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The Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out its recent airstrikes in Syria when two civilians planes were landing in Beirut and Damascus, putting passengers at risk, Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of Russia told reporters on December 26.

“Provocative acts by the Israeli Air Force endangered two passenger jets when six of their F-16s carried out airstrikes on Syria from Lebanese airspace,” RT quoted the spokesman as saying.

According to Konashenkov, the Syrian Arab Air Defense Forces (SyAADF) delayed the deployment of surface-to-air missiles and electronic jamming “to prevent a tragedy.” Meanwhile, the Damascus air traffic control diverted one of the passenger jets to a reserve airport in Khmeimim in southern Lattakia.

Konashenkov said that 6 Israeli F-16 warplanes used 16 US-made GPS-guided GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) in the attack, which occurred at the late hours of December 25. Only 2 SDBs managed to hit their targets, while the rest were intercepted by the SyAADF.

Israeli media claimed that Israeli warplanes struck a shipment of Iranian-made Fajir-5 rockets, which was on its way to Hezbollah. However, the Ministry of Defense of Syria said that the “aggression” targeted an ammo depot of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) injuring three service members.

Last September, a Russian Il-20 plane was downed by Syrian air defense fire when Israeli warplanes used it as a cover to strike targets on the Syrian coast. The recent airstrikes show that Israel is now using the same tactic with civilian planes, which endangers the flights not only over Syria, but also over Lebanon and Jordan.

More on this topic:

• Syrian Air Defense Forces Repel Israeli Airstrikes In Western Damascus (Videos)

Israel Strikes Hamas Targets After

Projectile Fired From Gaza

Sirens sound 24 hours after Israel struck two Hamas targets following violent protests at the fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip

File Photo: Projectiles fired at Israel from Gaza, November 2018.Hatem Moussa/AP

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Israeli aircraft struck subterranean Hamas targets on Saturday night after  a projectile was fired at Israel from Gaza, the military said. 

Rocket sirens sounded 24 hours after Israel struck two Hamas targets following violent protests at the fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip, in which Gaza authorities said a Palestinian woman was killed and at least 14 other people were wounded by Israeli fire.

Tamir Idan, head of Sdot Negev Regional Council along the Gaza border, called on the Israeli army to retaliate for the firing and urged the government to halt the flow of Qatari funds to Hamas’ government in Gaza. “Before we go yet again into a period of occasional terrorism… it’s time to stop it and react,” he said.

Some 13,000 people gathered on Friday near the fence at several points, where they burned tires, threw stones and tossed explosive devices and grenades toward Israeli troops, the military said. One soldier was lightly wounded by a stone.

The protests came a day after a delegation of senior Egyptian intelligence officials began holding talks with senior members of Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip with the goal of preventing an escalation of violence both inside the Gaza Strip and along the border fence with Israel.

The delegation met on Friday with the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh. On Thursday they met with senior Fatah leader in the Gaza Strip Ahmad Halas and other Fatah officials. 

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Hamas also criticized the cancellation of the third cash payment by Qatar to the group, which uses the money to pay the salaries of its officials, as unemployment payments and grants to those injured in the incidents along the border.

Hamas views these funds as the direct result of the fighting along the fence and the weekly protests, so freezing these funds can be expected to lead to an escalation of the violence and confrontations on the part of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

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