Syrian Human Rights Watch Reports Israeli Missile Attack on T4 Base

While the Syrian government claims to have "repelled" a missile attack on the T4 military base in Homs province, the Syrian Human Rights Watch reported that during the "Israeli attack" on this airbase, Iranian forces and their allied militias were targeted. This attack occurred on Sunday evening, July 17, and the T4 base, also known as Al-Tiyas, located near the city of Palmyra in Homs province, was hit by several missiles. The Syrian state news agency, SANA, reported on Sunday evening, citing a military official, that the air defense managed to intercept several missiles and also damaged an "Israeli aircraft." According to this military official, the Syrian air defense "prevented the mission" of this attack and "repelled" it, forcing the aircraft to leave Syrian airspace. On the other hand, Rami Abdulrahman, the director of the Syrian Human Rights Watch, confirmed the impact of several missiles on the T4 airbase and its surroundings, reporting an "unknown number" of Iranian and allied military casualties. Al Jazeera news network also reported that 4 to 6 missiles struck the T4 base area, causing "material damage." However, Israel remained silent on this incident, and according to Reuters, an Israeli army spokesman stated on Sunday evening that the country does not respond to foreign reports. Additionally, according to Hebrew state radio in Tel Aviv, Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's defense minister, expressed "ignorance" about the attack on Monday, stating that he read about it in the newspapers. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, reiterated early Sunday that his country does not tolerate Iranian military presence in any part of Syria, "whether near the border with Israel or further away in Syria." According to Israeli media, Mr. Netanyahu stated in his cabinet meeting that he would travel to Moscow this week to reiterate his firm request regarding this matter to Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia. This trip by Benjamin Netanyahu to Russia, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, will be his tenth meeting with Vladimir Putin focused on Iran in recent times. The T4 base was also targeted about five months ago, on February 10 of last year, when Israel accepted responsibility for the attack, stating that it was carried out after an "armed explosive" drone from this base infiltrated Israeli airspace. About two months later, on April 9 of this year, the base was again targeted by missile attacks, which Syria, Iran, and Russia attributed to Israel. American officials also confirmed that Israel was responsible for that attack. The Syrian Human Rights Watch reported after the April attack that at least 14 people, including several "Iranian military advisors," were killed in that attack. Iranian media also reported the deaths of 7 Iranian soldiers, including Colonel Pasdar Mehdi Dehghan, a member of the IRGC Aerospace Force's drone unit. Some senior Iranian officials later implicitly confirmed the deaths of several of their "advisors" in that attack. In addition to the Israeli Prime Minister's meeting with the Russian President, which is set to take place in two days regarding Iran's presence in Syria, the Israeli website "Walla News" also reported on Sunday that Yossi Cohen, the head of Mossad, had recently traveled to Washington to emphasize Israel's position on future agreements regarding Syria. According to this report, the head of Mossad's trip to Washington came ahead of the meeting of the leaders of the United States and Russia. The meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is scheduled to take place next week in Finland. Over the past year, Israel has repeatedly emphasized the need for Iranian forces and their allied militias to leave Syria. However, Iran considers its military presence in Syria to be based on the permission of the Syrian government and "advisory". Hossein Amirabdollahian, the special assistant to the Iranian Parliament Speaker for international affairs, stated on Sunday that Iran will remain in Syria. The Islamic Republic of Iran has been one of the two key supporters of Bashar al-Assad's government throughout more than seven years of the Syrian war and has sent military forces to that country.