Tensions build at Jerusalem shrine after Syria rocket fire, Israeli retaliation
PBS NewsHourNov 26, 2022
The Facts
Syria's state-affiliated media outlet SANA reported early on Wednesday that Israel launched an air attack against the country’s capital Damascus, leaving one Syrian soldier with “serious injuries" and resulting in "some material damage.”
SANA reported that the strikes occurred at around 1:05 a.m. local time and came from the direction of the Golan Heights, hitting targets in southwest Damascus, adding that Syrian air defense systems intercepted some of the missiles, but this wasn't independently verified.
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
Israel has been conducting airstrikes against suspected Iranian weapons transfers and personnel and its proxies in Syria for almost a decade. Though the strikes are part of a low-intensity conflict to slow Iran's growing entrenchment in Syria, the West has seemingly dropped its previous plan of diplomacy to allow Israel and other allies to instead use military force to settle its grievances with Tehran. This risky strategy underestimates the magnitude and repercussions of a military escalation.
Pro-establishment narrative
Syria is a conflict zone with many actors, all of which can cause this "shadow war" to go hot, and Iran — with its coordinated effort with Russia, which controls much of the Syrian airspace — risks pushing it over the edge. Israel has been clear that it will not permit Iran to freely move weapons and fighters through Syria if such activities threaten Israeli security, and it is right to target Iranian assets in any of the countries into which Tehran has dug its tentacles.
