Confrontation looms as Iran-Israel tension high in Syria
While far from a new phenomenon, Iran and Israel are at a heightened risk of conflict in their confrontation in Syria.
![MIDEAST-CRISIS-SYRIA-LEBANON Hezbollah and Syrian flags are seen fluttering in Fleita, Syria August 2, 2017. REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki - RC15E3E7FA20](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2018/04/RTS1A4MO.jpg/RTS1A4MO.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=ZhDYq9wC)
Another war is taking place within the Syrian war — one between Iran and Israel. This conflict is not new. Rather, it began when Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and Iran rushed to defend the government of defiant Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against his opposition. They saw in Assad the only real and dependable ally in the fight against Israel, in Lebanon, with the Palestinian factions, and Syria’s border with Israel a potential new base that could add to the resistance axis a new card in the war for influence and power in the Middle East.
Israel knew this from the beginning; therefore, its first raid on Syria came as early as Jan. 30, 2013, when Israeli fighter jets hit a target deep inside Syria, a target that American officials told The New York Times was a convoy carrying sophisticated anti-aircraft weaponry.