Israel Seemingly Ups Campaign Against Iran in Syria

Israel appears to be upping its campaign against Iranian forces and their allies in Syria, perhaps seeing an opportunity as Tehran struggles to contain one of the world’s worst outbreaks of coronavirus and the associated economic fallout. On Monday night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported airstrikes targeting an installation near Aleppo in northern Syria that Western intelligence services claim has been integral to Damascus’ development of chemical weapons. Tehran-linked weapons depots in the area were also reportedly hit. Thereafter, strikes took place on bases in the eastern Deir ez-Zor region, where Iranian-aligned fighters are said to be stationed. Initial reports suggest that more than a dozen soldiers, among them Iranians, were killed in the attacks widely attributed to Israel. The Jewish state has over the past two-plus weeks been accused of conducting numerous operations in Syria, including an alleged rare daytime assault last Friday on a munitions warehouse purportedly belonging to Iranian proxy Hizbullah. Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett recently revealed that the government was entering a new phase in its yearslong effort to curb Iranian interventionism in the region. “Keep your ears open. We’ve gone from a policy of blocking [Iran] to pushing it out [of Syria],” Bennett asserted.