The criminal Israel regime has once again attacked Syria, this time using a Russian Plane as a human shield resulting in it being shot down and the deaths of 15 Russian soldiers.

A Russian military Il-20 aircraft with 14 service members on board was shot down over the coast of Latakia on Monday night after 4 Israeli F16 jets used it as a human shield while launching illegal airstrikes on the Syrian coastal city.

Reports emerged on Monday night of missile and drone attacks on Latakia, Tartus, Homs and Hama within hours of the Russia/Turkey deal on Idlib, a dodgy sounding Donbass style deal, which, while giving terrorist’s undeserved breathing space, is aimed at implementing a demilitarized zone, withdrawal of heavy weapons and removal of Al-Qaeda terror groups, specifically Hayat Tahrir al-Sham the rebranded Al-Qaeda group.

When the Russian Ministry of Defense MOD announced a Russian aircraft had disappeared from radar near Khmeymim Airbase in Syria it was obvious that the plane must have been shot down during an exchange of hostile fire. The party that downed the aircraft was never the main issue, Israel’s responsibility for yet another brazen attack on Syria clearly the reason the Russian plane had been shot down.

France emerged along with Israel as the prime suspects after the Russian military reported missiles had been launched from a French frigate in the Mediterranean on Monday night.

The US/UK/France alliance of ill-intent is determined to launch even bigger airstrikes on Syria, threatening to do so if President Assad uses chemical weapons again. In reality, the pretext for the strike was set when war hawk supremo John Bolton issued a green light on 22 August for terrorists and the White Helmets to carry out a false flag chemical weapons attack in Idlib to be blamed on the Syrian government.

Fellow war hawk Nikki Haley showed the US was mulling attacks even if Syria tried to liberate Idlib at all.

Nikki Haley‏Verified account @nikkihaley

RT @USUN: “We consider any assault on Idlib to be a reckless escalation of the conflict. If Assad, Russia, and Iran continue down the path they are on, the consequences will be dire. The world will hold them responsible.”

France, while parroting the threats to strike if chemical weapons were used, had not made such a threat if conventional weapons were used and yet it was it that launched the missiles at the time the four Israeli jets carried out their attack in what seems to be a coordinated operation.

Russian and Syrian air defenses have long been integrated,

meaning that Russian aircraft appear as Syrian on the radar, making it close to impossible to shoot them down in normal circumstances.

Propagandist media outlet extraordinaire, CNN reported that Syrian air defenses had inadvertently shot down the Russian plane while engaging with the attacking Israeli jets off the coast of Latakia.

Those with an eye for the facts and not blinded by propaganda exercise caution in the immediate aftermath of events such as this. Not so CNN, who reported as fact what their as always anonymous military sources told them. No mention was made that the Israeli jets violated Lebanese airspace which they routinely do, nor that as Syria News reported “State sponsors of terror targeted the Technical Industries building. At this writing, electricity is out in Latakia city.”

In the absence of CNN ever stating it, the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure is a war crime. The very act of Israel attacking Syria without any justification on the grounds of self-defense is an act that violates the UN Charter. Israel trots out the tired old targeting Iranian weaponry (still an illegal act) ignoring that its attack injured seven people.

Once the dust settled and the task was underway to recover the 15 Russian personnel killed, the Russian MOD revealed the devious actions of the Israeli jets that place the blame squarely on the shoulders of Israel.

The Israeli F16s launched their surprise attack against Syrian industrial facilities in Tartus and Latakia, hiding themselves behind the Russian Il-20 which was on patrol in the area.

The Israeli jets approached the coastline at low altitude and must have known the Russian plane was in the area, therefore knowing they were placing it at risk when Syrian air defenses were activated against the attack. RT reported: “The ministry said Israel must have known that they were setting up the Russian plane to be hit by a Syrian counterattack, but failed to either change their approach to targets in Syria or give Moscow enough time to move the Il-20 to safety.”

Israel and Russia have established lines of communication to avoid incidents such as this. This normally involves timely and accurate notification of military operations to avoid hitting each other. In this case, Israel gave Russia 1 minute warning, hardly enough time for a large, relatively slow aircraft to move away from the danger zone. This lack of warning, the masking of the jets behind the Russian plane and the missiles fired by the French frigate at around the same time lead us to believe this was no accident, but a deliberate act to escalate conflict within hours of the Idlib agreement. Recall feeble US attempts to claim the criminal strikes on Syrian forces fighting ISIS in Deir Ezzor in September 2016 was an accident, which quickly became apparent was a deliberate attack to aid ISIS.

