Syria has appealed to the United Nations in outrage over alleged attacks by the Israel Defense Forces against targets near Damascus on Sunday afternoon.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it “requires sanctions to deter Israel,” according to a report broadcast on Israel’s Channel 2 television news.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied reports of the attacks.

Syria alleged the Israeli Air Force bombed targets in and around the Dimas air base and the Damascus international airport, including a warehouse in which advanced Russian-made S-300 missiles were being prepared for transport to bases in Lebanon belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met early Sunday in Beirut with Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah at the end of a two-day visit to Lebanon before heading to Turkey. The two men “discussed political developments in the region,” according to the Lebanon Daily Star newspaper, “with particular focus on Lebanon and Syria.”

Hezbollah has provided strong military support for government troops defending Russia’s ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the start of the three-year Syrian civil war.

Israeli fighter pilots bombed multiple Syrian targets on Sunday, in particular targeting a warehouse where S-300 missiles were being prepared for transport to the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon.

Included were areas in Damascus province, near Damascus International Airport and the Dimas air base, according to Syrian state television.  Footage of some of the bombing can be seen in a clip made available courtesy of the Israel Video Network.

At least ten separate explosions were heard by Damascus residents, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. No casualties were reported.

The IDF did not comment on the attack, in accordance with its policy of not confirming or denying its role in such operations.

National Security Council head Yossi Cohen briefed the Cabinet on the diplomatic and security situation in the region at its regular weekly Sunday morning meeting.

“We are closely monitoring the Middle East and what is happening with open eyes and ears, and a lot is happening,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting. “We will stay informed and we will deal with these threats and challenges, which are not taking a time-out. We will deal with them with the same responsibility that we have up until now,” but he offered no further details while reporters were in the room.

The Syrian Army confirmed to international media that facilities had in fact been damaged and said the strikes indicated Israeli involvement in regional terror. “The Israeli enemy executed strikes on two security installations this afternoon on the outskirts of Damascus near the international airport. This direct aggression was undertaken to aid terrorists in Syria after our forces claimed major victories in A-Zur and Aleppo,” the statement said.

Dimas Airbase was reported to have been used as a weapons storage facility for the Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missiles.

Four Israeli aircraft were allegedly spotted in the area, eyewitnesses told Syrian state-run television. A similar strike on the same target was carried out just over a year ago, apparently for the same reason — to keep Syria from handing over the advanced missiles and other weaponry to Hezbollah.

Israeli artillery struck at Syria in March of this year in response to an attack on an IDF jeep on the Golan Heights that followed several other apparent “overflow” attacks aimed at Israel from Syrian territory. At the time, Netanyahu explained to media that the targets struck by the IDF were those belonging to Syrian elements who assisted in the attack.

“Our policy is very clear. We strike those who strike us,” he said.

The Israel Defense Forces has allegedly taken action to end its persecution of observant soldiers exempted from shaving facial hair for religious reasons.

The IDF announced Tuesday it would change its procedures following the imprisonment of Yaakov Biblau, a soldier from a Chabad-Lubavitch family who refused to shave his beard.

Biblau was serving as a computer and electronics engineer in the air force when he arrived at a new IAF base and was ordered by his commander to shave. Biblau explained that he had a permit to grow the beard, which he had worn since beginning his service and which the military rabbi knew of. His commander was unmoved and revoked the permit. He also prosecuted Biblau for refusing to obey a direct order.

The soldier argued in return that it was not reasonable to force him to remove the beard prior to clarification from higher authorities. He called the hotline of the IDF Chief Rabbinate, which informed him that he had a right not to shave. Regardless, the IAF commander placed Biblau on trial and convicted him of refusal to obey an order. He was sentenced to 10 days in prison.

That same commander has been known to harass other observant soldiers as well, according to Bayit Yehudi MK Moti Yogev, who contacted Chief IDF Rabbi Brig.-GEn. Rafi Peretz about the case. Yogev wrote in his letter that the relevant commander should be reprimanded for his “unwise conduct.” In response, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit replied that “the Air Force procedures have been changed following the incident.”

At present, any officer at lieutenant-general rank and above has the right to reject a soldier’s exemption from shaving, according to a report by the Hebrew-language Yediot Aharonot daily newspaper.

Up to this point, such officers also have had the right to place such soldiers on trial, without first checking to see whether the facial hair is legitimately worn.

