Gaza is currently witnessing an intense war between Israel and Hamas, where on October 22, Israeli warplanes attacked some areas of Gaza along with two Syrian airports. Two weeks before this incident, Hamas attacked Israel. This was seen as the biggest attack on Israel since 1948 when the state was founded.
Now, what has confused many is the reason for the attack on Syrian airfields. Why did Israel attack Syrian airports? Before we get into that, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the background of the relationship between Israel and Syria.
Israeli-Syrian relations
So far, Israel has not announced the reasons for the attack on Syrian airports. However, earlier Israel mentioned the need to prevent another rivalry front from moving towards its north. The strikes are believed to be linked to an attack on Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based militant organization backed by Iran. The organization warned of launching an attack front towards the north of Israel. Syria and Lebanon are located to the north of Israel. For the past few weeks, Hezbollah and Israel have been firing at each other, however, Hezbollah is not part of the war.
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Digging deeper into history, Hezbollah was created in 1982. Since its foundation, it has been constantly opposed to Israel and the influence of the West in the area of Western Asia. Along with Iran and Russia, Hezbollah has shown support for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria during the civil war.
Hezbollah is actually a Shiite organization supported by Iran. Iran supplies Hezbollah with millions of dollars in funds, according to United States estimates. Moreover, Hezbollah is also estimated to have thousands of fighters.
When we talk about the relations between Syria and Iran, the former has always supported the latter. Syria considers that the presence of Israel is against the interests of Arabs and Palestinians. The war between Syria and Israel is not something new; the world saw war between the two at the time of the Six Day War in 1967.
Are Hezbollah and Syria allies? That’s hard to say. What both countries have in common is their opposition to Western influence and Israel. However, the two have also had their own set of conflicting interests in the past. After the end of the Lebanese Civil War in 1990, the presence of the Syrian group in Lebanon was something Hezbollah had to accept. Assad, the president of Syria was obliged to accept the Syrian Shiite militias of Iran and Hezbollah in the country.
Returning to the present conflict
Israeli airstrikes hit international airports in Damascus, the capital of Syria next to Aleppo. The effect of the strike was that the runways were so badly damaged that they had to be taken out of service. In addition, one person was killed in the strikes.
Israel has carried out several attacks in Syria since the start of the war. Hezbollah said some of its fighters were killed on Saturday in Lebanon. Sheikh Naim Kassem, the deputy leader of Hezbollah, threatened that if Israel launches a ground offensive in Gaza, it will pay a high price.
Hezbollah previously stated in a statement that it targeted Israeli positions in the Chebaa farms located inside the Golan Heights with a huge number of shells and rockets. He also announced the group’s support for the “Palestinian resistance.”
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Threats
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, told soldiers in Israel that if Hezbollah goes to war against Israel, “it will make the mistake of its life. We will cripple her with a force she cannot even imagine, and the consequences for her and the Lebanese state will be devastating.”
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Source: HIS Education