The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has many military councils for local security and defense, each being accountable to the civil council of the area they operate in.
73-631: Hezbollah–Israel conflict Gaza–Israel conflict Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian civil war Israel–Yemen conflict Nuclear program of Iran International incidents Operation Outside the Box , also known as Operation Orchard , was an Israeli airstrike on a suspected nuclear reactor, referred to as the Al Kibar site (also referred to in IAEA documents as Dair Alzour), in
146-566: A Khomeinist force opposed to the Free Lebanon State and the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon . Hezbollah controls southern Lebanon and is supported and funded by Iran and serves as their proxy in regional wars. From the inception of Hezbollah to the present the establishment of a Palestinian state and the return of Palestinian refugees to what became Israel has been a primary goal for Hezbollah. Hezbollah not only opposes
219-465: A booking for the official in a London hotel, and dispatched at least ten undercover agents to London. The agents were split into three teams. One group was sent to Heathrow Airport to identify the official as he arrived, a second to book into his hotel, and a third to monitor his movements and visitors. Some of the operatives were from the Kidon Division, which specializes in assassinations, and
292-651: A false sky-picture for the entire period of time that the Israeli fighter jets needed to cross Syria, bomb their target, and return. On 6 March 2017, the Kibar nuclear site was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces – a U.S.-backed coalition of Kurdish and Arab militia fighters – from a retreating ISIL force in northern Deir Ezzor province. In 2001, the Mossad , Israel's external intelligence service,
365-504: A few ELINT aircraft, took off from Ramat David Airbase . Three of the F-15s were ordered back to base, while the remaining seven continued towards Syria. The Israelis destroyed a Syrian radar site in Tall al-Abuad with conventional precision bombs, electronic attack, and jamming. Israel reportedly used electronic warfare to take over Syrian air-defenses and feed them a false-sky picture, for
438-415: A fire broke out at the facility. The edition of 26 September of Jane's Defence Weekly claimed that the explosion happened during tests to weaponise a Scud-C missile with mustard gas . A senior U.S. official told ABC News that, in early summer 2007, Israel had discovered a suspected Syrian nuclear facility, and that the Mossad then "managed to either co-opt one of the facility's workers or to insert
511-458: A public condemnation of Syria, thereby delaying the military strike until Israel feared the information would leak to the press. The Sunday Times also reported that the mission was "personally directed" by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak . Three days before the attack, a North Korean cargo ship carrying materials labeled as cement docked in the Syrian port of Tartus . An Israeli online data analyst, Ronen Solomon, found an internet trace for
584-565: A spy posing as an employee" at the suspected Syrian nuclear site, and through this was able to get pictures of the target from on the ground." In mid August 2007, Israeli commandos from the Sayeret Matkal reconnaissance unit covertly raided the suspected Syrian nuclear facility and brought nuclear material back to Israel. Two helicopters ferried twelve commandos to the site in order to get photographic evidence and soil samples. The commandos were probably dressed in Syrian uniforms. Although
657-479: A statement released to the press after the meeting he said: "In my conversation with the Turkish prime minister, I told him that if Israeli planes indeed penetrated Turkish airspace, then there was no intention thereby, either in advance or in any case, to—in any way—violate or undermine Turkish sovereignty, which we respect." Abu Mohammed, a former major in the Syrian air force, recounted in 2013 that air defenses in
730-400: A team of elite Israeli Shaldag special-forces commandos arrived at the site the day before so that they could highlight the target with laser designators , while a later report identified Sayeret Matkal special-forces commandos as involved. The Israeli attack used sophisticated electronic warfare (EW) capabilities, as IAF's EW systems took over Syria's air defense systems, feeding them
803-698: Is controlled by Turkish -backed opposition groups. In 2019, the SDF started to form new military councils in order to both decentralize the SDF, and to unify the military and security forces in the region. As of June 2019, the military councils formed during this decentralization are the Kobanî Military Council, the Tal Abyad Military Council, the Tabqa Military Council, the al-Hawl Military Council,
