Russian-Israeli Dispute Erupts over Delivery of S-300 System to Syria

Russia plans to go ahead with arming Syria with the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. (Getty Images)
Russia plans to go ahead with arming Syria with the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. (Getty Images)
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Russian-Israeli Dispute Erupts over Delivery of S-300 System to Syria

Russia plans to go ahead with arming Syria with the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. (Getty Images)
Russia plans to go ahead with arming Syria with the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. (Getty Images)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated that his country intended to provide Syria with the advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems.

He said that the US, British and French strikes against Syria last week lifted “moral obligations” that were deterring Moscow from going through with the deal.

“Now, we have no moral obligations. We had the moral obligations, we had promised not to do it some 10 years ago, I think, upon the request of our known partners,” he said according to RIA.

He added that Moscow had respected the Western claim that supplying Syria with such arms would destabilize the region, even though the system plays a defensive role.

“After the recent attack however, we see no reason to commit to those pledges,” said the minister.

It appears that the delivery of the system is now only awaiting the signal from Russia President Vladimir Putin, in a move that will anger Israel.

An Israeli official had previously threatened to strike the S-300 system if they are deployed in Syria.

The delivery of the system will be a precedent because it will threaten the balance of regional powers.

Russia’s statements on Friday can therefore be interpreted as political and military messages to not only the United States, but Israel as well. Moscow has long preserved a delicate balance with Tel Aviv, while also maintaining ties with its rivals, Tehran and Damascus.

Former head of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate Amos Yadlin had confirmed that Russia will soon deploy the system in Syria.

“A plan has been set in place to deal with this threat. We will return to square one after eliminating this threat, which is exactly what we intend to do.”

The delivery of the S-300 system will not be a long process because the new batteries for these missile had already been sent to Syria in October 2016. This week’s announcement on the system only entails their redeployment at vital Syrian locations, such as airports, instead of their current positions near the Hmeimem and Tartus Russian bases.

Moscow had supplied Syria with the S-300 system in 2016 to counter “Washington’s mounting threats to carry out military operations against Syrian positions.”

The US, meanwhile, is also worried about the new system, not only due to its concern over its ally, Israel, but because it is aware that the S-300 can be merged with the S-400 system.

The merger will form a strong defense against any attack, stated Russian Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov.

Moreover, the US concern can also be traced to who controls the S-300 system in Syria. Having the Russians control the system is one thing, but having the regime control it is another.

Regardless of the discrepancy in estimates over the number of rockets that were intercepted, the truth remains that the Syrian defenses managed to mobilize to confront an attack. This alone is a cause for concern and supplying Damascus with the S-300 will be an even greater concern.

It becomes clear now why the Russia chose this week, in wake of the strike, to announce that it intends to deliver the new missile system to Syria. It was only waiting for the right time to do so and the Western strike was the excuse it needed.



Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb

An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops, even as the military has largely kept to the sidelines in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said previous strikes on Lebanese troops were accidental and that they are not a target of its campaign against Hezbollah.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.

The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Hezbollah has continued to fire regular barrages into Israel, forcing people to race for shelters and occasionally killing or wounding them.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardments in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

Hezbollah fired barrages of rockets into northern and central Israel on Sunday, some of which were intercepted.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating two people in the central city of Petah Tikva, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast and a 70-year-old woman suffering from smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire. The first responders said they also treated two women in their 50s who were wounded in northern Israel.

It was unclear whether the injuries and damage were caused by the rockets or interceptors.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of UN peacekeepers.