Series of deadly strikes blamed on Israel in eastern Syria

An IDF F-16 at Ramon Air Base in the Negev Desert in 2013 (illustrative image).

AFP - JACK GUEZ

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3 min

The balance sheet continued to grow throughout the day.

At least 57 people were now killed in strikes last night in eastern Syria.

This operation was reportedly carried out by the Israeli air force, which has stepped up strikes in this area in recent weeks.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, it would be "the deadliest operation" carried out by Israel in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011.

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Between reprisals for firing into territory under its control and strikes targeting Iranian interests or allies of the Islamic Republic, the operations of the Israeli army in Syria are frequent but rarely commented on.

The same is true this time around, where the Israeli authorities did not react to the events of last night.

But the head of Israel's intelligence agency Mossad was seen in Washington this week with

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

.

And an executive of the intelligence services of the United States, quoted by the American press, recognizes that it is indeed an Israeli operation in consultation with Washington.

Stockpiles of weapons and components used for the nuclear program

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the strikes targeted 18 sites near the towns of Deir Ezzor and Abu Kamal, along the Iraqi border.

According to this US intelligence executive, these were warehouses storing Iranian weapons as well as components serving the Iranian nuclear program.

In two weeks, these are the fourth strikes attributed to Israel.

The intelligence services feared at the start of the year an attempt by Tehran to avenge

the death of Qassem Soleimani

, a senior Iranian officer killed in Baghdad last January.

But the frequency and scale of those strikes also seem to show that Israel and the Trump administration want to deliver a series of punches to Iran before Joe Biden takes office next week.

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  • Israel