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#1732787573340876-563: Is not the first time Israel has violated" Syrian airspace. Syria also accused the international community of ignoring Israeli actions. A UN spokesperson said Syria had not requested a meeting of the UN Security Council and France , at the time the president of the Security Council , said it had received no letter from Syria. On 27 April 2008, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad , making his first public comments about
949-709: Is to capture al-Bab , currently under the Turkish occupation of northern Syria . The Jarabulus Military Council is an SDF coalition in the Shahba Region formed by local fighters from the city of Jarabulus and the surrounding areas, who had fled from ISIL. Abdel Sattar al-Jader, the initial leader of the Jarabulus Military Council and the commander of the Euphrates Jarabulus Brigades, was assassinated just prior to
1022-802: The 2020 Ayn Issa clashes . The Serê Kaniyê Military Council ( Arabic : مجلس سرﻱ كانییه العسكرﻱ , Kurdish : Meclisa Leşgerî Ya Waşûkanî ) was founded on 27 June 2019. As a part of the SDF-US-Turkish buffer zone deal , the Serê Kaniyê Military Council filled positions left by the YPG in the Serê Kaniyê area, and has conducted joint patrols with the American military on 4 September and 8 September 2019. The Derik Military Council ( Kurdish : Meclisa Leşkerî Ya Dêrikê )
1095-576: The Deir ez-Zor region of Syria , which occurred just after midnight (local time) on 6 September 2007. The Israeli and U.S. governments did not announce the secret raids for seven months. The White House and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) subsequently confirmed that American intelligence had also indicated the site was a nuclear facility with a military purpose, though Syria denies this. A 2009 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) investigation reported evidence of uranium and graphite and concluded that
1168-733: The Israeli–Lebanese conflict . The two sides' first engagement occurred during the Lebanese Civil War , as Iran became increasingly involved in Lebanon's internal affairs. With funding from the Iranian government and training and supervision from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps , Hezbollah was built up in Syrian-occupied Lebanon by various religious clerics amidst the 1982 Lebanon War , primarily as
1241-1149: The Qamishli Military Council, the Raqqa Military Council, the Serê Kaniyê Military Council, the Derik Military Council, the Hasakah Military Council, and the Amuda Military Council. The Manbij Military Council (MMC) is a coalition established by several groups in the SDF, the Northern Sun Battalion and the Seljuk Brigade , on 2 April 2016 at the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates . The military council aimed to capture
1314-735: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), based in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate . It joined the SDF in 2016, having previously been part of the Free Syrian Army . The Idlib Military Council was proposed, and partially organized by the SDF in an attempt to gain influence in Idlib Governorate and counter Turkey and the Syrian Army in the region. It was reportedly established in late 2017, with an official formation video filmed in Idlib being released on 21 October 2017 claiming that
1387-486: The Turkish military intervention in the Syrian Civil War , and the SDF have accused Turkish military intelligence of organizing the assassination. The Jarabulus Military Council took part in the resistance against the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria , attacking Turkish-backed forces in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo. The Deir ez-Zor Military Council is an Arab -majority militia of
1460-682: The 1,700-tonne cargo ship, the Al Hamed , which allegedly was docked at Tartus on 3 September. By 25 April 2008 the ship was under the flag of the Comoros . Several newspapers reported that Iranian general Ali Reza Asgari , who had disappeared in February in a possible defection to the West, supplied Western intelligence with information about the site. CNN first reported that the airstrike targeted weapons "destined for Hezbollah militants" and that
