An article published last week by Reuters featured a bewilderingly one-sided explanation of recent tensions between Iran and Israel. What is described as an attempt to expose the “Zionist Regime[‘s] hit and run” activities conveniently omits crucial background information detailing Tehran’s direct attacks against the Jewish state.
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Iran’s “Terror Infrastructure” Inside Syria Targets Israel
The Reuters article, written by Parisa Hafezi, states:
Iran on Sunday vowed to defeat any Israeli attempt to harm it’s role in Syria, saying the era of “hit and run” attacks by Israel there was over, days after Israel carried out air strikes on the Syrian army and the Iranian paramilitary targets in the country.”
It goes on to say that, “The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said at least 10 people were killed during the attack.”
The piece failed to mention, however, that these particular strikes were conducted in response to the Israel Defense Forces’ discovery in the Golan Heights of bombs planted by Iran’s elite Quds Force Unit 840. Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, said the secretive unit was in charge of constructing “terror infrastructure” outside of Iran that could be used to target Western assets and members of the Iranian opposition.
Unit 840 was also allegedly behind a similar plot in August, when four armed men attempted to plant explosives inside an unmanned military outpost located along the Israel-Syria border. The IDF thwarted the attack just as the perpetrators were crossing into Israeli territory.
Another important detail that the author omitted is that the regime of Bashar al-Assad has allowed Iranian forces to use Syria as a launch pad for attacks on Israel.
As such, many analysts construed the IDF’s recent retaliatory measures as a two-fold message: First, that Israel will never allow Iran to establish permanent military infrastructure along its frontier with Syria, and, second, that Jerusalem holds Damascus responsible for facilitating Tehran’s ambition to destroy the Jewish state.
Related Reading: All You Need to Know About The Hezbollah Threat to Israel
Left Unmentioned By Reuters: Iranian Drone Penetrates Israeli Airspace
Neither does the article include any information on Iran’s violation of Israeli sovereignty. In 2018, for example, an Iranian drone was launched towards Israel from an airfield near Palmyra, Syria. The Islamic Republic intended to use the unmanned aerial vehicle to acquire information to be used for a future attack on Israeli civilians.
After crossing into Israeli territory for about 1.5 minutes, the IDF successfully intercepted the drone. The Islamic Republic, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, “…is dragging the entire region into an adventure whose end is shrouded in darkness. It [infiltration into Israel of an Iranian drone] was a grievous violation of Israeli sovereignty by Iran.”
Iranian-aligned in Syria forces then began firing anti-aircraft missiles at Israel, resulting in the downing of a fighter jet.
Iran’s attempts to penetrate Israeli airspace are well worth mentioning. Yet, Reuters instead chose to portray Israel as engaging in “hit and run attacks.” As a result, news readers are only getting part of the story.
During a period when the Islamic Republic’s role in various conflict in the Middle East is under growing scrutiny, news organizations are obligated to paint the full picture of a complex situation; that is, to report the facts accurately.
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