Syria Repels Israeli Attack Amidst Rising Tensions in Idlib, as Propaganda War Heats Up Ahead of Idlib Offensive

Syrian Air Defense Forces (SADF) intercepted at least 5 missiles in the most recent Israeli airstrikes launched against Syria on Tuesday

(Photo: SANA)

From SANA:

A military source said on Tuesday that the army air defenses intercepted an Israeli aggression with warplanes that infiltrated on a low altitude from west of Beirut into the north targeting a number of military sites in tartous and Hama.

The source added that the army air defenses downed a number of the hostile missiles and forced the attacking warplanes to flee.

According to the directors of the hospitals which received the casualties, there was one Syrian killed and 12 more wounded in the Israeli airstrikes. According to a SANA reporter, 5 Israeli missiles were downed by the SADF. According to South Front, reports state that the SADF also engaged Israeli fighter jets but no hits were achieved.

It is not surprising that Israel has engaged in yet another unprovoked act of aggression against Syria, with the last such attack occurring in July, when Israeli missiles downed a Syrian warplane actively targeting Daesh (ISIS) terrorists near the border of the Golan Heights, killing the pilot; a cause of celebration for the small pocket of ISIS fighters who were shortly thereafter defeated.

This latest Israeli aggression follows comments made by Israel's Defense Minister on Monday, that Israel is ready to strike Iranian targets anywhere in the Middle East, not just inside Syria. Israel has continually cited the Iranian presence in Syria as a pretext for carrying out attacks against Syrian Army targets including airbases and ammunition depots, where Israel claims the presence of Iranian forces is used as a cover for Iran to attempt to carry out drone attacks against Israel, and manufacture missiles intended to strike Israel.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military also announced that it has carried out over 200 strikes on 'Iranian targets' in Syria over the past two years, quite a large number for a country not officially at war with Syria.

This latest attack comes as the situation in Idlib is escalating ahead of a planned military offensive by the Syrian/Iranian/Russian alliance to liberate the province from terrorist control. And, as numerous commentators as well as Russian and Syrian officials have pointed out, any attack on Syrian government targets or her allies in the country only helps to strengthen the al-Qaeda terrorists currently occupying Idlib. Israeli officials have yet to comment on the attack, which is also pretty typical in these types of situations.

Syrian War Report - September 5th - from @SouthFront:

Escalation in Idlib

At the same time, Russian and Syrian airstrikes have been pounding Idlib on Tuesday ahead of the anticipated ground offensive. Pro-government sources claim the airstrikes are targeting Jihadi militants in western and southern Idlib Province, while pro-militant sources have been spreading reports that the attacks are targeting civilians. This is unsurprising as Western governments, MSM, and other pro-militant sources and terrorist sympathizers have already been producing and spreading very much pro-terrorist, anti-Syrian war propaganda ahead of the coming battle to liberate Idlib from terrorist occupation.

Russian warships and fighter jets are also currently engaged in a large military exercise of ongoing war games off the coast of Syria, while Turkey who has a vested interest in preventing the liberation of Idlib has recently sent a few more of its own warships to the region, where a US strike group is reportedly also already present.

According to the AP,

Syrian opposition fighters blew up bridges Friday and dug trenches around their bases to impede an anticipated ground offensive on their last major stronghold in the country. They also called on residents to take up arms and support front-line fighters.

Western Propaganda

The AP author fails to mention that by blowing up bridges, the fighters are also hindering the escape of civilians from the war zone. They fail to mention that by calling on residents to take up arms and support front-line fighters, the fighters are exhorting the residents to put themselves at great risk of death or serious injury on the front-line where the violence will be the worst, not exactly putting the best interests of the civilians first. They also fail to mention that the terrorist fighters may in fact be threatening residents to take up arms, and that by asking civilians to do so, they are asking them to take up arms against the very forces coming to liberate them from brutal terrorist occupation in Idlib.

Articles such as this one from the AP attempt to paint the Jihadi fighters occupying Idlib in the nicest light, referring to them as "opposition fighters" and "rebels" as opposed to terrorists, despite the militant group in control of the province (HTS/al-Nusra/al-Qaeda) being officially recognized as a terrorist group by the US, UN, Russia, and now even Turkey. The recent western and other anti-Syrian propaganda focuses on the potential for large civilian casualties caused by Russia and Syria in an upcoming offensive, but ignores the violence, slaughter and war crimes the terrorists have committed against civilians in areas under their control in the past, including using kidnapped civilians as human shields when they are under heavy attack.

