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Israeli Airstrike Hits ‘Iranian Chemical Factory’ | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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An Israeli F-15 I fighter jet takes off during an air show at the graduation ceremony of Israeli air force pilots at the Hatzerim base in the Negev desert, near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on December 26, 2013. Jack Guez/AFP


Ramallah, Beirut- Israeli Minister of Army Avigdor Lieberman hinted on Thursday that Tel Aviv was behind the attack that hit a military site in Hama in central Syria on Thursday, saying that Israel “is determined to prevent enemies from crossing the red lines.”

His comments came amid questions about the position of Moscow, which owns S-400 missiles only 80 kilometers from the site that was targeted on Thursday.

Sources said that the strike hit a factory that produces chemical weapons near Masyaf, which is 80 kilometers from the Hmeimim air base and incudes Iranian trainers.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin indirectly defended the attack by saying after a meeting with German’s Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday that Hezbollah is building “weapons infrastructure” that “will force Israel to react.”

The Israeli attack came in light of a US-Russian agreement on the new situation in Syria. An Israeli source said that the attack send a message to both sides that Israel will not allow any future deal in Syria without guarantying its security and ousting Iran and its militias from Golan.

Amos Yadlin, the former head of Israeli military intelligence, tweeted that “Israel wanted to send a message that the country intends to enforce its red lines when it comes to protecting itself (and) the presence of Russian air defense will not hinder Israeli attacks.”

Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee criticized on Thursday UN’s Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura after he urged the group to be ‘realistic’ and said it had not won the country’s six-year war.

“These statements are, to say the very least, shocking and disappointing,’ said head of the HNC Nasr al-Hariri during a press conference in Istanbul.

Also on Thursday, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Alexei Borodavkin said that de Mistura’s mediation between the government and the opposition should continue in line with UNSC Resolution 2254.