Israel and Russia show its “military muscle” in Syria

A few hours after Syrian President Bashar al-Asad met with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Damascus, at least nine pro-Iranian militiamen were killed during an attack - attributed to Israel - on the monumental city of Palmyra in the center of the country. 

The country led by Reuven Rivlin considers a threat to its security that Iran supports militias loyal to Al-Asad. For this reason, incursions by Israel into Syrian territory have become a constant, since the beginning of Syria's civil war in 2011. These attacks are often directed against the positions of the Islamic Republic and its allies. The latest of these took place in early April, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an air strike on Al-Shayrat airfield, located a few kilometers south of the city of Homs.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based organization, has indicated that, among the militiamen killed, there are three who are Syrian nationals and six of unknown nationality. During the last hours, the Syrian state news agency, SANA, has explained that the Sana-Air defenses of the Syrian Army faced on Monday night an "Israeli aggression" over Palmyra and shot down several "hostile missiles".  

The Times of Israel, after reporting the incident, said that although Israel doesn't assume direct responsibility for these attacks, it' s true that on some occasions they have recognized that they have made incursions into the country.  
 

In this scenario of interests, Russia also plays a fundamental role. During the last few hours, several photographs have been published showing a Russian warship transiting the Bosphorus Strait to Syria, according to several local media sources such as Al-Masdar News. The 41st Missile Boat Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet, as recorded by maritime observer Yoruk Isik, had entered the Mediterranean after crossing the Bosphorus Strait.  

This ship is armed with SS-N-30/Kalibr 3M-14 land attack missiles and had sailed the waters of the Mediterranean previously, according to information published in these media. In November, for example, Russia sent a frigate equipped with cruise missiles into the Mediterranean Sea. 

At the same time, the Russian news agency TASS said on Tuesday that "the ship's crew is making a planned transit from Sevastopol to the Mediterranean Sea. During the transit, the ship's crew conducted a series of on-board combat exercises in the fleet's combat training camps in the Black Sea". The ship's goal is to join the Russian Navy's working group in the Mediterranean, according to the statement. 

The same agency has explained that the new permanent Russian squadron aims to "deal with planned and urgent combat missions" that are emerging in the Mediterranean. Such actions include those that serve to protect Russia against any kind of threat to its national and military security. The deployment of this Russian warship in the Eastern Mediterranean has taken place following the latest incidents between Russia and the United States on Syrian territory. The latest of these took place this Sunday, when the Russian Air Force intercepted a US plane over the Black Sea.

While Russia shows off its arsenal in the Mediterranean, U.S. forces in northeast Syria have been attacked. This incident has taken place in Al-Hasaka Governorate, as the Syrian state news agency, SANA, reported on Monday. "Unidentified persons attacked on Monday a vehicle of the American occupation forces at the crossing of Roueished village in the southern rural area of Al-Hasaka, which caused the destruction of the vehicle and injured several American soldiers," they said.  

The attack occurred two weeks after a United States Armed Forces command and two Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militiamen were killed in a trap set by unidentified armed personnel in the town of Al-Sour in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

Syria has become in a war of foreign interests, where those who suffer most are the hundreds and hundreds of civilians who haven't even had the chance to flee to a safe' place.  The chaos and instability - which has become a constant in the country over the last ten years - has intensified with the arrival of the pandemic caused by COVID-19. In the last few hours, the first case of coronavirus has been recorded in the northwest of the country. 
 

Following the arrival of this news, Sonia Khush, director of response for Save the Children Syria, said in a press release that she hopes "that this first case of COVID-19 can be contained or the consequences are unthinkable. In northeast Syria there are less than 30 beds in the intensive care unit, only ten adult ventilators and one pediatric ventilator". 

At the same time, she has warned that this situation may be critical because of the conditions in which the hundreds of people in the refugee camps are living. "How are they going to wash their hands often in these camps? How can anyone socially distance themselves in highly overcrowded shelters that used to function as schools," she has asked herself. 

The objectives of some of the countries that are present in the conflict in Syria - such as Turkey or Russia - oscillate between pursuing their ambitions, on the one hand, and tackling the security threats for which they are partly responsible, on the other. After ten years of war, the conflict in Syria has taken on new dimensions that have meant that, at the moment, the future is not being played out on Syrian soil, even though thousands of people are losing their lives in the meantime; rather, it will be resolved at a high political level and with the involvement of several foreign powers.