Syrian minister threatens response to Israeli strikes

Date: 

Tuesday, June 24, 2014
06/24/2014 

Defense Minister Ya'alon: Any violation of our sovereignty will be met with harsh response.

 

An Israeli tank is seen on the Golan Heights. Photo: REUTERS

Syrian Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar reportedly vowed that the Assad regime would respond to IDF strikes on Syrian military targets.

Haidar told the Nazareth-based Sonara news website that the "ceasefire [with Israel] is broken, and we've entered a state of confrontation with Israel." He threatened a Syrian response "that will have a bigger influence than the Israeli operation, and it will come at the appropriate time and place."

The IDF struck nine Syrian military targets late Sunday, killing four soldiers and injuring nine, in response to a cross-borderanti-tank missile strike from Syria earlier that day, which killed a 13-year-old Israeli boy.

"There is no doubt" that Syrian soldiers fired the anti-tank missile into Israel," Defense Minister Ya'alon said Tuesday, during a visit to the IDF's Galilee Formation (91st Division), which secures part of the border with Lebanon.

"It's completely clear that the Syrian army is responsible for this.

Hence, the responsibility is on the regime of Basher Assad, and that's why we responded as we did. As we've said from the start, any violation of our sovereignty in the Golan Heights will be answered with a harsh response against Basher Al-Assad's forces. That's what happened, and that's what we will continue to do in the future," Ya'alon said.

The defense minister also visited Har Dov, near the Lebanese and Syrian borders.

He noted the quiet border with Lebanon, despite Hezbollah's massive rocket arsenal, adding that the Northern Command and its units are ready for "any situation." Ya'alon attributed the ongoing quiet on the Lebanese frontier to Israeli deterrence.