The latest escalation comes at a pivotal time for the United States, as Mr. Trump charts the American course in Syria. Israel has struck the T4 air base at least once before, in February, after Israel intercepted what it said was an Iranian drone that had penetrated its airspace. Minutes later, the Israeli military attacked what it called the command-and-control center from which Iran had launched the drone, at the Syrian air base near Palmyra. After a similar attack killed scores of people in the village of Khan Sheikhoun in northwestern Syria a year ago, Mr. Trump ordered missile strikes on the Syrian air base where the attacks had originated. Israel, which shares a frontier with Syria, has been concerned throughout the conflict about the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons.

Source: New York Times April 09, 2018 08:54 UTC