Israel Accused of Airstrikes in Syria, Leading to Increasing Tension

The Syria conflict, involving many powers including the United States, Russia, Syria, Israel, Turkey and many others, have become increasingly flimsy and complex.

On Monday, Syria and Russia accused Israel of conducting the airstrikes on a Syrian military base, killing 14 people, many of which were fighters from Iran. This accusation has led to increasing tension between the powers involved in the Syria conflict.

Coincidentally, the day before the airstrike, President Trump had tweeted about President Bashar al-Assad of Syria as an “animal” and responded to the chemical attack in Syria by tweeting: “Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by the Syrian army, making it completely inaccessible to the outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad.”

This tweet was responded by President Vladimir V. Putin with rejection and the spokesperson of Russia commented that “Assad is the legitimate president of the Syrian Arab Republic” and that “it’s hardly acceptable to apply that sort of abusive wording to a president.”

Regarding the airstrikes, the United States and France have openly denied their countries being involved in the airstrikes while Israeli military has refused to comment on this issue. The Syria conflict has become increasingly complex and convoluted, involving countries including Iran, Israel, Russia, Turkey and the United States. All of these powers are looking to secure their interests and domination in the Middle East, putting them into one flimsy and fragile relationship.

The Russian military has pointed to two Israeli F-15 warplanes as the conductors of the airstrikes and stated that the planes were sent from Lebanese airspace and five out of the eight missiles fired from the base were shot down by Syria’s air defense systems.

On the other hand, Lebanon’s National News Agency has stated that Israeli surveillance aircraft had been lurking around the country’s border with Syria for the past three days before the airstrike and accused Israeli airplanes of trespassing Lebanese airspace by crossing the Syrian border from the Mediterranean.

In the past seven years of the Syria conflict, Israel has repeatedly sent bombs towards bases in Syria where weapons and other supplies were stored and kept.

The ambivalence of Trump administration also calls into question and uncertainty of what exactly Mr. Trump would do in response to Israeli aggression in Syria. Last year, when a similar attack took place that killed many residing in the village of Khan Sheikhoun in Syria, Mr. Trump responded by stein missile strikes on the Syrian airbase.

In response of the accusations of the chemical attack and airstrikes, the chief rabbi of Israel, Yitzchak Yosef, has commented: “I have said in the past and I will say it again: What is happening in Syria is genocide of women and children in its cruelest form, using weapons of mass destruction.” He also emphasized that “We have a moral obligation not to keep quiet and to try and stop this massacre.”

Many reciprocated this feeling in Israel and declared their innocence in this alleged chemical attack and airstrikes, standing by their moral stances.

Tensions in Syria has risen to a new high, where Syria, Russia, Israel and the United States are all on their toes and hoping to avoid direct conflict with each other while also enforcing their security and power in the region.