Israel claimed responsibility for a recent airstrike on a convoy that had entered Syria from Iraq, according to al-Araby al-Jadeed.
The chief of Israel’s armed forces on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a recent airstrike on a convoy that had entered Syria from Iraq, claiming the target was a truck carrying weaponry.
Though he did not give a date for the event, describing it only as having taken place “several weeks ago”, Lieutenant-General Aviv Kohavi appeared to be alluding to an 8th November attack that Iraqi officials at the time said destroyed two fuel trucks.
Were it not for Israeli intelligence, Kohavi told a conference hosted by Reichman University, “we might not have known that among the 25 trucks [in the convoy], that was the truck – truck number eight – that was the truck with the arms”.
“There too, the pilots had to be sent. They had to know how to evade the ground-to-air missiles,” he added, hinting that piloted jets were used for the distant mission. Iraqi officials had described the 8 November strike as the work of a drone.
For almost a decade, Israel has been carrying out airstrikes against suspected Iranian-sponsored weapons transfers and personnel deployments next door in Syria.
Israeli officials have rarely acknowledged responsibility for specific operations.
A regional official aligned with Iran said two Syrian nationals were killed in the 8 November airstrike.
Officials at the Iraq-Syria border were unaware of any Iranian casualties.