1533-607: The Begin Doctrine has undoubtedly played a role in shaping this global perception. According to official government confirmation on 21 March 2018, the raid was carried out by Israeli Air Force (IAF) 69 Squadron F-15Is , and 119 Squadron and 253 Squadron F-16Is , and an ELINT aircraft ; as many as eight aircraft participated and at least four of these crossed into Syrian airspace. The fighters were equipped with AGM-65 Maverick missiles , 500-pound (230 kg) bombs, and external fuel tanks . One report stated that
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#17327875733401606-498: The Deir ez-Zor region were told to stand down as soon as the Israeli planes were detected heading to the reactor. According to a leaked diplomatic cable , the Syrian government placed long-range missiles armed with chemical warheads on high alert after the attack but did not retaliate, fearing an Israeli nuclear counterstrike. Syria at first claimed that its anti-aircraft weapons had fired at Israeli planes, which bombed empty areas in
1679-944: The Idlib Military Council and other SDF units condemned the Turkish-led Operation Olive Branch against Afrin Canton and declared to help the YPG in defending the canton. The council is also openly linked with the Syrian Democratic Forces' component the Northern Democratic Brigade with the group's leader Abu Ammar al-Idlibi stating his group's ambitions to expand operations into the Idlib Governorate and eventually control it and expel Turkish forces as well as rival groups active in
1752-602: The Israeli target was the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands , but the center itself immediately denied this. The following day Syrian President Bashar al-Assad described the bombing target as an "incomplete and empty military complex that was still under construction". He did not provide any further details about the nature of the structure or its purpose. On 14 October The New York Times cited U.S. and Israeli military intelligence sources saying that
1825-524: The Israelis on the floor of the United Nations". He also wrote that in a telephone conversation with Olmert, he suggested that the operation be kept secret for a while and then made public to isolate the Syrian government, but Olmert asked for total secrecy, wanting to avoid anything that might force Syrian retaliation. In April 2011, after a lengthy investigation the IAEA officially confirmed that
1898-526: The Neviot Division, which specializes in breaking into homes, embassies, and hotel rooms to install bugging devices. On the first day of his visit, he visited the Syrian embassy and then went shopping. Kidon operatives closely followed him, while Neviot operatives broke into his hotel room and found his laptop. A computer expert then installed software that allowed the Mossad to monitor his activities on
1971-639: The Syrian Democratic Forces established four military councils (three west of the Euphrates ) in order to facilitate and conduct military operations ; the Manbij Military Council, the al-Bab Military Council, the Jarabulus Military Council, and the Deir ez-Zor Military Council. In 2017, the Idlib Military Council was founded in an attempt to gain influence in Idlib Governorate , much of which
2044-515: The Syrian air defense network had been deactivated by a secret built-in kill switch activated by the Israelis. When the aircraft approached the site, the Shaldag commandos directed their targeting laser at the facility, and the F-15Is released their bombs. The facility was totally destroyed. The Shaldag commandos were extracted, and all Israeli aircraft returned to base. On their way back to Israel,
2117-603: The Syrian civil war Israel–Yemen conflict Nuclear program of Iran International incidents Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon Hezbollah–Israel conflict Hezbollah , a Shia Islamist political party and militant organization that was established in Lebanon in 1985, has been involved in a long-running conflict with Israel as part of the Iran–Israel proxy conflict and
2190-608: The Tal Abyad Military Council filled positions left by the YPG in the Tal Abyad area, and has conducted joint patrols with the American military . The Tabqa Military Council ( Arabic : مجلس الطبقة العسكري ) was established on 18 June 2019, with the Council being headed by Mohammed Raouf. Tha al-Hawl Military Council ( Arabic : المجلس العسكري لقطاع الهول , Kurdish : Meclisa Leşkerî Ya Eyaleta Holê )
2263-506: The U.S. bomb the Syrian site, but Bush refused, saying the intelligence was not definitive on whether the plant was part of a nuclear weapons program. Bush claimed that Olmert did not ask for a green light for an attack and that he did not give one, but that Olmert acted alone and did what he thought was necessary to protect Israel. Another report indicated that Israel planned to attack the site as early as 14 July, but some U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice , preferred
