JERUSALEM (AP) – In a recent speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that Israeli warplanes successfully intercepted Iranian aircraft last year that were en route to Syria. This interception was crucial in preventing the delivery of troops intended to assist Syrian President Bashar Assad during his final days in power. Assad, a long-standing adversary of Israel, was ousted by insurgents in December of the previous year.
During the address at a conference hosted by the Jewish News Syndicate, a news agency supportive of Israel, Netanyahu outlined the strategic dynamics at play as Iran sought to stabilize its ally Assad's regime. He highlighted that Iran's efforts were particularly pressing after the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group based in Lebanon suffered significant losses in its confrontations with Israel.
Netanyahu asserted, "They had to rescue Assad," further claiming that Iran was prepared to deploy "one or two airborne divisions" to assist the beleaguered Syrian leader. The Israeli Prime Minister emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating that the Israeli military acted decisively to thwart these plans by dispatching F-16 fighter jets to intercept the Iranian planes flying towards Damascus.
According to Netanyahu, the Israeli forces successfully managed to force the Iranian aircraft to turn back before reaching their destination. However, he did not provide additional specifics regarding the operations or the timeline of these interceptions.
In conjunction with the aviation incidents, Netanyahu also touched upon Israel's military tactics during the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah. He noted that in the previous fall, Israel undertook the significant action of detonating hundreds of booby-trapped communication devices used by Hezbollah. This military strategy preceded the assassination of Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, underscoring Israel's aggressive posture towards its adversaries.
Netanyahu explained that the decision to carry out these pager detonations was expedited after Israeli intelligence learned that Hezbollah had become suspicious and had sent some of these devices to Iran for testing. "I said, 'We’ll have to do it right away,'" he recounted, reflecting on the urgency of Israel's response to the threat.
The ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah led to a ceasefire agreement in November, which ultimately concluded more than a year of intense fighting. Despite the cessation of active conflict, Israeli forces continue to maintain a presence in certain regions of southern Lebanon, indicating the persistent tensions in the area.