Both sides are preparing for the coming battle, and as these preparations escalate, so does the accompanying propaganda war.

Another great example of this biased western propaganda is a recent New York Times article, which RT did an excellent job of deconstructing, and I highly recommend checking it out:

(Click on headline/picture to visit RT article)

The common theme with all the anti-Syrian propaganda coming out recently is that any Syrian/Russian offensive will likely result in massive civilian casualties - "hundreds of thousands," as a Trump Tweet from Monday put it.

The most commonly repeated narrative used in anti-Syrian propaganda has to be that President Assad is an evil dictator who habitually gasses his own people - it is the standard fallback line when all else fails - so it is no surprise that the US has recently been warning that Syrian forces backed by the Russians may potentially carry out chemical attacks against civilians in Idlib, and Trump dropping mention of it in this latest warning is quite telling.

Last week the US warned of military strikes on Syria "if" government forces use chemical weapons (CW). This week, Trump comes clean by dropping any mention of a CW pretext – simply warning Syria not to attack terrorists. - RT

Trump is not the first to do so, as this follows a recent series of similar statements, revealing the obvious US support of terrorists in Syria, and indicating that the US is likely preparing to launch an attack against Syria in response to any offensive against Idlib, regardless of whether or not there are any chemical attack allegations.

With this recent narrative shift, accusations of the Russians and Syrians intentionally targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure has become a major talking point for western leaders and news outlets. What isn't typically mentioned by these anti-Syrian voices is everything the Russians and Syrians are doing in an attempt to negotiate a peaceful solution before committing to a full-scale military offensive, everything they are doing in preparation of the offensive to minimize civilian casualties, and everything the terrorists in Idlib are doing to hinder all of these humanitarian processes.

War is ugly, and awful, and deadly, and civilian casualties are practically unavoidable, particularly in urban warfare such as the case will be in Idlib. However steps can be taken to minimize civilian casualties. Ideally, all the civilians who wish to could be evacuated from Idlib before any large-scale offensive, and the more 'moderate' militants would reconcile with Damascus, leaving only al-Nusra and the most radical terrorists and their sympathizers to be annihilated in the coming military assault on Idlib. The terrorists have actually been doing everything in their power to make sure these goals cannot be accomplished.

Russia and Syria have in fact been attempting for weeks to initiate a reconciliation process for the militants, but the al-Nusra terrorists (HTS) who are in control refuse to talk, and have threatened to kill the leaders of any militant group willing to engage in talks with Damascus. The terrorists in Idlib do not want peace, have no intention of reconciling with Damascus, and are intent on a violent and bloody battle in Idlib. As a foreign Jihadi fighter in Idlib is recently quoted by the NYT as saying, "we came to fight Jihad, not to have truces and to kneel before the Turks." And as an interview with foreign Jihadists in Idlib several weeks ago indicates, "to kneel before the Turks" simply means to flee to the Turkish border to escape the onslaught, which is exactly what they say they will be forced to do if they begin to be defeated in the coming battle for Idlib, which they surely will be.

The Russians and Syrians have also opened up a corridor for civilians to flee the province, but the terrorists are reportedly kidnapping those who attempt to flee, and have already kidnapped hundreds of civilians including dozens of children in the past several weeks - according to Idlib residents not quoted by western media. In the past, Jihadi terrorists in Syria have not only used civilians as human shields, but have even forced them to make certain statements, such as having them beg the SAA to stop the bombing of the terrorist occupied territory, even if they may yearn for liberation by Damascus. It is therefore hard to trust the 'civilian' voices coming out of Idlib via western media, as these residents could very well be either speaking under duress or family members of the Jihadi fighters.

Regardless, it is clearly the terrorists who are intent on forcing a violent battle for Idlib, not the Russians or Syrians, and by doing so they are making themselves largely responsible for any civilians killed in the upcoming offensive. Ironically at the same time, the forces acting in the interest of the terrorists - US/UK/Turkey - are decrying military action and demanding a political solution - a political solution the terrorists have made clear they aren't at all interested in. This will no doubt create a pretext for western foreign intervention when the military offensive begins, however, despite the absolute absurdity of the narrative.

For more discussion on the coming battle for Idlib, see the RT video below: