Iran's revenge: Syria and Hizballah join to sink Israeli warships
Heaven soon
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 3, 2010, 8:40 AM (GMT+02:00)
Tehranand its extremist and terrorist allies, having failed to abort
Barack Obama's initiative for direct Israel-Palestinian diplomacy, have
hit back with two belligerent steps. debkafile's
military sources disclose that Syria and the Lebanese Hizballah have
set up a joint military command for sinking Israeli warships, and Hamas
has brought all 13 Palestinian rejectionist organizations under one
roof for a sustained bid to intensify terror operations against Israel.
At a news conference in Gaza early Friday, Sept. 3 - shortly after the
Washington talks were rated positive - a Hamas military arm spokesman
announced the creation of a single command encompassing all 13
Palestinian rejectionist groups operating out of the Gaza Strip and
Damascus for a concerted campaign of terror against Israel.
In answer to a question, Abu Obeida said the new policy of expanded
attacks may well rain missiles on Tel Aviv. "From now on, everything is
open," the Hamas spokesman said.
At that moment, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was on a
flight home from Washington, surrounded by an intense PR effort to
present him as emerging from his first conversation with Palestinian
Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as a super-peacemaker. The Americans,
the Palestinians and his own aides were well aware that the ceremonial
inauguration of the talks had yielded very little after their goals
were sharply pared down. No accord but only a document of general
principles is now expected to come out of the continuation of the
dialogue - once every two weeks in the coming year. This, too, would
oblige Israel to withdraw from large sections of the West Bank. Further
steps were relegated to the distant future.
In the meantime, Syria, Hizballah and the Palestinian terrorist
community are using the very act of diplomacy as the impetus for a
violent response.
Whereas the prime minister's rhetoric in Washington laid heavy emphasis
on the negotiations measuring up to Israel's security needs, in
practice, he refrained from ordering an Israeli reprisal against the
Hamas command centers which ordered two attacks on West Bank roads,
although four Israeli civilians paid with their lives and two more were
injured.
Syria, Hizballah and the Palestinian terrorist commands operating out
of Damascus, Gaza, Beirut and Sidon to took this restraint as a
starting signal for reviving concerted attacks on Israel.
Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah
decided to expand the secret military cooperation pact they recently
concluded - to which no Israeli political or military leader has so far
responded - to the Mediterranean Sea, where their operational and
intelligence assets will together seek out and try and sink Israeli
missile ships and submarines.
To this end, they have earmarked marine units and their Iranian- and
Russian-made shore-to-ship missile force - the largest of its kind in
the world - as well as Syrian assault helicopters flown by crews
trained to strike seaborne targets. The Hizballah marine unit was
trained and equipped by Iranian Revolutionary Guards marine instructors.
The Mediterranean coastal strip from Syrian Latakia in the north,
running through the Lebanese ports of Tripoli, Sidon and Tyre and down
south to the Gaza Strip, have been declared a joint sea front dedicated
to attacking Israeli targets.
High-ranking Israeli military sources told DEBKA file Thursday night
that while it was hard to imagine Syrian or Hizballah managing to hit
Israeli submarines, they are quite capable of fomenting violence on the
sea and attacking Israeli naval craft and bases. Their joint command
means they are sharing intelligence on Israeli naval activity and
monitoring the movements of vessels while still in Israeli territorial
waters and before they take up stations opposite the Lebanese or Syrian
coasts.
Our military sources add that, from the strategic viewpoint, the Washington dialogue and the disproportionate
hype surrounding it were counter-productive in that it led to the
resumption of Hamas terrorist activities on the West Bank and
strengthened the military partnership between Syria and Hizballah for
aggression against Israel. Netanyahu's single-minded focus on diplomacy
at the expense of neglecting rising threats and blocking military
activity allowed these perils to develop and abound.
His restraint did not help Mahmoud Abbas' failing fortunes at home. His
standing took a bad knock from the way Hamas managed to pull off two
terrorist operations on the West Bank. In a desperate bid to show they
were in control, Palestinian security sources reported Thursday night
that two suspects were in custody for Monday's drive-by shooting near
Hebron and they had leads to the perpetrators.
debkafile's
counter-terror sources disclose that the two "suspects" are the used
car salesmen who sold the vehicle the Hamas gunmen used in their
attack. They had no clues to offer about the identities or whereabouts
of the purchasers who have disappeared without a trace.
Netanyahu
is scheduled to continue his talks with Abbas in Sharm el-Sheikh on
Sept. 14-15 - and again at fortnightly intervals during the coming year
under Washington's watchful eye. It is hard to see how they can keep
going in a climate of rising military tensions and expanding terrorist
outbreaks.
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