Middle East / Levant

Incoming US National Security Adviser John Bolton coordinated over the phone with Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat prior to the attack.

After two Fridays of demonstrations, many in the Arab world are now supporting Israel against Hamas, mostly because those rallies are seen as being initiated and supported by Iran.

Iran warned Israel Wednesday that it would exact retribution for a missile strike on a Syrian air base earlier in the week in which at least seven Iranian military officials were killed.

The two men “discussed the Syrian issue, including in light of the recent missile strikes by the Israeli Air Force on the T-4 airfield in the Homs province."

“I hope the ambassador has chosen his words very carefully because what he’s actually saying is, if the U.S. and allies decide to strike ... they are going to try and sink ships, sink submarines and shoot aircraft out of the sky."

"Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War."

A US Navy battle group led by the USS Harry Truman nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is on its way to the Middle East, with a guided missile cruiser and four naval destroyers.

The Eurocontrol message cautioned airlines to beware air-to-surface as well as cruise missiles which could happen in their paths during the disruption of radio navigation equipment.

“If our alliance with our partners requires it, we will be present.”

“The attack shows clearly that Syria continues to possess lethal chemical weapons capabilities and even to manufacture new ones."

Israel's Transportation Ministry said it would also work to ensure fair competition conditions for El Al.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the strike on the base a “very dangerous development.”

So now the Russians are at least on the record that something bad enough had taken place in Douma to justify their humanitarian intervention.

Arab sources say Israel hit a secret Iranian command and control center in Syria.

The latest absurdity coming out of the UN.

Russia's UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council on Monday that "there was no chemical weapons attack," threatening that a US retaliatory action would have "grave repercussions."

"Hezbollah, Iranian forces and regime forces are located in the T4 Airport which is considered a military base, and the targeting also caused damage to vehicles in the area."

Russia claims Israel hit the Syrian T4 air force base.

Speculation is that it was a US attack in response to Syria's chemical weapon attack against civilians. But Israel could also be involved.

Dozens of Syrian civilians -- most of them women and children, many of whom were in underground shelters -- were killed in what appeared to have been a horrific sarin gas attack in the Eastern Ghouta town of Douma.

"As Jews who have experienced genocide, as Jews whose Torah is a light to the nations, it is our moral obligation to try and stop this murder."

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry has rejected Saturday’s reports on the chemical attack carried out by the Syrian government forces in the town of Douma outside Damascus.

Russia appears to be preparing for a propaganda pushback, blaming the attack on Syrian rebel groups.

Apparently, the crown prince described the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying, “I believe the Iranian supreme leader makes Hitler look good."

"We were very successful against ISIS. But sometimes it’s time to come back home, and we’re thinking about that very seriously, okay?”

Russia's President Putin hosted the first trilateral meeting on Syria in November 2017 at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Three of the buses in one of the convoys carrying the evacuees to their new home never made it to Idlib: six fighters died in the four-vehicle collision.

How is it that the UN, EU, United Kingdom and Turkey can allow such a tragedy to pass without comment?

“We will not give up the right of return. Gaza has surprised Israel with something new – and we have more surprises.”

One wonders how much spare time a tunnel digger actually has these days. Perhaps he has more than we realize.