Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Syrian air defenses opened fire on Israeli aircraft that violated Syrian airspace overnight Thursday, a Syrian military spokesman said.

The Israelis broke the sound barrier and ”dropped ammunition” over deserted areas of northern Syria overnight, the spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Syrian Arab News Agency.

Iran’s ambassador to Damascus, Mohammad Hassan Akhtari, assured security officials in Syria that Teheran would be ready to offer Damascus any assistance it may need, Iranian media reported on Thursday afternoon following a resurgence of tensions between Israel and Syria.

Counterterrorism expert Boaz Ganor said that if Thursday’s overflight occurred, it’s possible Israel was “collecting intelligence on long-range missiles” deployed by Syria in the north.

Imad Fawzi Shoaibi, a Syrian political analyst, speculated that Israel may have been probing Syria’s new air defense systems provided by Russia, at a time when tension is running high between the two countries.

“Syria won’t be dragged into war when and how the US and Israel dictate,” Channel Two quoted Syrian officials as saying Thursday, a day after IAF aircraft allegedly violated Syrian airspace in an overnight operation.

Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal was enraged over the alleged incident. “Israel in fact does not want peace. It cannot survive without aggression, treachery and military messages,” he said.

Bilal said the government was “seriously studying the nature of the response,” but refused to indicate in an interview with Al-Jazeera whether the reaction would be on the military or diplomatic level. He would not give any more details about the incident, but said it proved Israel’s policies are based on hostility.

He said recent US aid of $30 billion over 10 years to Israel encouraged its government to “such arrogance that it delivered this morning message.”

Syrian Cabinet Minister Buthaina Shaaban, speaking on Al-Jazeera television’s English service, would not confirm that Israel had attacked Syria, but did say the aircraft violated the country’s airspace.

“We are a sovereign country. They cannot do that,” said Shaaban.

The Syrian military spokesman did not specify whether the military used surface-to-air missiles or anti-aircraft artillery when confronting the aircraft.

The Syrians did not say the aircraft struck targets, and it was not clear what the spokesman meant by dropping ammunition. Warplanes sometimes drop extra fuel tanks to make the aircraft lighter and easier to maneuver.

”We warn the Israeli enemy government against this flagrant aggressive act, and retain the right to respond in an appropriate way,” the Syrian spokesman said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

It was not clear if Syria was accusing the Israelis of using warplanes or some type of other aircraft like drones.

“The Israeli enemy aircraft infiltrated into the Arab Syrian territory through the northern border, coming from the Mediterranean heading toward the eastern region, breaking the sound barrier,” the spokesman said. “Air defense units confronted them and forced them to leave after they dropped some ammunition in deserted areas without causing any human or material damage.”

Military sources declined comment on the report, saying “the IDF does not comment on reports of this nature.” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office said it was looking into the report.

Syria: Israel only interested in aggression

“Syria has no trust in Israel, which proved that it is only interested in aggression and not in peace,” Syrian Information Minister Muhsin Bilal said in an interview with al-Jazeera in response to the report.

“President Bashar Assad has said that this year would be crucial for the region and the entire world. He said more than once that he does not trust the Israeli government, and this act proves that he was right,” Bilal said.

“Only yesterday Israeli President Shimon Peres said in Rome that they won’t peace, while the Syrians don’t, but Israel has proved that it is only interested in aggression and not in peace.”

Addressing the fact that the IDF Spokesperson’s Office changed its response three times, the Syrian minister said that “the confusion Israel is being hit by now testifies to the fact that it is frustrated. Syria, on the other hand, was clear and stressed that Israel always takes the road of war and does not want peace.”

Asked about Damascus’ intentions following the incident, the minister remained vague, saying that “Syria maintained the right and the way to respond to Israel’s aggression. The Syrian leadership is seriously studying a response in order to make it clear that Israel is continuing its aggressiveness and occupation.”

According to the minister, the financial aid of $30 billion transferred to Israel from the United States for 10 years only encourage its aggressive actions.

Another Syrian minister said in an interview with al-Jazeera that he could not confirm any attack by Israel, but that the Israeli army had crossed his country’s airspace. “We are a sovereign state and they must not do that,” he said.

Months of tension on border

Israel acknowledges flying over Lebanon routinely, but it is unclear how often its aircraft fly over Syria.

Israeli aircraft are believed to fly routine reconnaissance flights over the Golan Heights, in the south of the country, apparently to monitor Syrian army moves. But the incident Thursday was reported over the other side of Syria, in the north near the Mediterranean.

Syrian officials, including President Bashar Assad, have repeatedly warned Israel in recent weeks that the occupation of the Golan Heights ”cannot last forever.”

Concerns grew over the summer that tensions along the frontier could escalate into conflict, but both Syrian and Israeli officials publicly and repeatedly said they had no interest in war. Late last month, Israeli security officials said the army had determined that war with Syria, whose military had reduced its war readiness, was unlikely and Israel began rotating forces out of the Israeli-held Golan Heights.

Syria also is believed unhappy that other Arab countries are headed to a peace meeting in November at which the United States hopes for a high-profile meeting between the Palestinians and Israelis, and perhaps also with Saudi officials.

Syria has long disputed any notion that a comprehensive Arab peace deal can be reached unless it also involves some resolution of the Golan Heights, which it wants back in full.

At the beginning of last summer’s war against Lebanon, Israeli warplanes buzzed the palace of Syrian
President Bashar Assad in what analysts called a warning to Damascus.

In June of the same year, they also flew over Assad’s summer home in the coastal city of Latakia, after
Syrian-backed Palestinian militants in Gaza captured a young Israeli soldier.