Russian Withdrawal of Missile Defenses Enables Israeli Airstrike on Weapons Depot in Syria
Russia’s removal of S-300 missile defense batteries, to be redeployed for its war in Ukraine, facilitated an Israeli airstrike Thursday on a major depot of Iranian-developed missiles in central Syria, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday. The depot, in the city of Masyaf in the central Hama Governorate, contained a stockpile of more than 1,000 midrange surface-to-surface missiles, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Saturday. The airstrike caused the missiles to explode over a period of four to six hours, according to eyewitnesses, injuring 14 civilians in Masyaf. One Syrian military officer was killed during the attack, which was said to be the 21st one launched by Israel against military targets in Syria this year.
