Israel admits bombing Syria 'nuclear site' in 2007
March 21, 2018
Israel has confirmed it carried out a 2007 attack on a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria. It is unclear why Israel admitted the airstrike more a decade after the fact, but it might be sending a message to Iran.
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The Israeli military formally confirmed for the first time on Wednesday it carried out a 2007 air raid on a suspected nuclear reactor deep inside Syria.
Israel was widely believed to have been behind the September 6, 2007 attack, but had never admitted it and censored media reports.
Eight fighter jets flew at low altitude on the secret mission against the suspected plutonium nuclear reactor in the Deir el-Zour region of eastern Syria, the military said.
"On the night between September 5th-6th, 2007, Israeli Air Force fighter jets successfully struck and destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor in development," the Israeli statement said. "The reactor was close to being completed. The operation successfully removed an emerging existential threat to Israel and to the entire region — Syrian nuclear capabilities.”
Syria is believed to have received help from North Korea in developing the reactor. Damascus has never admitted to developing a nuclear facility and was silent following the Israeli attack, saying only that its airspace had been violated.
Syria's civil war erupted out of the Arab Spring protests that swept much of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The conflict has since drawn in multiple warring factions from around the world.
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War with no end
Syria has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since 2011 after Syrian President Bashar Assad lost control over large parts of the country to multiple revolutionary groups. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and brought misery and death to Syrians.
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The dictator
Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is fighting to restore the president's rule over the entire country. The SAA has been fighting alongside a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force and has cooperated with military advisors from Russia and Iran, which back Assad.
Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, who Ankara says are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting in Turkey. Turkey has launched multiple military offensives targeting Kurdish militias.
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The eastern guardian
The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to Assad. Russian air power and ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fire from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes. However, Russia's intervention turned the tide in war in favor of Assad.
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The western allies
A US-led coalition of more than 50 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014. The anti-IS coalition has dealt major setbacks to the militant group. The US has more than a thousand special forces in the country backing the Syrian Democratic Forces.
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The rebels
The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to hardline militant groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.
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The resistance
Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists has become its own conflict. The US-led coalition against the "Islamic State" has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. The Kurdish YPG militia is the main component of the SDF. The Kurds have had a tacit understanding with Assad.
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The new jihadists
"Islamic State" (IS) took advantage of regional chaos to capture vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its fundamentalist brand of Islam and its mass atrocities. IS is on the brink of defeat after the US and Russia led separate military campaigns against the militant group.
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The old jihadists
IS is not the only terrorist group that has ravaged Syria. A number of jihadist militant groups are fighting in the conflict, warring against various rebel factions and the Assad regime. One of the main jihadist factions is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which controls most of Idlib province and has ties with al-Qaeda.
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The Persian shadow
Iran has supported Syria, its only Arab ally, for decades. Eager to maintain its ally, Tehran has provided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training and ground troops when the conflict emerged in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah also supports the Assad regime, fighting alongside Iranian forces and paramilitary groups in the country.
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Concern of war
According to documents released, Israeli officials kept quiet about the attack out of concern that Syria would retaliate and cause a war.
"As the IDF was preparing for retaliation, it decided that information about the operation shouldn't be disclosed to the general public at the time," the military said.
In 2008, US officials claimed Syria tried to develop a secret nuclear reactor that was bombed by Israel. In 2011, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was "very likely" that the site was a nuclear reactor.
It is unclear why the Israeli military decided to confirm the attack now. It may be because former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who ordered the strike, has a memoir coming out soon.
The admission may also be a message to Iran, which has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's ongoing war. Israel is concerned Iran is positioning itself to establish permanent bases and missile factories that threaten the Jewish state.
Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes on targets in Syria during the war, mostly on suspected arms shipments to the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. Iran is the main backer of Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside the Assad regime.
The daring 2007 military operation was reminiscent of an Israeli attack on a nuclear site in Iraq in 1981.
"The message from the 2007 attack on the reactor is that Israel will not tolerate construction that can pose an existential threat," military chief Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot said in a statement. "This was the message in 1981, this is the message in 2007 and this is the future message to our enemies."
In hindsight, the Israeli military said destroying the nuclear reactor may have also prevented the "Islamic State" terrorist group from acquiring nuclear material when it overran parts of Deir el-Zour during the war in Syria.
"One can only imagine how much havoc they could have wreaked with a nuclear facility in their hands," the military said.
