Hezbollah chief says Israel fighting ‘imaginary battle’ in Syria

May 14, 2020

The leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah accused Israel yesterday of targeting missile-manufacturing sites in Syria as part of an “imaginary battle” against Iranian troops. 

“Israel sees the missile production capability on Syrian soil a threat, which is why it attacks everything connected with missile production in Syria,” Hassan Nasrallah said during televised remarks. 

Since 2011, Israel has launched airstrikes into neighboring Syria targeting Hezbollah, Iranian troops and Iranian-backed militias fighting on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In recent weeks, war monitors have reported a series of alleged Israeli strikes against Iranian targets near the capital Damascus, the eastern Deir Ez-Zor region and Aleppo province. 

Nasrallah insisted only Iranian “military advisers and experts,” not troops, were present in Syria.

He also took aim at Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett’s stated goal of ridding Syria of Iranian forces within a year, and turning the war-torn country into Tehran’s “Vietnam.”