

An Israeli official told The New York Times that Israel, which has launchethree recent attacks on Syria, was considering further strikes and warned President Bashar Assad that his government would face "crippling consequences" if he hit back at Israel.

The Sunday Times said the deployment of the Syrian-made Tishreen missiles, each of which can carry a half-ton payload, marks a significant escalation of tension "in a region in which the United States and Russia appear to be preparing for a Cold War-style stand-off."

 

Uzi Rubin, Israel's leading missile expert, told the newspaper that the Tishreen missiles are "extremely accurate and can cause serious harm.

"Even if they don't hit Ben-Gurion (Airport) directly, they would halt all commercial flights out of the country," he said.
An Israeli official told The New York Times last week that Israel, which has reportedly launched three attacks on Syria recently and destroyed advanced anti-aircraft and surface-to-surface missiles that were designated for Hezbollah, was considering additional strikes and warned President Assad that his regime would face "crippling consequences" if he hit back at Israel.
In a rare interview on Saturday, Assad told Argentine newspaper Clarin that Israel was supporting the Syrian opposition, which he dubbed terrorists.
"Israel is directly supporting the terrorist groups in two ways, firstly it gives them logistical support and it also tells them what sites to attack and how to attack them. For example, they attacked a radar station that is part of our anti-aircraft defenses, which can detect any plane coming from overseas, especially from Israel," the Syrian president said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Russia is continuing to arm Assad's regime and has sent a dozen or more warships to patrol waters near its naval base in Syria, a move that American and European officials have called aggressive, saying it was designed to warn the West and Israel not to intervene in the country's civil war.
Also on Friday, the New York Times reported that Russia has transferred to Syria advanced anti-ship cruise missiles, which threaten Israeli Navy vessels and the Jewish states gas fields located up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the coast.

According to the report, Russia has previously provided a version of the missiles, called Yakhonts, to Syria. But those delivered recently are outfitted with an advanced radar that makes them more effective.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow's weapons sales would "not in any way alter the balance of forces in this region or give any advantage in the fight against the opposition."

Iran confirms military aid to Hamas, sending long-range missile technology

Iran has supplied military assistance to Hamas in Gaza, including technology needed to build long-range Fajr-5 rockets used to target Tel Aviv, a military leader from the Islamic republic said.

"Gaza is under siege, so we cannot help them. The Fajr-5 missiles have not been shipped from Iran. Its technology has been transferred and (the missiles are) being produced quickly," the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying by the semiofficial ISNA news agency on Wednesday.

Israel has long accused Iran of supplying Hamas with its Fajr 5 missile, which has been used to target Tel Aviv and Jerusalem since the Israeli Defense Force's (IDF) ongoing military operation in Gaza was launched one week ago.

Iranian lawmaker Ali Larijani said on Wednesday his country was “proud” to defend the people of Palestine and Hamas according to remarks published on the Islamic Republic’s parliamentary website.

Larijani stressed the assistance had been both “financial and military." On Tuesday, Larijani lauded the Palestinian missile capability, saying it had given them a “strategic [source] of power.”

 Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ramadhan Abdallah Shalah also told Al-Jazeera TV on Tuesday: “the weapons that are fighting the Israeli aggression and arrogance in Palestine come mainly from Iran, as the entire world knows. This is no secret. These are either Iranian weapons or weapons financed by Iran.”

On Thursday two Fajr rockets struck on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, marking the first time the metropolitan area had been targeted with missiles since the Gulf War. Two more Fajr-5 missiles launched towards the city were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system on Saturday, while another  pair of rockets exploded on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Two more errant rockets targeting Jerusalem landed in the West Bank on Tuesday. No casualties have been reported from any of the strikes.

The Iranian produced Fajr-5 missile has an approximate range of 75 kilometers, which far exceeds the more mobile Palestinian-made Qassam rockets which came into use following the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2001.

The introduction of long-range missiles into Hamas’ arsenal came as a surprise to the Israeli military, who had initially viewed Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as out of play in the run up to Operation Pillar of Defense.

