The History of the Israel Air Force begins in May 1948, shortly after the formation of the State of Israel. Following Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, its pre-state national institutions transformed into the agencies of a state, and on May 26, 1948, the Israeli Air Force was formed. Beginning with a small collection of light aircraft, the force soon transformed into a comprehensive fighting force. It has since participated in several wars and numerous engagements, becoming what has been described as "The mightiest air force in the Middle East".
Foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war refers to political, military and operational support to parties involved in the ongoing conflict in Syria that began in March 2011, as well as active foreign involvement. Most parties involved in the war in Syria receive various types of support from foreign countries and entities based outside Syria. The ongoing conflict in Syria is widely described as a series of overlapping proxy wars between the regional and world powers, primarily between the United States and Russia as well as between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The Rif Dimashq offensive refers to a rebel offensive during the Syrian Civil War in the Rif Dimashq Governorate which started in November 2012, and a subsequent attempted Syrian Army counterattack in January 2013. Thomson Reuters described rebels as "ramping up attacks on Damascus" in late November and BBC News described the 29 November government counterattack as "an unprecedented offensive against rebel-held districts in the east of the city".
The January 2013 Rif Dimashq airstrike was an aerial attack in the Rif Dimashq Governorate of Syria, which targeted a convoy alleged to be carrying weapons from Syria to the Lebanese Shi'a militia Hezbollah. The convoy was attacked on 31 January 2013. According to several media sources, Israeli forces allegedly conducted the strike; however, Israel has not officially responded to the allegations.
The Centre d'études et de recherches scientifiques (CERS), is a Syrian government agency that has the goal of advancing and coordinating scientific and military research activities in the country. It works on research and development for the economic and social development of Syria, especially the computerization of government agencies. It is considered to have better technical capacity and equipment than the Syrian universities. Jane's Information Group Intelligence Services and other analysts believe it is responsible for research and development of nuclear, biological, chemical and missile technology and weapons, including ballistic missiles, as well as advanced conventional arms.
Jamraya or Jemraya is a village in the Qudsaya District of Rif Dimashq in southern Syria. It lies 3 miles (5 km) to the northwest of the Syrian capital of Damascus city, beyond Mount Qasioun, and is now an outlying suburb of greater Damascus. It is between al-Hamah and Qudsaya town to the south, and Ashrafiyat al-Wadi to the north. It is about 10 miles (15 km) from the Lebanese border. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 1,156 in the 2004 census.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war from May to December 2013. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
Several incidents have taken place on the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line during the Syrian Civil War, straining the relations between the countries. The incidents are considered a spillover of the Quneitra Governorate clashes since 2012 and later incidents between Syrian Army and the rebels, ongoing on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan and the Golan Neutral Zone and the Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian Civil War. Through the incidents, which began in late 2012, as of mid-2014, one Israeli civilian was killed and at least 4 soldiers wounded; on the Syrian-controlled side, it is estimated that at least ten soldiers were killed, as well as two unidentified militants, who were identified near Ein Zivan on Golan Heights.
The December 2014 Rif Dimashq airstrikes were a series of aerial attacks made on targets in Syria on 7 December 2014. The targets were a military area in Al-Dimas and the Damascus International Airport area.
Events in the year 2015 in Israel.
The January 2015 Mazraat Amal incident was an airstrike against a two-car convoy that killed six Hezbollah fighters, including two prominent commanders, and a general of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, at al-Amal Farms in the Quneitra District of Syria, in the Eastern Golan Heights, on 18 January 2015, during the Syrian Civil War. The attack was largely attributed to Israel, which did not officially confirm that it carried it out. Hezbollah and IRGC held Israel responsible and threatened to retaliate. On 19 January 2015, Al-Nusra Front member Abu Azzam al-Idlibi claimed that Jihad Mughniyeh and the other Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Al-Nusra Front ambush at Jaroud in the Qalamoun Mountains in the Al-Qutayfah District northeast of Damascus, claiming that it "will be the end of the Persian project, God willing."
Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in March 2011, the official position of Israel has been that of strict neutrality. However, due to the Iranian intervention in the conflict, which began in 2013, it has become involved both politically and militarily in attempts to prevent the growing influence and entrenchment of Iranian troops and proxies throughout Syria. Dubbed Operation Chess, Israeli military activity in Syria has primarily been limited to aerial and missile strikes targeting facilities used by Iran and its proxy forces, especially Hezbollah, which entered Syria from Lebanon shortly after the outbreak of the conflict. Before 2017, Israel did not officially acknowledge any of its operations within Syria, many of which have consisted of airstrikes to disrupt weapons shipments to Hezbollah personnel. By August 2022, the British investigative non-profit organization Airwars estimated that 17 to 45 civilians were killed and another 42 to 101 civilians were wounded by Israeli airstrikes in Syria since 2013; Syrian reports place these figures much lower than other foreign actors in the conflict. Between 2013 and September 2018, Israel also provided humanitarian aid to victims of the Syrian civil war, especially following the launching of Operation Good Neighbour in June 2016.
The 2015 Southern Syria offensive, code-named "Operation Martyrs of Quneitra", was an offensive launched in southern Syria during the Syrian Civil War by the Syrian Arab Army, Hezbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces. Government forces also include Iranian sponsored Afghani Shi'ite volunteer militias. The name "Operation Martyrs of Quneitra" refers to the January 2015 Mazraat Amal incident, in which several high level Hezbollah and IRGC members were killed in an Israeli strike.
Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian civil war has been substantial since the beginning of armed insurgency phase of the Syrian civil war in 2011, and evolved into active support for Syrian government forces and troop deployment from 2012 onwards. By 2014, Hezbollah was deployed across Syria. Hezbollah has also been very active in preventing Al-Nusra Front and Islamic State penetration into Lebanon, being one of the most active forces in the Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon.
Mohammad Reza Zahedi was an Iranian military officer. A senior figure within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), he had previously commanded the IRGC Aerospace Force and the IRGC Ground Forces, and was commanding the Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria at the time of his death.
The Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian civil war refers to the Iranian–Israeli standoff in and around Syria during the Syrian conflict. With increasing Iranian involvement in Syria from 2011 onwards, the conflict shifted from a proxy war into a direct confrontation by early 2018.
Events in the year 2024 in Syria.
Razi Mousavi was an Iranian military officer serving in the IRGC's Quds Force. He was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Sayyidah Zaynab, Rif-Dimashq, Syria during the Israel–Hamas war. At the time of his death, Mousavi was described as Iran's most influential military commander in Syria.
The spillover of the Israel–Hamas war in Syria is the impact and military engagements in Syria which are caused by the spillover of the Israel–Hamas war, and constitute a part of the ongoing Middle Eastern crisis. The conflict, originating in the Gaza Strip, has triggered regional tensions and violence, drawing Syria in through direct and indirect confrontations involving Israeli forces, Syrian state actors, and armed groups operating in Syrian territory.
