Military Watch: Israel, Türkiye and US escalate their attacks on Syria
Following the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the outbreak of open hostilities between Tel Aviv and the Hamas group, the Israeli Air Force quickly began striking targets in neighboring Syria and Lebanon due to the possibility of interference by the Lebanese Hezbollah. The attacks were seen as preemptive measures aimed at weakening adversaries' ability to go to war, Military Watch wrote Oct. 30.
The publication notes that the targets of the Israeli Air Force were the airports of Damascus and Aleppo, as well as infrastructure throughout the Syrian Arab Republic. Moreover, some attacks were carried out after rocket and artillery attacks on Israeli territory by militias based on Syrian soil.
The Syrian Arab Army's inability to quell Western- and Turkish-backed Islamist insurgencies in the 2010s contributed to a growing reliance on allied militia groups, many of them armed and trained by Iran and closely linked to Hezbollah, for security, allowing them to gain a foothold in Syria
- specified in the material.
In parallel with Israel, the two NATO members with the largest military presence in the Middle East - the United States and Turkey - are simultaneously responsible for the escalation of attacks on Syria over the past three weeks. Since 2016, the United States has frequently clashed with the SAA and militias supporting the Syrian government. Moreover, the United States has occupied large territories in northeast Syria and is extracting oil there to finance its military presence, which is strongly criticized in the international arena. Given that Washington has taken the side of Tel Aviv in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, American military installations are also being attacked in Syria and Iraq.
US air strikes on October 26 were aimed specifically at militia forces in the Syrian Arab Republic, which were associated not only with the Syrian government, but also with Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. F-15s and a pair of F-16s used precision-guided munitions to neutralize a weapons and ammunition depot at Abu Kamal near the border between Syria and Iraq. The US has consistently said Iran is the main force behind Hamas's fighting capabilities and militias that have been targeting US bases in Syria and Iraq.
- emphasized in the article.
At the same time, jihadist groups, heavily funded, armed and operating under the protection of the Turkish army in the north-west of the Syrian Arab Republic, began escalating attacks on Syrian populated areas shortly after hostilities broke out between Israel and Hamas. Moreover, Turkish special forces have been in the ranks of jihadists for over 10 years as a means of further strengthening the groups' capabilities and improving coordination with Turkish military units.
Thus, their operations consistently align with Turkish and broader NATO interests, including not only in their campaign against Syria, Iran and their allies, but also in specific attacks on key Russian military installations in the Syrian Arab Republic that host strategic assets threatening the security of the Western bloc. The risks associated with a direct attack on Syrian and Russian forces have made the use of jihadist proxies a key means for Turkey to achieve its goals in this theater of war.
- summed up the media.
Information