The IDF was forced to revise infographics enumerating the Hamas rocket threat following the introduction of the Fajr rockets into the conflict. Israel’s Iron Dome system has mostly neutralized this Hamas’ newly acquired threat, however, with the periodic air raid sirens having more of a psychological impact than a material one.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was highly critical of other Muslim states for not standing behind Gaza during the week-long Israeli military operation that has seen at least 140 Palestinians killed following a thousand-plus IDF airstrikes.

"Some of them sufficed with words, and some others did not condemn [Israel],"  the official Islamic Republic News Agency cites  Khamenei as saying.

Israel launches massive airstrikes on Gaza after Tel Aviv bombing

Israeli forces have launched numerous missile attacks on Gaza, killing at least 6 after a bomb struck a bus in Tel Aviv, injuring 16. It is the eighth day of Israel’s ‘Pillar of Defense’ campaign, which has killed over 130 Palestinians so far.

Israeli war jets pummeled Gaza’s Al-Yarmouk football stadium with more than 10 consecutive attacks, Al Jazeera reports. Several casualties were reported following the assault.

The IDF claimed they are striking key Hamas targets, while the Palestinian Authority criticized the attacks for killing civilians.

The escalation of attacks comes off the back of a bomb attack on a Tel Aviv bus that left 16 people injured. Israel’s government called an emergency meeting in response to the first terrorist bombing in the city since 2006.

Israeli authorities have raised security in the area to a level 4 alert and have begun a manhunt for the two suspects.

Hamas spokesperson, Sami Abu Zuhri praised the Tel Aviv bus bombing to the press, but did not say Hamas was behind it. He said that Hamas viewed the explosion as “a natural response to the Israeli massacres…in Gaza.”

"Palestinian factions will resort to all means in order to protect our Palestinian civilians in the absence of a world effort to stop the Israeli aggression," Abu Zuhri said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traveled to Israel and the West Bank in order to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Gaza.

Clinton also met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on her diplomatic trip to the region, where she vowed that US support for Israel is “rock solid,” and that “the rocket attacks from terrorist organizations inside Gaza on Israeli cities and towns must end.”

The US blocked a UN Security Council proposal by Morocco for a ceasefire on Tuesday evening, calling it “unbalanced.” US officials argued that the proposal failed to identify “the root cause of the current escalation,” which they claim is the continuing barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza directed against Israel.

The statement would have been adopted automatically had the US not blocked it. Other members of the Security Council criticized America for blocking the statement, with Russia accusing Washington of attempting to “filibuster” negotiations.

Bus explodes in central Tel Aviv, first terror attack in the city since 2006

Twenty-eight people have been injured in a bus bombing in central Tel Aviv at the corner of of Shaul Hamelech and Henrietta Szold Streets. Police say the blast was a terrorist attack.

IDF Spokesperson Leibovitz confirmed on twitter that the bomb went off near the Israel Defence Ministry’s offices.

Authorities raised security in the area to a level-4 alert. Bystanders were ordered to stay away from the scene as police closed off the nearby Azrieli Center compound, though no additional terror plots are suspected.

Police have been checking all bags in the area, but children are now allowed to go home after initially being ordered to stay inside their schools.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson also confirmed the bombing was a terrorist attack.

The bomb was triggered remotely. Another explosive that did not detonate was reportedly found on the bombed bus.

Police are searching for two people involved in the attack, contradicting previous reports of a single suspect. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the bomber flee the scene, Israeli radio said.

They say they took a man into custody about half an hour after the explosion, but have since released him.

Conflicting accounts of the culprit behind the attack have emerged. The Group of the Martyr Jihad Jibril, a wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades, considered Fatah's military wing, both claimed responsibility, according to media reports.

Hamas “blessed” the attack in Tel Aviv and called it a natural response to the Israeli killing of the Al-Dalou family and other civilians in Gaza, Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV reported.
This bombing is the first one in Tel Aviv since 2006.