From this point on, officers will be able to double-check the authorization of a shaving exemption and the legitimacy of a soldier’s contention he is keeping his beard for religious reasons.

However, no officer will have the right to force a soldier to shave; nor will the soldier be punished before a decision is made by authorized officials.

The government has authorized a change in the laws to expand the draft of hareidi religious Jews. But there are still many adjustments that must be made in order to enable both the secular and observant populations to work together seamlessly. Harassment of observant Jews by secular commanders is not a new phenomenon. The myriad problems involved have long been responsible for many hareidim choosing to avoid military service, rather than having to choose between proper observance of Torah law, or disobeying a frivolous order from an unfair commander.

Israel ranks at the top of the list in a new study published in Business Insider, listing the 15 strongest military forces in the Middle East. Analysts who conducted the study, however, also ranked Israel’s air force Number One in comparison with other air force worldwide.

“The balance of power in the Middle East is in disarray,” stated the article, which saw more than 720,000 hits on the publication’s website in less than 24 hours.

“Every country in the region is building up its own military.”

Israel’s $15 billion defense budget, 176,500 active front line personnel with 3,870 tanks and 680 aircraft placed the Jewish State at the top of the list.

Turkey’s military force was listed in second place.

Military analysts noted that both Jewish and Druze citizens are drafted to serve in the IDF, and that Israel has defended itself against “a diverse range of enemies” since 1948.

“A close defense relationship with the U.S. and an energetic domestic defense industry give Israel a qualitative edge over all of the region’s other militaries,” Business Insider commented.

A major scoring point was the quality of Israel’s air force, which the publication emphasized has incredibly high entry and training standards.

“Pilot to pilot, airframe to airframe, the Israeli air force is the best in the world,” said Chris Harmer, senior naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War and an analyst in the study.

“Israel also has one of the region’s most battle-ready armies, a force that has fought in four major engagements since 2006 and has experience securing a few of the most problematic borders on earth.

“Israel’s military has also never attempted a coup or ruled the country directly, unlike several others on this list,” analysts wrote.

The Hamas terrorist rulers of Gaza were outraged as the IDF attacked two especially valuable targets overnight into Tuesday.

Among the 15 terrorist sites targeted by the IDF were two well-known, multi-use high-rise buildings in Gaza City, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

The two complexes were very large and included dozens of shops and homes, according to local police.

One of the two buildings leveled by the IDF was the 15-floor multi-use Basha Tower, which contained apartments and offices, police said.

The second tower destroyed in the air strikes was the ‘Italian Complex,” a building complex with 60 stores and 72 apartments.

Israeli fighter pilots bombed operatives in Gaza from the Jaish Al-Islam terrorist organization on Monday afternoon.

The air strike, which resulted from a joint Shin Bet – IDF operation, eliminated a terror cell that was planning an attack on Israel in the near future, according to security sources.

The IDF also targeted a concealed rocket launcher placed within a school in the Shujaiyya neighborhood in Gaza City, used to fire missiles at Israel earlier in the day.

Jaish al-Islam, also known as the ‘Army of Islam’ terrorist organization, is called the ‘Tawhid and Jihad Brigades’ as well — the name used by the Doghmush clan in Gaza. The Salafi Muslim terror group appears on the official United States list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Its base is located in the Tzabra neighborhood at the very heart of Gaza, in the center of the region.

The Army of Islam is best known for having led the abduction of former IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006.

The group also kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston in March 2007, and held him hostage until July of that year, when he was handed to rival Hamas officials in exchange for the release of captured Jaish al-Islam spokesman.

Although the group once challenged Hamas for control over the region, Hamas is now working closer together with Jaish al-Islam and is offering financial and other support to the group, Israeli intelligence sources said Monday.

Since midnight, nearly 90 rockets and missiles have been fired at Israel; a total of 823 projectiles have been launched at civilians in the Jewish State since Hamas violated the most recent temporary cease-fire eight hours before it was due to expire.

Initial reports are coming out from Gaza that an IDF strike in Northern Gaza on Sunday took out Mohammed Talat al-Ghoul, who was allegedly the money man for Hamas and responsible for all Hamas money transfers.

Ynet now reports that the strike was done from the air on the car he was driving.

It is believed that the accompanying photo is of the strike.

You can see what remains of a lot of money that was being transported in the car, as firemen try to put out the fire.

(Note: Some sites are writing his name as Mohamed Al-Oul)