Are Israeli Special Forces In Syria?

Israeli Special Forces Tracking Syria's WMD Stocks: Report -- Global Times/Xinhuanet

Israeli special forces are operating in Syria as spotters to monitor the stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, local media reported Sunday.

The cross-border operation is "part of a secret war" to trail Damascus' non-conventional armaments and "sabotage their development," Ynet News website quoted the Sunday Times as saying.

The report came amidst growing anxieties in the West that a " desperate" Bashar al-Assad, Syrian president, is gearing to use chemical weapons against opposition forces closing in on Damascus.

"For years we've known the exact location of Syria's chemical and biological munitions," an Israeli source told the Times, referring to the Jewish state's spy satellites, reconnaissance aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. "But in the past week we've got signs that munitions have been moved to new locations."

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Update #1: Israeli military units "are in Syria" -- Middle East Monitor
Update #2: Israel special forces in Syria, paper reports -- NOW Lebanon

My Comment: I am sure that Mossad is on the ground in Syria. But Israeli special forces .... hmmmm .... I wonder if these are the right people to conduct such a mission in Syria right now.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Accuses Syria Of Violating Cease-Fire Agreement With Israel

Syria Violating Agreement With Israel, Ban Tells U.N. Security Council -- JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The Syrian government is violating a 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

Syria is deploying military equipment and troops over the cease-fire line on the Golan Heights, Ban said in a report delivered Monday to the Security Council, and the violations could escalate Israel-Syria tensions and jeopardize the agreement.

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Update: UN chief accuses Syria of violating cease-fire agreement with Israel, urges end to all firing -- Washington Post/AP

My Comment: There is a growing consensus in Israel that the border with Syria will soon be “the hottest border in Israel”

Did Israel Ask Jordan For Permission To Cross Their Airspace To Bomb Syrian WMD Sites?

A satellite image of al-Safir, Syria's main chemical weapons facility, near Aleppo. Photo by GlobalSecurity.org

Israel Asked Jordan For Approval To Bomb Syrian WMD Sites -- The Atlantic

Anxiety is increasing about the prospect of a desperate Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons against his rapidly proliferating enemies. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Assad that such chemical weapons use would cross a U.S. red line: "I'm not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people. But suffice to say we are certainly planning to take action."

This new level of anxiety was prompted by reports that Assad's forces have been moving chemical weapons, according to David Sanger and Eric Schmitt in The Times. They report that one American official told them that "the activity we are seeing suggests some potential chemical weapon preparation," though the official "declined to offer more specifics of what those preparations entailed."

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More News On Reports That Israel Asked Jordan For Permission To Cross Their Airspace To Bomb Syrian WMD Sites

Report: Israel requested Jordan's 'permission' to attack Syria chemical weapons sites -- Haaretz
Report: Israel asked Jordan for permission to bomb Syrian WMD sites -- YNet
Israel sought Jordanian permission to destroy chemical weapons sites in Syria -- JC.com

My Comment: I am surprised that Israel asked Jordan for permission .... Israel has a history of not asking any of it's neighbors for permission on military operations.

Is An Israeli - Syrian War Possible?

Israel's Next War May Be With Gaza, But Not Syria -- Reuters

* Israel says Syria's Assad not looking for war
* Mounting Gaza clashes pose more immediate risk of war
* Gaza's Hamas rulers believe Egypt will prevent war

JERUSALEM, Nov 12 (Reuters) - If Israel goes to war with any of its neighbours before this year ends it will be with Gaza not Syria, despite appearances.

The Israeli army fired into Syria on Monday for the second day in a row, after a Syrian mortar round from fighting across the disengagement line hit the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Sunday's Israeli missile was a warning shot. Monday's tankfire scored a direct hit, the army said. There was no immediate word on any casualties. But it was the "message" Israel had warned would come.