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2336-545: The U.S. has observed the site for years by spy satellite. Subsequent searches of satellite imagery discovered that an astronaut aboard the International Space Station had taken a picture of the area on 5 September 2002. The image, though of low resolution, is good enough to show that the building existed as of that date. Hezbollah%E2%80%93Israel conflict Hezbollah–Israel conflict Gaza–Israel conflict Iran–Israel conflict during
2409-567: The UN Charter and welcomed Syria's cooperation with the IAEA in this regard’ (NAM Final Document 2012/Doc.1/Rev.2, para 176). On 10 October 2007, The New York Times reported that the Israelis had shared the Syrian strike dossier with Turkey. In turn, the Turks traveled to Damascus and confronted the Syrians with the dossier, alleging a nuclear program. Syria denied this with vigor, saying that
2482-504: The UN press office's release of a First Committee, Disarmament and International Security meeting's minutes that paraphrased an unnamed Syrian representative as saying that a nuclear facility was hit by the raid, Syria denied the statement, adding that "such facilities do not exist in Syria." However state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said that media reports had misquoted the Syrian diplomat. On
2555-456: The aircraft flew over Turkey and jettisoned fuel tanks over the Hatay and Gaziantep provinces. Immediately following the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , explained the situation, and asked him to relay a message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that Israel would not tolerate another nuclear plant, but that no further action
2628-461: The airstrike. On 2 October 2007, the IDF confirmed the attack took place, following a request by Haaretz to lift censorship; however, the IDF continued to censor details of the actual strike force and its target. On 28 October, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Israeli cabinet that he had apologized to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan if Israel violated Turkish airspace. In
2701-401: The area. The Kobanî Military Council ( Kurdish : Meclisa Leşkerî Ya Kobanî ) was established on 16 June 2019, with Ismat Sheikh Hassan as its commander. The Tal Abyad Military Council ( Arabic : مجلس تل أبيض العسكري , Kurdish : Meclisa Leşkerî A Girê Spî ) was established on 17 June 2019, with Riyad Khamis al-Khalaf as its leader. As a part of the SDF-US-Turkish buffer zone deal ,
2774-610: The attack until 2018. The attack reportedly followed Israeli top-level consultations with the Bush administration . After realizing that the US was not willing to bomb the site after being told so by U.S. President George W. Bush , Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided to adhere to the 1981 Begin Doctrine and unilaterally strike to prevent a Syrian nuclear weapons capability, despite serious concerns about Syrian retaliation. In stark contrast to
2847-480: The bombing was done covertly and not publicized. Anonymous sources reported that once material was tested and confirmed to have come from North Korea , the United States approved an Israeli attack on the site. Senior U.S. officials later claimed that they were not involved in or approved the attack, but were informed in advance. In his memoir, President G. W. Bush wrote that Prime Minister Olmert requested that
2920-415: The building was not yet operational. Besides a nuclear program, Syria is believed to have extensive arsenals, as well as biological and chemical warheads for its long-range missiles. On 25 February 2009, IAEA officials reported that Ibrahim Othman, Syria's nuclear chief, told a closed IAEA technical meeting that Syria built a missile facility on the site. No Arab government besides Syria formally commented on
2993-611: The calls to a desert location called al-Kibar. Unit 8200 , Israel's signals intelligence and codebreaking unit, added the location to its watch list. The Daily Telegraph , citing anonymous sources, reported that in December 2006, a top Syrian official (according to one article this was the head of the Atomic Energy Commission of Syria, Ibrahim Othman) arrived in London under a false name. The Mossad had detected
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3066-410: The city of Manbij across the river and many of the council members are local fighters from the surrounding areas. The Al-Bab Military Council (BMC) is an ethnically mixed force of the Syrian Democratic Forces , consisting of Kurdish , Arab , and Turkmen militias from northern Aleppo Governorate . The BMC currently maintains a presence in several villages west of Manbij , though its stated goal
