'Israel rockets' hit Jamraya facility in Damascus

BBC News online - 4 May 2013

Unverified footage posted online claimed to show the explosion at the Jamraya research centre

Syrian state TV says Israeli rockets have hit a research centre on the outskirts of the capital Damascus.

Huge explosions have been heard near the Jamraya facility, which Western officials have in the past suggested is involved in chemical weapons research.
The site was the target of an Israeli strike in January.

Earlier, Israeli officials speaking on condition of anonymity said that on Friday Israeli aircraft had attacked a shipment of missiles inside Syria.

The missiles were believed to be destined for Hezbollah militants in neighbouring Lebanon.
The latest attacks come amid reports of massacres in a campaign of sectarian cleansing near the coastal region of central Syria.

Heavy explosions shook Damascus overnight. Amateur footage posted online claimed to show the blasts at the Jamraya research centre, on Mount Qassioun overlooking Damascus.
Residents told the BBC that military bases in the area had also been hit.

"The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups, which have been reeling from strikes by our noble army," Syrian state TV said, referring to recent offensives by President Bashar al-Assad's forces against rebels.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted eyewitnesses in the area as saying they saw jets in the sky at the time of the explosions.

The activist group monitors human rights violations on both sides of the conflict via a network of contacts across Syria.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials on the latest explosions.
"We don't respond to this kind of report," an Israeli army spokeswoman told Reuters news agency.
Earlier, unnamed US-based Israeli officials confirmed Israel had launched an air strike inside Syria on Friday, targeting a consignment of missiles bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Israel has repeatedly said it would act if it felt Syrian weapons were being transferred to militant groups in the region, especially Hezbollah, the BBC's Wyre Davies, in Jerusalem, reports.
Earlier this week, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon acknowledged that Israel had already launched an air strike in January against a Syrian target, identified by previous reports as the Jamraya facility.

Mr Yaalon said that the transfer of sophisticated weapons to radical militant groups like Hezbollah was a red line, and Israel had acted when it was crossed.

Analysis

Jim Muir BBC News, Beirut

It's hard to know whether these atrocities are part of a plan of some sort, or simply part of the ebb and flow of action and reaction as the struggle for control of Syria intensifies.
What activists omit to say is that there was fighting in the area before the village of al-Bayda was overrun by government forces and militia on Thursday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says there were clashes there and soldiers were killed before army and militia forces finally stormed in. That in no way justifies the apparent massacre of women and children. But there is a distinction between brutal reaction, and spontaneous execution of a cold-blooded plan to displace the Sunni population.
The accusation levelled by opposition leaders, reportedly including the chief of staff of the Free Syrian Army, General Selim Idris, is that this was part of a campaign of sectarian cleansing ordered from the top, in preparation for the establishment of some kind of Alawite entity.
It's impossible to know whether there is such a plan. But on the ground, events seem to be bringing about an unscrambling of populations, as happened during the years of civil war in neighbouring Lebanon.

US President Barack Obama reaffirmed on Friday that clear evidence of chemical weapons would be a "game changer", but that any response would not be rushed.

However his administration is no longer ruling out supplying weapons to the rebels.

Syrian troops and opposition forces have been fighting around Damascus for months but with neither side gaining the upper hand.

More than 70,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in March 2011.
In a separate development, hundreds of Syrian families have fled the coastal area of central Syria amid reports of massacres.

Activists said that more than 100 people, including women and children, were killed in summary executions in the Sunni village of al-Bayda and the nearby coastal town of Baniyas.

There was fighting in the area before al-Bayda was overrun by government forces and the Alawite shabiha militia on Thursday.

The BBC's Jim Muir reports from neighbouring Lebanon says there was a strong sectarian dimension to the reported actions.

Alawites, who make up about 10% of the Syrian population, have largely stayed loyal to President Assad.

The Syrian government said it had fought back "terrorist groups" and restored security to the area.
The US said it was "appalled by the horrific reports" but that it did not foresee sending US troops to tackle Syria's civil war.