Israel’s climb-down over Golan air strike: We didn’t know Hizballah’s convoy carried high Iranian officers
Israel Tuesday, Jan. 20, used the media to relay a “clarification” to Tehran, asserting that its air strike over the Golan Sunday did not target Gen. Mohammad “Ali Allah Dadi and his staff of five, who were not known to be traveling in the Hizballah convoy.
A senior Israeli security source said Tuesday that its air attack on a convoy near Quneitra on the Syrian Golan Sunday was intended to strike low-ranking terrorists heading for an attack on the border fence. Israel had received a specific alert, sighted enemy vehicles and targeted them. "For us, this was just a limited tactical operation," said the source. Asked if Israel was expecting Iranian or Hizballah revenge, the security official said: “A response is almost certain, but none of the parties is seeking escalation. We did not intend what happened – definitely not with regard to the Iranian general.”
Implicit in this comment is Israel’s first admission of responsibility for the Golan attack after two days of withholding confirmation or denial.
debkafile: Sharp US intervention was almost certainly behind Israel’s embarrassing “clarification” so as to avert an all-out confrontation that would have put paid to nuclear talks.
Israel’s climb-down over Golan air strike: We didn’t know Hizballah’s convoy carried high Iranian officers
Iranian general was not intended target of Israel’s Golan air strike