Israel was fully aware of the Russian plane in the area, but this did not stop them from executing their provocation. It may very well have been the plan all along, possibly coordinated with the US, whose hand is never far from such devious and outrageous acts of aggression against Syria. The plane was shot down by a Syrian S200 missile targeting the Israeli jets. The S200 has the range to hit Israeli jets out at sea and tragically in this case, the accuracy, but is not the S300, or even the S400. But more about that later.

Russian Defense Minister, Sergey Shoigu spoke to his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman telling him, “The blame for the downing of the Russian plane & the deaths of its crew members lies squarely on the Israeli side. The actions of the Israeli military were not in keeping with the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership, so we reserve the right to respond”

Israel was quiet after the outrageous act, maintaining its usual policy of no comment after its routine acts of aggression against the Syrian state. This was never going to satisfy Russia, cue the call between defense ministers and Russia summoning the Israel Ambassador.

The IDF then released a statement completely blaming Syria for the shooting down of the plane……Oh and Iran……and let’s not forget blame on Hezbollah by deluded and arrogant Israel.

Israel expresses sorrow for the death of the aircrew members of the Russian plane that was downed tonight due to Syrian anti-aircraft fire. Israel holds the Assad regime, whose military shot down the Russian plane, fully responsible for this incident.

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Israel also holds Iran and the Hezbollah terror organization accountable for this unfortunate incident.

Millions of Syrians and for that matter, Russians too, would like the Russians to make Israel pay a military price for this act of aggression. President Putin took the heat out of this, RT covering his statement where he called it a series of tragic events culminating in the shooting down of the plane, Russian families now mourning the loss of their loved ones. He contrasted it to Tukey downing the Russian SU24 in September 2015, calling that a deliberate act. In other words, Putin is calling it an accident.

Anyone who is a friend of both Putin and Donald Trump is never going to be a friend of Syria, and that is exactly what Benjamin Netanyahu is. He was thrilled when Trump was elected president and relations with Russia are so cozy that he was invited as the guest of honor at this year’s victory day parade in Moscow. Putin warned him in April after attacks against the T4 airbase which he said placed Russian personnel at risk, but by May he walked out of a meeting with Putin in Moscow grinning from ear to ear that Russia was not going to limit Israeli attacks against “Iran targets” as he puts it.

Netanyahu has the Russian and US Presidents wrapped around his little finger. This outrage must have consequences and Netanyahu needs to be told party time in Syria is over.

Netanyahu constantly says Israel won’t allow any Iranian presence in Syria. It is time Putin knocked this idea out of his head. Syria will decide who will be present in the country and Iran has been invaluable in defeating terrorists through its military advisers. Israel can’t handle the expanding Iranian influence in the region, Iran being essential in the fight against terrorism in Syria, arming Hezbollah to effectively defend Lebanon, forging close relations with Iraq, drawing closer to both Turkey and Qatar, nullifying US influence in the region and benefiting from the nuclear deal which the Trump regime is currently trying to destroy.

Putin is being conciliatory to Israel, taking the heat out of the crisis, which may not go past a stern warning in the short term.

He did state that extra measures will be taken to guarantee Russian security in Syria. Syrians of course have been subjected to what Israel now admits is 200 strikes in the last 18 months, not counting Monday nights latest illegal act of aggression. Syrians need protecting from the criminal Zionist regime and there are measures which can be taken to protect them which will simultaneously significantly reduce the Israel threat and boost the war on terrorism Syria stands poised to win.

Russia should ensure the following takes place:

No violations of Lebanese airspace. (Lebanon would need to agree on this as Syria and Russia, unlike Israel respect its sovereignty)

No violations of Syrian airspace

Accepting that Syria can and has invited Iran into Syria

Statements of expectation of behavior are not enough and need a bit of deterrence behind them. There can only be two things that can achieve effective deterrence. The supply of the elusive S300 missiles and the engagement of S400 missiles the second Israel violates Syrian or Lebanese airspace.

The tide in the war on terrorism fought by Syria, Hezbollah, Russia, Iran and Iraq turned some time ago. The sponsors of terrorism, the NATO powers, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey have to varying levels begrudgingly accepted this. It is time Israel accepted it and keeps its hands off Syria.

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