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Israeli warplanes 'Syria strike'

Israeli warplanes have carried out an attack on a Syrian military base on Thursday, according to a US official cited by the Associated Press.

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  1. Geraint Vincent

Israel's strike on Syria marks regional power shift

A quite extraordinary situation has developed in the Middle East, where Israel can carry out airstrikes on what used to be a great power, Syria, and it can do so with impunity.

One of Israel's F-16 fighter aircraft, which would have been capable of carrying out the attack. Credit: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Israel has made no comment on the air strike, which reportedly targeted a missile delivery, but then it never does. Six times now, by my count so far this year, Israel has carried out air strikes inside Syria.

They're all on similar targets, sophisticated weapons such as surface-to-air missiles made in Russia, that Israel thinks are in the process of being delivered to the Assad regime's great ally, the Lebanon-based militia group Hizbollah.

There has also been no comment from the Assad regime on this air strike, certainly no kind of military response. The Assad regime of course has its hands full fighting the civil war.

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