3139-468: The computer. When the computer material was examined at Mossad headquarters, officials found blueprints and hundreds of pictures of the Kibar facility in various stages of construction, and correspondence. One photograph showed North Korean nuclear official Chon Chibu meeting with Ibrahim Othman, Syria's atomic energy agency director. Though the Mossad had originally planned to kill the official in London, it
3212-413: The construction was spotted by American satellites in 2003, who detected nothing unusual, partly because the Syrians had banned radio and telephones from the site and handled communications solely by messengers. He said that "The analysis was conclusive that it was a North Korean-type reactor, a gas graphite model" and that "Israel estimates that Iran had paid North Korea between $ 1 billion and $ 2 billion for
3285-463: The council seeks to revive the Syrian revolution and expand it into combating terrorism and foreign occupation. In the video the council also declared its willingness to fight Jabhat al-Nusra and rid Idlib from their presence, the speaker in the video also described the council's opposition to the Syrian government and Bashar al-Assad and their support for the Syrian rebellion, though the council mostly disappeared thereafter. In March 2018, however,
3358-650: The desert, or later, a military construction site. During the two days following the attack, Turkish media reported finding Israeli fuel tanks in Hatay and Gaziantep Province , and the Turkish Foreign Minister lodged a formal protest with the Israeli envoy. In a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations , Ban Ki-moon , Syria called the incursion a "breach of airspace of the Syrian Arab Republic" and said "it
3431-456: The doctrine's prior usage against Iraq , the airstrike against Syria did not elicit international outcry. A main reason is that Israel maintained total and complete silence regarding the attack, and Syria covered up its activities at the site and did not cooperate fully with the IAEA. The international silence may have been a tacit recognition of the inevitability of preemptive attacks on "clandestine nuclear programs in their early stages." If true,
3504-530: The entire period of time that the Israeli fighter jets needed to cross Syria, bomb their target and return. This technology which neutralized Syrian radars may be similar to the Suter airborne network attack system . This would make it possible to feed enemy radar emitters with false targets, and even directly manipulate enemy sensors. In May 2008, a report in IEEE Spectrum cited European sources claiming that
3577-400: The face of an imminent nuclear or military threat from Syria." The bill had 15 cosponsors, but never reached a vote. On 26 October, The New York Times published satellite photographs showing that the Syrians had almost entirely removed all remains of the facility. U.S. intelligence sources noted that such an operation would usually take up to a year to complete and expressed astonishment at
3650-476: The government and policies of the State of Israel, but also each and every Jewish civilian who lives in Israel. Its 1985 manifesto reportedly states "our struggle will end only when this entity [Israel] is obliterated. We recognize no treaty with it, no ceasefire, and no peace agreements." Engagements between Israel and Hezbollah are a part of the wider Iran–Israel proxy conflict , including: Syrian Democratic Forces military councils#Deir ez-Zor In 2016,
3723-399: The incident. The Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram commented on the "synchronized silence of the Arab world." Neither the Israeli nor Syrian government has offered a detailed description of what occurred. Outside experts and media commentators have filled the data vacuum by offering their own diverse interpretations about what precisely happened that night. Western commentators took the position that
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#17327875733403796-408: The lack of official non-Syrian Arab condemnations of Israel's action, threats of retaliation against Israel, or even professions of support for the Syrian government or people must imply that their governments tacitly supported the Israeli action. Even Iranian officials have not formally commented on the Israeli attack or Syria's reactions. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was asked if North Korea
3869-422: The mission was successful, it had to be aborted earlier than planned after the Israelis were spotted by Syrian soldiers. Soil analysis revealed traces of nuclear activity. There was disagreement between CIA director Michael Hayden and Mossad director Meir Dagan about whether the site should be bombed. Hayden was fearful that this would cause an all-out war, but Dagan was sure that Assad would not react, so long as
