On the night of May 9th, Ynetnews, which is the online English-language website of Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s most-widely read newspaper, headlined an “Analysis” article, “A Preemptive Strike in Syria” and opened:
Even if Iran had no intention of launching missiles at Israel on Tuesday, the alleged Israeli strike came along and conveyed the following message to the Iranians: You raised the likelihood of an attack on Israel, so we’re raising the threat level, despite the tensions.
Their reporter said that the issue now would be, “We’re waiting to see what the Iranians will do: Will they continue the preparations for an attack” or stand down?
Also late on May 9th, Russian Television bannered, “Israel Launches Massive Missile Strikes in Syria” and opened:
Syrian air defenses have been deployed to thwart an attack by the Israeli rockets, Syria’s state SANA news agency reported. The bombing is reportedly being carried out by Israeli warplanes from Lebanese airspace. …
SANA has released footage of Syrian air defense systems responding to incoming missiles.
The Israeli strikes are seen as a continued retaliation to what Israel claims were some 20 rockets launched by Iran’s Quds Force from Syrian territory into the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights earlier in the night. The Israel Defense Forces said its Iron Dome systems intercepted some of the projectiles and the reported attack resulted in no injuries.
Also late on May 9th, the New York Times reported that,
A missile strike, apparently by Israel, south of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Tuesday [May 8th], an hour after Mr. Trump’s announcement about the nuclear deal, killed 15 people, at least eight of them Iranians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday.
That strike, on the area of Al Kiswa, targeted facilities for the Syrian military and their Iranian allies. Israeli news media said that one of the targets was a convoy of missiles taken out of storage and heading to a launching site, and that the strike was pre-emptive.
That alleged Israeli “missile strike” against Damascus on Tuesday — which Israel did not deny — could have been the provocation for the alleged retaliation against Israel by Iranians in Syria late on Wednesday May 9th, which could have provoked Israel’s claimed “massive” missiles-retaliation soon thereafter.
The following day, May 10th, the BBC reported that,
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, confirmed that rockets were fired towards the occupied Golan. But it said the attack came after Israeli forces bombarded Baath, a town in the demilitarised zone.
Also on May 10th, the Times of Israel newspaper bannered “Iranian military official denies firing rockets at Israel” and reported that Iran’s Government said it didn’t know anything about any missiles that might have been fired from Syrian territory into any Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights. Presumably if that rocket-firing had actually happened, Iran’s Government would have known about it, but they said they knew nothing about any such thing.
Also on May 10th, CNN reported,
Israel said more than 20 rockets were launched by Iranian forces in Syria in the direction of Israel late Wednesday, often criss-crossing in the clear night skies.
This allegation suggests that, if, as Israel alleged, 20 Iranian rockets were being fired from Syria into the Golan Heights on the night of May 9th, then simultaneously the Syrian anti-missiles were being fired against Israel’s missiles that were attacking Syria. In that scenario, during at least a portion of those exchanges, simultaneously both Syria’s anti-missiles and Israel’s (“Golden Dome”) anti-missiles would have been firing, in opposite directions.
However, as of yet, no evidence has been presented by Israel that any attack from Syria against any Israeli facility on the Golan happened. Israel says that it happened and that this alleged Iranian missiles-hit against an Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights caused Israel’s massive missiles-attack against Syria on May 9th.
So, thus far, that alleged Iranian hit by 20 missiles against Israel on the Golan is a ghost attack, which Israel cites to justify its massive ‘response’ — which no one disputes. Was it instead simply Israel’s unprovoked provocation, Israel’s sudden and unannounced and unjustified missiles-invasion against Syria, late on May 9th? Syria’s Government claims to have fired anti-missiles against the incoming Israeli missiles, but nothing else.
Neither side is yet presenting key evidence regarding which side fired first, and which side was the actual aggressor. Are both sides lying? However, during what seems to have been the beginning of the missile-exchanges, Israel’s leading newspaper did run the headline “A Preemptive Strike in Syria”. “Preemptive” means like George W.Bush’s 20 March 2003 invasion of Iraq was. That Israeli newspaper believes in ‘preemptive’ invasion now, and so did Americans believe in it in 2003.
Today’s Israelis seem to be like Americans were in 2003 — and during America’s invasion of Libya in 2011, and invasion of Syria in 2012-, and invasion of Yemen in 2015.
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