IDF confirms Syria attack
Ambiguity surrounding reported IAF attack in Syria ends as Israel confirms air raid of undisclosed Syrian targets
The IDF, however, would not reveal details of where the raid took place, or its aims. According to several reports in the foreign media, the IAF attack targeted a military base housing North Korean made nuclear equipment.
Israel refused to comment on the Syrian report and official government sources in Syria denied the news agency's report.
Opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) was the first Israeli government official to acknowledge an air strike in Syria, after admitting he was privy to the decision in a television interview.
The ambiguity was consistent until Monday, when Syrian President Bashar Assad spoke of the attack in a BBC interview, saying Syria reserved the right to retaliate.
"Using the military is always an option," said Assad, adding that the Israeli attack targeted an abandoned military building in north-east Syria.
The Prime Minister's Office commented Tuesday on the military censor's decision to allow the IDF to confirm the Israeli Air Force raid in Syria, saying the IDF media policy regarding operational activity, has remained "unchanged".
Sources in the Prime Minister's Office told Ynet that the censor's decision meant that Israeli reporters would no longer have to cite the foreign media as their source in the matter.
Ynet reporter and commentator Ron Ben-Yishai, visited Dir a-Zour – the alleged attack site – a week ago, where he found local residents to be blasé to the reports of an Israeli attack.
"Israeli planes flew over making a lot of noise and maybe dropping something, but we didn't here any explosions on the ground," Ben-Yishai was told.
"All this talk about tension (between Israel and Syria) is nothing more than Syria flexing its muscles at Israel. There is no real threat."
Ynet reporter and commentator Ron Ben-Yishai, visited Dir a-Zour – the alleged attack site – a week ago, where he found local residents to be unmoved by reports of an Israeli attack.
"Israeli planes flew over making a lot of noise and maybe dropping something, but we didn't here any explosions on the ground," Ben-Yishai was told.
"All this talk about tension (between Israel and Syria) is nothing more than Syria flexing its muscles at Israel. There is no real threat."