3942-435: The operation and congratulated Prime Minister Olmert. Netanyahu advisor Uzi Arad later told Newsweek "I do know what happened, and when it comes out it will stun everyone." On 17 September, Prime Minister Olmert announced that he was ready to make peace with Syria "without preset conditions and without ultimatums". According to a poll done by the Dahaf Research Institute, Olmert's approval rating rose from 25% to 35% after
4015-418: The project". He also wrote that just before the Israeli operation, a North Korean ship was intercepted en route to Syria with nuclear fuel rods. Ten Israeli F-15I Ra'am fighter jets (including aircraft '209') from the Israeli Air Force 69th Squadron armed with laser-guided bombs, escorted by F-16I Sufa fighter jets – including aircraft '432' from 253rd squadron and '459' from 119th squadron – and
4088-402: The public our cards." Israeli papers were banned from doing their own reporting on the airstrike. On 16 September, the head of Israeli military intelligence , Amos Yadlin , told a parliamentary committee that Israel regained its "deterrent capability". The first public acknowledgment by an Israeli official came on 19 September, when opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had backed
4161-418: The raid, dismissed the allegations that it was a nuclear site which was attacked as false: "Is it logical? A nuclear site did not have protection with surface to air defenses? A nuclear site within the footprint of satellites in the middle of Syria in an open area in the desert?" Independent experts, however, suggested that Syria did not fortify its suspected reactor in order to avoid drawing attention and because
4234-556: The same day, the IAEA's Mohamed ElBaradei criticized the raid, saying that "to bomb first and then ask questions later [...] undermines the system and it doesn't lead to any solution to any suspicion." The IAEA had been observing the disabling of the DPRK Yongbyon nuclear facilities since July 2007, and was responsible for the containment and surveillance of the fuel rods and other nuclear materials from there. U.S. House Resolution 674, introduced on 24 September 2007, expressed "unequivocal support ... for Israel's right to self defense in
4307-432: The site bore features resembling an undeclared nuclear reactor. IAEA was initially unable to confirm or deny the nature of the site because, according to IAEA, Syria failed to provide necessary cooperation with the IAEA investigation. Syria has disputed these claims. Nearly four years later, in April 2011 during the Syrian Civil War , the IAEA officially confirmed that the site was a nuclear reactor. Israel did not acknowledge
4380-420: The site was a nuclear reactor. In 2012, the Non-aligned Movement adopted a statement according to which: 'The Heads of State or Government underscored the Movement's principled position concerning non-use or threat of use of force against the territorial integrity of any State. In this regard, they condemned the Israeli attack against a Syrian facility on 6 September 2007, which constitutes a flagrant violation of
4453-525: The speed with which it was carried out. Former weapons inspector David Albright believed that the work was meant to hide evidence of wrongdoing. On 28 April 2008, CIA Director Michael Hayden said that a suspected Syrian reactor bombed by Israel had the capacity to produce "enough plutonium for one or two weapons per year", and that it was of a "similar size and technology" to North Korea 's Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center. In his memoir Decision Points , President George W. Bush claimed that
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#17327875733404526-472: The strike "left a big hole in the desert". One week later, The Washington Post reported that U.S. and Israeli intelligence gathered information on a nuclear facility constructed in Syria with North Korean aid, and that the target was a "facility capable of making unconventional weapons". According to The Sunday Times , there were claims of a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea . Syrian Vice-President Faruq Al Shara announced on 30 September that
4599-478: The strike confirmed that Syria had been pursuing a nuclear-weapons program and that "intelligence is not an exact science", relating that while he had been told that U.S. analysts only had low confidence that the facility was part of a nuclear-weapons program, surveillance after the airstrike showed parts of the destroyed facility being covered up. Bush wrote that "if the facility was really just an innocent research lab, Syrian President Assad would have been screaming at
