Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed Wednesday that air strikes carried out by Israel in Syria the previous night had directly threatened two – unspecified – civilian flights, according to the Interfax news agency.
The ministry also said Syrian air defenses destroyed 14 of 16 Israeli missiles fired against targets near Damascus Tuesday night.
The IDF declined to comment on Russia’s allegations, and on the strikes, Reuters reported.
But both of the Iranian civilian airlines that departed Damascus International Airport a scant few minutes prior to the air strikes Tuesday night have been linked in the recent past with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, and with incidents of transporting weapons to Hezbollah.
Speaking to graduating Israeli pilots at the Hatzerim air force base in southern Israel on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ducked the topic and instead focused again on the presence of Iranian military forces in Syria – and Israel’s intention to act against them.
Netanyahu said Israel is “not prepared to accept the Iranian military entrenchment in Syria which is directed against us. We will act against it vigorously and continuously including during the current period.”
In an oblique reference to Russia, the prime minister said Israel would “not be deterred from doing what is necessary. Therefore, we are called upon and we act.
President Trump’s decision to withdraw the American soldiers from Syria will not change our policy,” he added. “We are standing steadfast on our red lines in Syria and everywhere else.”