Al-Assad to US: Our Response to Any Aggression Direct, "Israel" Sends Diplomatic Assurances

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"Israel" crossed the red lines. It attacked Damascus outskirts.

Directly, the Syrian government sent a clear message: The attack leaves the door for all possibilities.

Syria stationed Tishreen missile batteries aimed at "Israel" and is ready to respond to any future aggression.

It further declared: "We are ready to supply the Lebanese resistance with all the necessary arms."

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, interviewed by CNN, called the air strikes a "declaration of war" by "Israel", while Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi warned they would have "dangerous" implications for the region.

Similarly, the resistance axis vividly announced: Syria is not alone. "Israel" is playing with fire and will receive the crushing response.

The Zionist entity quickly understood the response.

The "Israeli" army deployed two Iron Dome batteries to the northern front following the attack.

It declared a state of alert on its embassies, consulates, and missions around the world.
Mayor of Haifa Yona Yahav convened a special meeting to assess the situation. Yahav ordered that the city's war room be placed on a higher alert.
Soon after that Haaretz reported that the airspace over the entity's north as well as Haifa area are closed off to civilian flights.

The "Israeli" fear on the ground was transferred to the political bureaus.

According to information, "Israel" sought to persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Monday that its recent air strikes around Damascus did not aim to weaken him in the face of the armed groups.

Meanwhile, analysts estimated that the "Israeli" silence on the top official level, was meant to avoid goading Syria into a response, seemed part of a government assessment not to ignite a broader conflict.
""Israel" is trying to avoid an increase in tensions with Syria by making clear that if there is activity, it is only against Hizbullah, not against the Syrian regime," Likud MK and former Military Committee chairman Tzahi Hanegbi told "Israel" Radio.

Hanegbi noted "Israel" had not formally acknowledged carrying out the raids in an effort to allow Assad to save face, adding that Netanyahu began a scheduled visit to China on Sunday to signal the sense of business as usual.
In this context, Yedioth Ahronoth, "Israel's" biggest-selling newspaper, said the Netanyahu government had informed al-Assad through diplomatic channels that it did not intend to meddle in Syria's civil war.

"Given the public remarks being made by senior "Israeli" figures to reassure al-Assad, it's pretty clear what the message is," an "Israeli" official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
This information intersected with others revealed by sources close to the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "Al-Assad informed the Russians that he wants an answer within twenty-four hours on the message he sent to the Americans via Moscow."

The message indicated that in the event of a new "Israeli" aggression against Syria, this means a direct declaration of war and consequently there will be neither warning nor studying for the reaction.
"The command was given for the deployment of modern Russian land- land and air-land missile batteries," the information mentioned, and noted that "the response will be immediate and without returning to the leadership."

In parallel, sources familiar with the matter unveiled that the Russians asked the Syrian leadership not to respond and wait for the US response on this issue.
"Consecutive sources transferred the US clear answer to al-Assad. However, it remains secret."

According to the information, "There is either a joint US-Russian pledge concerning an entire "Israeli" withdrawal from the confrontation in Syria, or a warped answer that will not disrupt the path of the Syrian response, waiting for the correct moment."

However, the sources outweighed the first option, especially in light of US repudiation from prior knowledge of the "Israeli" aggression on Syria.
"The US was not given any warning before air strikes in Syria against what Western and "Israeli" officials say were weapons headed for Hizbullah," a US intelligence official said on Sunday.

The US intelligence official said that the his country was essentially told of the air raids "after the fact" and was notified as the bombs went off.

"It would not be unusual for them to take aggressive steps when there was some chance that some sophisticated weapons system would fall into the hands of people like Hizbullah," the US intelligence official claimed, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Source: News Agencies, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org