Syria:

Just how unusual is last night's Israeli attack in the Al Zabadani area, close to the Syrian-Lebanese border?

The rural town of Al Zabadani is located close by to the Syrian-Lebanese border (approximately 8km from the border) (1/10)

is in the center of green valley surrounded by relatively tall mountains. Authorities did not bother updated the population number, as of 2004 the town had a population of some 26k residents, most are Sunni Muslims and the rest are Christian. (2/10)
Ever since the very beginning of the last decade the town (which is roughly 70km from the Israeli border) is used as a very important and comfortable weapons and munitions smuggling point. (3/10)
Those weapons and munitions are transfered from Iran to Syria which is used as the entry point to Lebanon. When the Syrian civil war broke in 2011 Hezbollah stood by Assad and fought alongside the Syrian army against the rebels. (4/10)
In 2015 Hezbollah successful took over Al Zabadani Hezbollah is still very active and present in the area to this day (5/10)
In the past, multiple attacks (including a few high profile attacks) were carried out by Israel in the area:
(6/10)
24.2.2015 - Israeli attack in the area targeting weapons storehouses and a large motorcade carrying rockets which was intended to arrive in Lebanon - multiple Hezbollah casualties were reported. (7/10)
6.12.2016 - an attack which was credited to Israel, a bunch of Hezbollah posts and munitions' wearhouses were attacked. No casualties reported. (8/10)
1.7.2019 - attack carried out by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) and Israeli Navy, a bunch of Hezbollah posts and munitions' wearhouses were attacked. Casualties were reported, but a specific number could not be confirmed. (9/10)
30.12.2020 - IAF attack targeting weapons storehouses and anti aircraft batteries. One casualty was reported by the Syrian army. (10/10)

More from World

Watch the entire discussion if you have the time to do so. But if not, please make sure to watch Edhem Eldem summarizing ~150 years of democracy in Turkey in 6 minutes (starting on 57'). And if you can't watch it, fear not; I've transcribed it for you (as public service). Thread:


"Let me start by saying that I am a historian, I see dead people. But more seriously, I am constantly torn between the temptation to see patterns developing over time, and the fear of hasty generalizations and anachronistic comparisons. 1/n

"Nevertheless, the present situation forces me to explore the possible historical dimensions of the problem we're facing today. 2/n

"(...)I intend to go further back in time and widen the angle in order to focus on the confusion I  believe exists between the notions of 'state', 'government', and 'public institutions' in Turkey. 3/n

"In the summer of 1876, that's a historical quote, as Midhat Pasa was trying to draft a constitution, Edhem Pasa wrote to Saffet Pasa, and I quote in Turkish, 'Bize Konstitusyon degil enstitusyon lazim' ('It is not a constitution we need but institutions'). 4/n

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