Israel destroys convoy of Russia weapons in Syria headed to Hezbollah, Iran upset

Israel bombed a suspected shipment of antiaircraft missiles in Syria on Wednesday, according to regional and U.S. officials, in its most ambitious strike inside its neighbor’s territory in nearly two chaotic years of civil war there.

photo Ron Almo

The early-morning strike in a border area west of Damascus targeted a convoy of trucks carrying Russian-made SA-17 missiles to Hezbollah.

Israeli officials declined to comment on the report, and to a Syrian allegation that Israel had bombed a Syrian military facility.

“An attack of any kind is a major escalation,” said Timor Goksel, an expert on Hezbollah and a professor at American University in Beirut. “Why would Israel do this out of the blue?”

The answer, according to several Western officials and security analysts, is that Israel took a calculated risk that Syria’s government, strained by its own internal war, would choose not to retaliate.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali said Thursday that Damascus “has the option and the capacity to surprise in retaliation.”

Abdul-Karim Ali said he could not predict when Damascus would retaliate, but told Hezbollah’s al-Ahd news website that it was up to the relevant authorities to prepare the retaliation and choose the time and place.

In Iran, the country’s deputy foreign minister said on Press TV that the “strike on Syria will have serious consequences for Tel Aviv,” but did not elaborate, according to the Jerusalem Post.