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https://simpleflying.com/airbus-a320-al ... y-landing/
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https://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-sa ... a-strikes/
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https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/isr ... -1.8504568
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https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conf ... ane-616827
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According to the spokesman, after 2 A.M.,
four Israeli F-16 fighter jets launched eight air-to-ground missiles in the suburbs of Damascus
without entering Syrian airspace, RIA reported.The aircraft involved was a 27 year old Cham Wings Airlines Airbus A320, registered YK-BAB,
which was performing flight 6Q514 from Najaf with 172 passengers on board.
According to The Washington Post,
Russian Air Force spokesman Igor Konashenkov said
an Israeli F-16 fighter aircraft fired eight missiles at targets near Damascus, as early as Thursday, prompting Syria to retaliate.
He added that the Airbus A320 narrowly avoided being hit by the anti-aircraft fire.
Following the launch of the anti-aircraft equipment,
the Cham Wings A320 terminated its approach and made an emergency landing at nearby Russian-controlled Khmeimim air base.
According to SANA, the Israeli strikes targeted the al-Kiswah district
— an area outside of Damascus that Israel has acknowledged striking in the past
due to its use as an Iranian base of operations —
as well as Marj al-Sultan and Jisr Baghdad.
In total, at least three government and Iranian positions near Damascus and west of the capital were targeted,
according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR),
which said a fire broke out in one of the areas.
IDF Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman said he was aware of the “foreign reports” about airstrikes in Syria
but declined to comment on the matter in accordance with longstanding Israeli policy.
Israel has long maintained that it will not tolerate efforts by Iran
— a major ally of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad —
to establish a permanent military presence in Syria
and would take steps to thwart such entrenchment.
Israel accuses Iran of seeking to set up a military presence in Syria
that could be used as a launchpad for attacks against the Jewish state.
Jerusalem has also vowed to retaliate for any attacks on Israel from Syria.
Though Israeli officials generally refrain from taking responsibility for specific strikes in Syria,
they have acknowledged conducting hundreds to thousands of raids in the country since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
These have overwhelmingly been against Iran and its proxies, notably the Lebanese Hezbollah group,
but the IDF has also carried out strikes on Syrian air defenses
when those batteries have fired at Israeli jets.
In recent months, the IDF has also confirmed conducting operations in Iraq against Iranian entrenchment efforts there as well.
The reported strikes in the early hours of Thursday morning
came just over a month after the killing of Iranian Quds Force head Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike earlier this month.
An IDF Military Intelligence assessment handed to the government last month
said the removal of Soleimani could give Israel an opportunity to curb or halt Iran entrenchment in Syria and elsewhere.
Shortly after this assessment was released,
Damascus accused the Israeli Air Force of carrying out an attack on the T-4 military airport in central Syria near Homs.
The base has long believed to be used by Iranian forces and allied Shiite militias and has been targeted by Israeli airstrikes in the past.
According to the SOHR, the strike on January 14 targeted a weapons storehouse,
as well as a building that was under construction and two military vehicles on the T-4 air base, killing three pro-Iranian fighters.
Last November, four rockets were fired at northern Israel from Syria, all of which were shot down by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
In response, the Israeli army conducted a series of air strikes against Iranian forces and government military sites,
killing several pro-Iranian fighters.