Nadene Goldfoot
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Zibqin in southern Lebanon on Aug. 25, 2024. Photo: Kawnat Haju/AFP via Getty Images
Israel said it hit dozens of targets in Lebanon on Sunday morning local time in a preemptive strike ahead of what Israeli and U.S. intelligence said was expected to be a major missile and drone attack on Israel by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah Hit Israel’s North 1,300 Times in August, Most in One Month Since Oct. 7th.
Syria's state media (SANA) last night reported Israeli airstrikes in northwestern Syria against multiple military sites, including the Scientific Studies and Research Center. Since 2012, Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian civil war has seen it join the Syrian government in its fight against the Syrian opposition, which Hezbollah has described as a Zionist plot and a "Wahhabi-Zionist conspiracy" to destroy its alliance with Bashar al-Assad against Israel. Hezbollah's ally is Iran. Between 2013 and 2015, the organization deployed its militia in both Syria and Iraq to fight or train local militias to fight against the Islamic State. It is in reality, an army, its paramilitary wing became more powerful than the Lebanese Army. Hezbollah has been described as a "state within a state, and sees its enemy as Israel."
SANA (Syria) claimed 14 people were killed and 43 wounded. Other Syrian sources report 5 killed and 19 wounded. Major damage was caused. Arab media is describing this as the largest Israeli attack on Syria in years, involving waves of air and drone strikes. Later it was reported that some of what were believed to be attacks were failed Syrian attempts to intercept Israeli rockets. Some Syrian missiles fell on homes.
The Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), better known by its French name Centre D'Etudes et de Recherches Scientifiques (CERS), is a Syrian government agency that has the goal of advancing and coordinating scientific and military research activities in the country.
Jane's Information Group Intelligence Services and other analysts believe it is responsible for research and development of nuclear, biological, chemical and missile technology and weapons, including ballistic missiles, as well as advanced conventional arms.
The production of chemical weapons became one of SSRC's main projects. News media have reported production plants for sarin, VX and mustard gas near Damascus, Hama, Homs, Aleppo and Latakia. Some or all of the plants were established ostensibly as civilian facilities. Highly secretive military facility in Jamraya was established in the 1980s, when Syria was a Soviet ally.
Western intelligence agencies believe that the Syrian procurement structure for biological and chemical weapons uses SSRC as cover. The center has received the required expertise, technology and materials from Russian sources to produce VX nerve gas.
Later last night, the IDF said, "Overnight, the IAF struck Hezbollah military structures and a launcher in the areas of Kfarkela, Taybeh, Hanine and Yarine, in southern Lebanon. Additionally, yesterday (Sunday), the IAF struck a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Khirbet Selm in southern Lebanon."
Today, Hezbollah launched a wave of drones against northern Israel. One drone hit an apartment on the 14th floor of a building in Nahariya. No casualties were reported.
Resource:
Israel AM.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Scientific_Studies_and_Research_Center
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah
https://www.axios.com/2024/08/25/israel-hezbollah-lebanon-attack
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