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My Comment: The only way that Israel will get itself into a war with Syria is if the Assad regime makes the deliberate attempt to provoke Israel into a war. For the moment .... the Syrian civil war is achieving a certain Israeli national security goal .... mainly the degradation and splintering of the Syrian military into a minor military threat. If the Syrian regime makes the decision to launch attacks against Israel .... it will be perceived (rightly) that the Syrian regime is about to fall, and this is their last gasp at forging some pro-Assad unity in Syria. My prediction .... military skirmishes will continue, but there will be no war between Israel and Syria

Israeli - Syrian Border Clashes Intensifying

Fire and smoke rise after shells exploded in the Syrian village of Bariqa, close to the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria, November 7, 2012. Photo by Reuters

For Second Time In 24 Hours, Fire From Syria Hits Israel -- CNN

(CNN) -- A mortar shell fired from Syria landed Monday in the Golan Heights occupied by Israel, the second time in 24 hours fire originating from the war-torn country has shaken the area. Israel said it returned fire in the direction the shell came from.

The Israeli Defense Forces and Syrian forces hadn't fired at each other in more than 40 years, so while the Israelis reported that there was no damage and no injuries, the latest fire portends how what's happening in Syria could seriously rattle the entire region.

The last time Israel fired on its neighbor across the Golan Heights was during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

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More News On Israeli - Syrian Border Clashes

Israel hits Syrian artillery that filed on Golan -- Reuters
Israel reports 'direct hits' on targets in Syria -- FOX News/AP
Israel Strikes at Syria Again in Response to Mortar Attacks -- New York Times
Israel army strikes source of Golan fire in Syria -- AFP
Israel fires at two Syrian mortar batteries, reports ‘direct hit’ -- RT
Israel hits 'source' of second Syrian shell -- Jerusalem Post
IDF retaliates against Syrian mortar fire -- YNet News
IDF reports 'direct hit' on Syria target, after errant shell lands in Israel -- Haaretz

Syria's Rebels Warn Israel To Not Get Involved

Damage in the Karm al-Gabal area of Aleppo on Sunday. Syrian opposition factions reached an agreement to create a unified umbrella organization after three days of meetings in Doha, Qatar. George Ourfalian/Reuters

Rebels Warn Israel Against Syria Interference -- YNet News

Free Syria Army says Israeli fire in response to Syrian shell hit near northern border was meant to 'aid Assad's criminal regime'.

The Free Syria Army warned Israel on Sunday against interfering in the civil war which has been ravaging Syria since March 2011.

A report by Turkey's Anadolu news Agency quoted a statement issued by the FSA saying that Israel's rocket fire at Syria on Sunday afternoon was aimed to help the Assad regime in his war against opposition forces.

Clashed between Damascus forces and the rebels have been edging closer to the Israeli border for weeks. Several mortar shell fired as part of the clashes have landed on Israeli soil as a result.

Sunday morning saw a 120mm mortar shell hit the eastern Golan Heights, prompting the IDF to return fire for first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

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My Comment: A reminder that animosities between Israel and Syria still run deep on the Syrian side .... even as the Syrians are killing off each other in the thousands.

Israel Fires Warning Shots Into Syria For The First Time Since The 1973 War

Israel Fires Warning Shots At Syria Over Golan Shelling -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Israeli forces fired into Syria on Sunday in what the military called a warning, after stray munitions from fighting between Syrian troops and rebels hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The incident, described by Israel Radio as the first direct engagement of the Syrian military on the Golan since the countries' 1973 war, highlighted international fears that Syria's civil war could ignite wider regional conflict.

An Israeli security source said the military fired in the direction of a Syrian army mortar crew that had launched a shell which overshot the Golan disengagement fence on Sunday, exploding near a Jewish settlement without causing casualties.

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More News On Israel Firing Warning Shots Into Syria After Golan Shelling

Israel fires at Syria after stray mortar strikes army post -- Washington Post
Israel returns fire into Syria in warning over spillover violence -- CNN
Israel Fires Into Syria After Shell Hits Post -- New York Times
Errant Syrian mortar round draws Israeli fire -- CBC/AP

Israel fires warning shots 'after Syria mortar strike' -- BBC
Israel fires warning shots into Syria -- Irish Times
Israeli army fires warning shots into Syria -- L.A. times
IDF fires warning missile at Syria for first time since 1973 -- Haaretz
Israel fires guided missile to warn Syria over shelling -- Reuters
Israeli to Respond to Shelling from Syria - Defense min. -- RIA Novosti
Barak to Syria: We will respond to Golan shelling -- Jerusalem Post/Reuters
UN leader warns of Israel-Syria tensions -- The Australian