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Assad's backing: Putin Israel today

2021-03-16T21:34:27.904Z


| the Middle East The price of a decade of war: Assad's army has lost tens of thousands of fighters, and it depends on pro-Iranian militias and Russia • Investigator: "Israel avoids endangering Russian interests in Syria" • Special project: Part II A battlefield in northern Syria Photo:  IP A decade has passed since the Syrian civil war, and today the Syrian army is relying more than ever on Russia and pro-Ira


The price of a decade of war: Assad's army has lost tens of thousands of fighters, and it depends on pro-Iranian militias and Russia • Investigator: "Israel avoids endangering Russian interests in Syria" • Special project: Part II

  • A battlefield in northern Syria

    Photo: 

    IP

A decade has passed since the Syrian civil war, and today the Syrian army is relying more than ever on Russia and pro-Iranian militias. 



It is estimated that Assad's army has lost tens of thousands of troops.

The collapse of the army forced Moscow to deepen its involvement in 2015 and establish at least two troops under the command, training and advice of Russian officers, and with a combination of local militias loyal to the regime.

At the same time, Hezbollah operatives from Lebanon and pro-Iranian militias took a significant part in the fighting, replacing Syrian fighters at the front.

A study published in 2019 in the "General Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center named after General Meir Amit" counted 1,139 names of Hezbollah operatives killed from the outbreak of the Syrian civil war until 2018. According to the study, about 10% of all killed were commanders and senior officials, and most came from the south. Lebanon.

Brigadier General (Res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior researcher at the "Jerusalem Center for Public and State Affairs" and former head of the research division at the Israel Defense Forces, says that Assad's army is in the process of rehabilitation despite the huge losses.

"All along the way the army relied on Russian force in air operations that changed the reality of this war," explains Brigadier General (Res.) Kuperwasser.

He said, "It relies on both the forces brought by the Iranians and the irregular forces organized by the Syrians themselves and, first and foremost, on Hezbollah. This reality continues today. Hezbollah is also deploying forces in the Golan Heights. Although the army is recovering, it is still not the force leading the campaign. Syria. Its main activity is concentrated in the Idlib region. "

According to foreign reports, the chaos in Syria allows Israel to act against attempts to supply Hezbollah with weapons of mass destruction.

Two months ago, aircraft attacked Assad's forces and positions of pro-Iranian militias in Deir a-Zor in the east of the country.

Opposition media have reported that aircraft attacked Revolutionary Guards positions in Buchmal.

At the same time, last month, the Sana news agency reported an attack on the Syrian Golan Heights and around the international airport in Damascus.

"Israel makes things difficult"

"Israel, in its attacks on Iranian targets, has made it difficult for Iran to transfer weapons to Hezbollah to improve the accuracy of the rockets," explains senior researcher Kuperwasser. "Israel has managed to torpedo much of Iran's efforts to build terrorist infrastructure and bases in Syria.

But all of Israel's achievements are not 100%. "

Cooperwasser notes that Iran has managed to establish bases in Syria and form Hezbollah units in the Golan Heights, but that the equipment of these forces is deficient and their level of activity is low. 

Meanwhile, Israel has managed to reach an understanding with the Assad regime thanks to ties with Russia.

Last month, Israel reached an understanding that a young Israeli woman who had crossed the border into Syria and been transferred to a prison in Damascus would be released.

According to foreign reports, Israel has purchased Sputnik vaccines in the amount of $ 1.2 million, which will be transferred to the regime.

Beyond that, there were increasing reports of searches for the remains of Jewish spy Eli Cohen in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus.

Against this background, the question arises as to whether the attacks attributed to Israel in Syria undermine these efforts, but Kuperwasser denies this possibility.

"Everyone understands that Israel is not acting against the Syrian regime," Kuperwasser concludes, "nor is it doing anything that could endanger Russian interests."

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-03-16

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