Israel closes air space in the North

End Of Days News

The Arkia airline Sunday afternoon suspended flights from Haifa to Eilat, informing travelers that the airspace of northern Israel has been closed until further notice due to the high tension on its northern borders.

Read More: http://www.debka.com/newsupdatepopup/4320/

Syrian official: Israel has declared war

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Israel said to hit arms depot, first daylight images reveal

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Israel targeted Syrian air defense units as well as an arms and ammunition warehouse, Hezbollah TV station Al-Manar claimed Sunday afternoon, broadcasting the first daylight video images of the site northwest of Damascus that was hit overnight.

Israel attacked an arms warehouse in the Dimass area, 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of the capital Damascus, near the border with Lebanon, al-Manar reported. The video footage shows mortar shells and rockets scattered on the ground, as plumes of black smoke rise from the site amid the sound of exploding ammunition in the background.

The second site attacked by Israel, claimed the al-Manar website, was a chicken coop owned by the Syrian army, surrounded by military factories producing cement and tea. According to al-Manar, “a number” of soldiers and civilians were killed in the attack.

Read More: http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-hit-arms-depot-first-daylight-images-reveal/

Iraqi Shiite leader urges Syria to strike back at Israel

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Amid reports of a second Israeli airstrike on Syria over the weekend, an Iraqi Shiite leader on Sunday urged Damascus to retaliate against Israel and called on his followers to defend Syria’s prestige in the face of alleged Israeli aggression.

Analysts said the call by Muqtada al-Sadr was unlikely to translate into concrete action by Iraqis, but suggested that the reported Israeli strikes could provide the Shiite powers — Hezbollah and Iran in particular — with a means of turning attention away from their intervention in Syria.

“The illegal Zionist entity hasn’t ceased infringing on rights of the Arabs and Muslims in its illegal seizure of land of Palestine, nor has the Arab and Islamic stance ceased to be timid as a result of its illegal acts of aggression and crimes,” Sadr said in a statement translated by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi of the Middle East Forum.

Read More: http://www.timesofisrael.com/iraqi-shiite-leader-urges-syria-to-strike-back-at-israel/

Haifa mayor orders preparations for possible Syrian retaliation

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Haifa’s mayor ordered the northern city to increase its preparedness and gear up to defend itself against a possible retaliatory attack after Israeli planes reportedly hit targets inside Syria twice over the past three days.

Yona Yahav held meetings in order to coordinate the city’s positions with the Home Front Command, police, fire department and MDA. Procedures for opening shelters and absorption centers were discussed as well.

The move followed the placing of two Iron Dome batteries in northern Israel by the Israel Defense Forces on Sunday, amid reports that Syria saw the strikes as a “declaration of war.”

“City Hall is a body which residents approach in case of emergency and we must prepare accordingly,” Yahav said.

Two weeks ago, the Knesset held a special meeting on protecting the city’s large chemical stores, an attack on which could lead to thousands of deaths.

Late last month, Israeli planes shot down a drone off the coast near the city, thought to have been sent by Hezbollah or Iran. Hezbollah denied sending the unmanned aircraft.

Read More: http://www.timesofisrael.com/haifa-mayor-orders-preparations-for-possible-syrian-retaliation/

Pro-Hezbollah TV station: Assad deploys missiles facing Israel

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In what an Israeli analyst described as “psychological warfare” by Hezbollah, a Lebanese satellite TV station claimed Sunday evening that Syria has deployed missiles targeting Israel in the wake of two Israeli strikes on Iranian missile shipments in Damascus.

The pro-Hezbollah station Al-Mayadeen quoted unnamed “high-ranking sources” saying that “Syria has placed missile batteries directed at occupied Palestine.”

The report on the station’s website also claimed that Syria was now “prepared to arm the resistance in Lebanon” — Hezbollah — “with all forms of weapons,” including “new and high-quality weapons which it has not previously provided.”

Read More: http://www.timesofisrael.com/pro-hezbollah-tv-station-assad-deploys-missiles-facing-israel/

‘Strike in Syria sends a message to Iran,’ says former intel chief

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Sunday morning’s strike inside Syrian territory, which reportedly targeted advanced Iranian missiles headed for Hezbollah, was primarily a message for Iran, former IDF intelligence chief Amos Yadlin said on Sunday.

“Iran is testing Israel’s and the US’s determination to uphold ‘red lines.’ And what it is seeing in Syria is that at least some of the actors take red lines seriously,” said Yadlin.

The comment was an oblique criticism of the United States administration: President Barack Obama said last August that any use by President Bashar Assad of chemical weapons would cross a “red line.” Assad has used chemical weapons against rebel targets in recent weeks.

Read More: http://www.timesofisrael.com/strike-in-syria-sends-a-message-to-iran-says-former-intel-chief/

Israel's aggression opens door to all possibilities - Syrian Information Minister

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Syria's information minister says those who infringe on Syria's sovereignty must "study their choices carefully." He said that Israel has "proved its link to terrorist groups." Israel has reportedly carried out a second air strike on Israel in two days.

In a Sunday statement, Omran al-Zoabi added that it is Damascus' duty to "protect the state from any domestic or foreign attack through all available means."

The minister's comments came after an emergency cabinet meeting organized to respond to what a Western source called a new strike on Iranian missiles bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah, Reuters reported.

The Arab League has condemned the alleged strike on Syria and urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to act, reports Lebanon's Naharnet news outlet. This follows reports of condemnation from Egyptian, Lebanese and Iranian leaders.

The country's Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the UN and the UN Security Council protesting "Israeli aggression" that killed and wounded several people and "caused widespread destruction." It also said the attacks aimed "to give direct military support to terrorist groups " fighting the government.

Read More: http://rt.com/news/israel-syria-air-strike-842/

Syria: Israel’s airstrikes are a ‘declaration of war’

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Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad warned Sunday that recent Israeli airstrikes on facilities near Damascus constituted an Israeli “declaration of war.”

The Foreign Ministry confirmed in a letter to the United Nations that the strikes had “killed and wounded several people.”

The minister asserted that the attacks reflected an alliance between Islamic terrorists fighting against President Bashar Assad’s regime and Israel, and warned that Syria would retaliate as and when it saw fit.Mekdad made the statement during an interview with CNN on Sunday, hours after Israel reportedly struck military targets on the outskirts of Damascus for the second time in 48 hours.

Syrian officials made similar threats after an alleged Israeli airstrike on a weapons convey near the Lebanese-Syrian border at the end of January 2013.

The Foreign Ministry in Damascus said the attacks aimed “to give direct military support to terrorist groups” fighting the government.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry also said Sunday in a letter sent to the United Nations and the UN Security Council that the “Israeli aggression” killed and wounded several people and “caused widespread destruction.”

Read More: http://www.timesofisrael.com/syria-israels-airstrikes-are-a-declaration-of-war/