A senior Israeli official has alleged that Iran has been trying to deploy weapons in Syria to target Israel in the northern part, opening a new war front as the conflict with Hamas intensifies in southern Israel.
In response to a post on X which stated, “The Iranian regime is attempting to transport strategic weapons to or through Syria,” Joshua Zarka, the head of strategic affairs for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, affirmed, “They (the Iranians) are”.
On Saturday, Israel allegedly launched an air strike against Syria’s Aleppo Airport. The Syrian government confirmed the attack and said, “The Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, targeting Aleppo International Airport, which led to material damage to the airport and it being out of service.”
Referring to this development, Joel Rayburn, Director of the American Centre for Levant Studies, wrote, “Repeated Israeli strikes to disable Damascus and Aleppo airports are, to my mind, a strong indication that 1) the Iranian regime is trying to move strategic weapons to or via Syria to open a northern front and 2) the Israelis are determined to preempt that.”
The Israeli official re-shared this post, stating that Iranians are engaged in arms transfers. Syria’s Damascus and Aleppo airports are known as transit points for Iranian arms sent to Hezbollah, a powerful Islamist militant group in both Syria and Lebanon.
Hezbollah has launched multiple rocket strikes against northern Israeli posts from Lebanon since the start of the war with Hamas.
The Israeli official’s claims come days after reports suggested that Iran helped Hamas plan the rocket attack on Israel and approved the assault during a meeting in Beirut.
A report by The Wall Street Journal claimed that officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard had worked with Hamas to plan the deadly attack on Israel since August.