4672-503: The target had been a nuclear reactor under construction by North Korean technicians, with a number of the technicians having been killed in the strike. On 2 December The Sunday Times quoted Uzi Even , a professor at Tel Aviv University and a founder of the Negev Nuclear Research Center , saying that he believes that the Syrian site was built to process plutonium and assemble a nuclear bomb, using weapons-grade plutonium originally from North Korea. He also said that Syria's quick burial of
4745-470: The target site with tons of soil was a reaction to fears of radiation. On 19 March 2009, Hans Rühle , former chief of the planning staff of the German Defense Ministry , wrote in the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung that Iran was financing a Syrian nuclear reactor. Rühle did not identify the sources of his information. He wrote that U.S. intelligence had detected North Korean ship deliveries of construction supplies to Syria that started in 2002, and that
4818-540: The target was a storage depot for strategic missiles. On 25 October 2007, The New York Times reported that two commercial satellite photos taken before and after the raid showed that a square building no longer exists at the suspected site. On 27 October 2007, The New York Times reported that the imaging company Geoeye released an image of the building from 16 September 2003, and from this security analyst John Pike estimated that construction began in 2001. "A senior intelligence official" also told The New York Times that
4891-411: Was decided to spare his life following the discovery. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was notified. The following month, Olmert formed a three-member panel to report on Syria's nuclear program. The CIA was also informed and the American intelligence network joined the quest for more information. Six months later, Brigadier-General Yaakov Amidror , one of the panel's members, informed Olmert that Syria
4964-406: Was founded on 19 June 2019. The Qamishli Military Council ( Kurdish : Meclisa Leşkerî A Qamişlo ) was founded on 20 June 2019, with Piling Qamişlo being one of its co-presidents. The Raqqa Military Council ( Arabic : مجلس الرقة العسكري , Kurdish : Meclisa Leşkerî ya Reqayê) was founded on 21 June 2019, with Farhan al-Askar as its commander. The council's Martyr Ilan Kobanê Brigade fought in
5037-426: Was founded on 30 June 2019, with Kurdistan Dêrik as one of its co-presidents. The Hasakah Military Council ( Kurdish : Meclisa Leşgerî A Hesekê ) was formed on 4 July 2019. The Amuda Military Council ( Kurdish : Meclisa Leşgerî A Amûdê , Arabic : مجلس عامودا العسكري ) was founded on 4 July 2019, with Amed Amûdê as its commander. The Ayn Issa Military Council, also known as Girê Spî SDF Military Council,
5110-405: Was helping Syria in the nuclear realm, but replied only that "we are watching the North Koreans very carefully. We watch the Syrians very carefully." The North Korean government strongly condemned Israel's actions: "This is a very dangerous provocation little short of wantonly violating the sovereignty of Syria and seriously harassing the regional peace and security." On 17 October, in reaction to
5183-486: Was planned. Olmert said that Israel did not want to play up the incident and was still interested in peace with Syria, adding that if Assad chose not to draw attention to the incident, he would do likewise. The first report about the raid came from CNN . Israel initially did not comment on the incident, although Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did say that "The security services and Israeli defence forces are demonstrating unusual courage. We naturally cannot always show
5256-404: Was profiling newly inducted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad . Visits by North Korean dignitaries, which focused on advanced arms deliveries, were noticed. Aman , Israel's military intelligence department, suggested nuclear arms were being discussed, but the Mossad dismissed this theory. In spring 2004, U.S. intelligence reported multiple communications between Syria and North Korea, and traced
5329-542: Was working with North Korea and Iran on a nuclear facility. Iran had funneled $ 1 billion to the project, and planned on using the Kibar facility to replace Iranian facilities if Iran was unable to complete its uranium enrichment program. In July 2007, an explosion occurred in Musalmiya , northern Syria. The official Sana news agency said 15 Syrian military personnel were killed and 50 people were injured. The agency reported only that "very explosive products" blew up after
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