JERUSALEM — Israeli fighter jets flew deep into the skies over Syria Sunday and bombed a suspected terrorist training camp, pushing Israel’s fight to quell the Palestinian uprising beyond the boundaries of the Palestinian territories and sending waves of outrage through the region.
For the first time in three decades, Israel struck far into Syrian territory. Still reeling from a suicide attack that killed 19 people in a seaside eatery hours earlier, Israel said it bombed an Islamic Jihad compound nestled in the Syrian landscape to "send a message" to unfriendly nations.
"This is a very clear message both to Syria and to all those countries involved in the axis of terror directed against us," said Ranaan Gissin, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "We will not tolerate that there will be sanctuary or immunity for anybody, regardless of geography. It’s up to Syria whether Syria accepts the message and restrains its terror groups."
The predawn bombings unveiled a sharp shift in Israeli policy. After three years of battle in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel is now declaring the right to chase armed Palestinian factions into their bases in foreign countries. It’s a philosophy that echoes the controversial doctrine of pre-emption that has driven U.S. foreign policy since Sept. 11, 2001.
It was the militant Islamic Jihad that sent a young lawyer to blow herself up in a crowded restaurant Saturday — and Syria was taken to task for aiding the group. Some Israeli officials described the Syrian air attacks as blows of self-defense.
"In the raid last night, Israel has upgraded its military reaction," said Israel Radio, citing military sources. "The raid is a strategic change for Israel, which will no longer contain the struggle and restrict it to the Palestinian Authority territory alone."
The strikes were launched on one of the most painful days in Middle Eastern diplomacy — the 30th anniversary of the outbreak of the watershed war between Israel, Syria and Egypt. Against that backdrop, Arab leaders warned that Israel’s new battle strategy could unleash renewed bloodshed throughout an intensely troubled region.
"This can only mean that Israel wants war," said Imad Fawzi al Shueibi, a political scientist at Damascus University. "I believe Israel is playing with fire. If Israel wants to take the U.S. example of striking terror abroad, it has chosen a very bad time."
In a hastily arranged meeting of the U.N. Security Council, an infuriated Syria urged the council to condemn the attack. "Many people across the globe feel that Israel is above the law," said Fayssal Mekdad, Syria’s U.N. representative.
While Syria is widely regarded as unlikely to respond with military force, a letter from the embattled state to the United Nations hinted otherwise. "Syria is not incapable of creating a resisting and deterring balance that forces Israel to review its actions," it said.
A lone man was reportedly injured in the bombings on the densely wooded site in El Saheb, about 14 miles northwest of Damascus. There was some confusion over the target — Syrian officials insisted there was no camp there, only an ordinary run of civilian land. Islamic Jihad denied it was their training center. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said it was theirs, but that it was defunct.
Vincent Cannistraro, a former senior counterterrorism official for the CIA, said recent intelligence indicated that the site was a refugee camp, although in the past it had been used for training by Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front. "There is no current terrorist training there. This is a symbolic act," Cannistraro said Sunday. "This seems like an escalation to send a message to the Syrians: Cease supporting Hamas and (Islamic Jihad). It seems like more of a pretext to attack Syria."
Israel maintained that the base was used by a constellation of factions, including al-Qaida and Hamas. A grainy video released by the Israeli army showed barracks and underground tunnels stacked thick with guns and explosives; Israel said it was footage shot by an Iranian television crew inside the Syrian camp.
According to Israel, the training base was operated with logistical help from Syria and money from Iran. Palestinians came to the camps for courses in explosives, artillery, guerrilla warfare and aviation, the army said. Some returned to the West Bank or Gaza and others fought in Lebanon, it said. "Through Syria, Iran is sending a tentacle of terror into the (Palestinian) territories," Gissin said.
In the hours after the attack, Israeli officials hinted that they had bombed Syria with the implicit approval of the United States, and listed Syria’s defiance of U.S. demands as a justification for the overnight raids.
But in Washington, a senior Bush administration official said the White House found out about the Sunday bombing hours after it took place.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
