Media: Israel Prepares to Counter Iranian Missile Attacks from Syrian Territory

Israeli media reported on Sunday, April 16, that the country's military is preparing for Iranian missile attacks on Israel's northern border in retaliation for airstrikes on Iranian military bases in Syria. This report comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated twice on Sunday: "It is better to confront Iran sooner rather than later." In a government meeting and then in discussions with foreign media representatives in Israel, Netanyahu stated that the damage from a confrontation with Iran is currently less than if it is postponed. He added that Iran has recently increased the transfer of missiles to Syria, an action that, according to him, aims solely to "endanger Israel." Israeli media reported that the Israeli army assesses that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is preparing to "settle accounts" with Israel by launching missiles from Syrian territory to avenge the deaths of Iranians in recent attacks attributed to Israel in Syria. The Israeli army's evaluations indicate that Iran is preparing missile attacks on Israeli military targets. According to Israeli television networks, the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard, led by Qassem Soleimani, has recently recruited more forces, especially from among the Shiite militants of Hezbollah, to launch missiles at Israel. Meanwhile, reports indicate that Iran's goal is revenge and not war. However, Israel is also preparing for wartime conditions. Israel previously stated that Iran directly entered into confrontation with Israel on February 10 of last year by sending a combat drone from the Syrian T-4 base in Homs into Israeli airspace. In the attack attributed to Israel on April 9 against T-4, at least seven Iranian military personnel, including the commander of Iran's drone unit, were killed. Several senior Iranian officials, including Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor to the Iranian leader, have threatened that the attack on T-4 "will not go unanswered." "Three official" U.S. officials also told NBC on May 1 that Israeli F-15 fighters attacked Syrian army bases in Hama and Aleppo on the evening of April 29; in that attack, at least 200 newly arrived ground-to-ground missiles from Iran to Syria were likely destroyed, causing a 2.6 magnitude earthquake in Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights emphasized that at least 18 Iranian military personnel were killed in the attacks on Hama and Aleppo. Iran officially remained silent, and only "a military source" without a name told Iranian news agencies: "No Iranians were killed." Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, was the only Islamic Republic official who, during a recent trip to Syria, made a veiled reference to the deaths of Iranian military personnel in the Hama and Aleppo attacks; he said that advisors would take revenge for their comrades "at the appropriate time and opportunity." U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, on May 1, did not rule out the possibility that Iran and Israel could move toward war with each other in Syria, adding that "he knows how this confrontation might begin but cannot guess how long and where it will lead." In this context, how likely is "that war"? Netanyahu: It is better to confront Iran now rather than later. Netanyahu's discussions with leaders of Britain, India, and Australia regarding the JCPOA. Israel invited the intelligence organizations of countries to review Iran's nuclear documents. The emphasis of the U.S. President and Secretary of State on "countering Iran's hostile actions." Israeli media: Satellite images have recorded new movements at the Fordow site. The Pentagon: Iran's continued actions in Syria are a concern. The game-changing role of "proxies"; war against the people in the streets of Iran. The Iranian crisis; the responsibility of the opposition and the potential radicalization of Iranian society. The death of the last Mossad representative in Tehran amid the Iranian crisis. Internet outages in Iran have exceeded 300 hours; reports of "evidence" of the deaths of injured patients under treatment. Accounts from three witnesses about the situation in Isfahan province; "like war-torn areas." The death of the last Mossad representative in Tehran amid the Iranian crisis. Trump emphasized "stopping executions in Iran": we do not know what will happen in the future. Trump announced an agreement to hold a meeting about Greenland in Davos.