Timeline of Israel's Anti-Hizbullah Air Raids in Syria
A reported Israeli air raid on Hizbullah near the Lebanese-Syrian border on Monday evening would be the latest of several aimed at preventing arms transfers to the group, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad:
--2013--
- January 30: The Israeli air force bombards a site of ground-to-air missiles and an adjacent military complex near Damascus suspected of holding chemical agents. Israel says it feared the transfer of weapons to Hizbullah, according to a U.S. official.
The New York Times reports that the raid could have damaged Syria's main research center for biological and chemical weapons.
The Israeli defense minister implicitly confirms the raid and reaffirms that Israel will not allow arms to be transferred from Syria to Hizbullah.
- May 3 and 5: Israel carries out two air raids near Damascus, targeting Iranian weapons destined for Hizbullah, according to a senior Israeli official.
The first raid targets a weapons storage facility at Damascus airport.
The second one targets the Jamraya scientific research center in Damascus, along with a weapons depot and aircraft unit, according to a military source in Beirut.
At least 42 soldiers are killed in the second raid, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog.
Damascus warns it will strike back.
- October 30: Israeli fighter jets hit a military airbase in regime stronghold Latakia in northwest Syria to halt a shipment of surface-to-air missiles to Hizbullah, according to Saudi-owned television channel Al-Arabiya.
A U.S. official confirms "there was an Israeli strike," while the Syrian Observatory says several explosions were heard at the airbase near Latakia on the Mediterranean coast.
--2014--
- February 25: A Lebanese security source says "two Israeli raids hit a Hizbullah target on the border of Lebanon and Syria," without confirming the exact nature of the target.
A Lebanese army source says "the raids most likely took place on Lebanese territory, but we cannot be completely sure because the borders in that area are not well defined."
The Observatory says the target was a "missile base" belonging to Hizbullah.
Source: Agence France Presse
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