Report: Hezbollah officials hit in Israeli strike near Damascus

Ynet, Associated Press ^ | December 26, 2018 | Ynet, Associated Press

[familyop]

As in previous reports of attacks in Syria, this attack is also connected to an Iranian plane. On Tuesday morning, the Boeing 747 of Iranian airline Fars Air Qeshm, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, took off from Tehran International Airport (THR) to Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA). At 5:30pm, the plane took off for Damascus International Airport where it landed shortly after 7:45 pm. The plane was apparently used to transport military equipment to the Syrian army and Hezbollah.

[familyop]

Patrick M. Shanahan
Wikipedia

Over the course of his career, he held management roles with respect to the Boeing Missile Defense Systems, as well as 737, 747, 767, 777, and 787 commercial airline programs.[7]...Deputy Secretary of Defense (2017-present) On March 16, 2017, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Shanahan as the 33rd Deputy Secretary of Defense,...

[familyop]

We build ‘em. Israel shoots ‘em down.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Not a good idea to shoot down a 747 even if it has the cargo.

[BeadCounter]

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1426066/middle-east

Russia is now saying, these strikes threatened two civilian flights. Man, that would be a mess if something happened to one of those.

[familyop]

Boeing Anticipated Iran Agreement Going Bust
Seeking Alpha
Dhierin Bechai
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4171573-boeing-anticipated-iran-agreement-going-bust
May 9, 2018
“Iran Air intended to order 15 Boeing 777 Classic aircraft and 15 Boeing 777X aircraft.”

Iran and Boeing Sign $16.6 Billion Deal on Sale of 80 Aircraft
New York Times
By Thomas Erdbrink
Dec. 11, 2016
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/11/world/middleeast/iran-boeing-airplane-deal.html
“TEHRAN — Iran and Boeing signed a deal for the sale of 80 airplanes on Sunday,...The sale includes 50 twin-jet, narrow-body 737 planes and 30 long-range, wide-body 777 aircraft. The first airplanes are scheduled for delivery in 2018, with the entire order being fulfilled over 10 years.”

[saywhatagain]

Been watching this first reported here. Even I shaking my head at Israel for this. They put a lot of people at risk. Syrians massed in the streets celebrating Christmas. Commercial flights diverted, but in the end . . . . Israel clearly sent a message to many parties.

Video shows Syria intercepted at least 1 missile.

Jerusalem Posts explains how Hezbollah members were on a plane to Iran to attend the funeral of big poobah. With reports of guidance equipment being delivered, plus munitions being targeted, I'd say IDF found the a target rich environment while shoving it up someones ar*e.

Newsweek reported on Wednesday that Hezbollah leaders were targeted in the airstrikes. According to several sources, including the Lebanese website NewLebanon.info, the Hezbollah delegation was journeying to Damascus to board a flight bound for Tehran. They were heading to the funeral for Grand Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, an important Iranian cleric who was head of the Expediency Discernment Council. He passed away on December 24 and senior Iranian religious figures buried him on Wednesday. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei presided at the ceremonies according to Iranian Fars News. It now appears the Hezbollah delegation may have been heading to Damascus to board a flight to Tehran for the important event. Hezbollah and Iranian regime leaders regularly attend each others funerals and ceremonies. For instance IRGC Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani went to the grave of Jihad Mughniyeh in 2015 in Beirut.

RT . . . of course had their say

Israel’s airstrikes on Syria threatened 2 civilian flights landing in Beirut & Damascus – Russia

The Israeli military put two civilian airliners in immediate danger, Igor Konashenkov, the Defense Ministry spokesman, told reporters. “Provocative acts by the Israeli Air Force endangered two passenger jets when six of their F-16s carried out airstrikes on Syria from Lebanese airspace.”

The IDF’s F-16 flew in as civilian jets were landing at Beirut and Damascus airport. The Syrian military didn’t deploy surface-to-air missiles and electronic jamming “to prevent a tragedy” and let Damascus air traffic control divert one of the passenger jets to a reserve airport in Khmeimim.

[familyop]

"Not a good idea to shoot down a 747 even if it has the cargo."

My mistake in cracking that joke. The report did *not* say that Israel shot a plane down. The airstrikes were on some Hezbollah weapons depots and might have also killed some Hezbollah bigwigs and some Syrian soldiers. The strikes were for the purpose of destroying weapons supplies (missiles and other) and/or equipment.

[unread]

"Russia is now saying, these strikes threatened two civilian flights."

I'll wager the Russians are using the term "civilian" loosely, to say the least..

[familyop]

Ruptly is an RT outlet.

Ruptly
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruptly
“Ruptly GmbH is a video news agency specializing in video on demand, based in Berlin, Germany and belonging to the RT (Russia Today) televised news network.”

[Delta 21]

Nice intel sharing #45!

Merry Christmas Hezbollah!!

[Buckeye McFrog]

Russia is now saying, these strikes threatened two civilian flights. Man, that would be a mess if something happened to one of those.

Yeah, well, the Russians would know all about that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007

[VanShuyten]

There are virtually no “civilian” flights from Iran to Syria. They’re almost all military flights delivering weapons or military personnel (Quds Force, Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah, etc). That’s one of the reasons the sale of more Boeing “civilian” jets was cancelled.

Israel’s northern border with Syria and Lebanon is pretty much under the control of Iran in the east and Iran’s puppets in the west, with Russia and Assad providing support.

[sockmonkey]

*** Ruptly is an RT outlet. ***

Well, I will take RT over AP, AFP, and Reuters any day.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks familyop. Nice pics here.

Iranian Target Near Damascus ‘Completely Destroyed by Israeli Strike,’ Satellite Images Reveal
An Israeli security official confirmed to AP that Israel carried out the overnight airstrike in Syria, saying a series of Iranian targets were hit
Yaniv Kubovich
Dec 27, 2018 1:23 PM
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/damage-revealed-satellite-image-shows-site-of-reported-israeli-strike-in-syria-1.6786401

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3715324/posts?page=14#14