JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli warplanes flew over the home of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday, as Israeli forces conducted operations in Gaza to save a kidnapped soldier. The mission was the latest in a dramatic series of events raising tensions in the Middle East, including Israeli military raids into Gaza, where Cpl. Gilad Shalit was believed to be held captive by groups linked with Syria. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that Israeli planes had flown over the Syrian president's country home and Israeli television reported al-Assad was at home at the time. Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres has complained that Syria allowed Hamas political leaders based in Damascus to order Shalit's kidnapping. Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Army Radio Wednesday that Israel sought to assassinate Hamas' Syria-based political chief, Khalid Meshaal, according to The Associated Press. Three Palestinian militant groups said they were behind the 19-year-old corporal's kidnapping on Sunday: Hamas' military wing Izzedine al Qassam, the Army of Islam and the Popular Resistance Committees. The last group also claims to hold another hostage: 18-year-old Israeli settler Eliyahu Yitzhak Asheri. Overnight Israeli aircraft hit Gaza's main electricity plant and key bridges that link the the Palestinian territory's northern and southern regions. (Watch a bomber's view of the airstrike -- 2:21) Later on Wednesday Israel issued a warning to residents of northern Gaza to leave their homes. As dusk fell, Israeli tanks could be seen firing into the northern Gaza area, which Palestinians have been using for months to fire rockets at Israel. Earlier raids were focused on the southern end of the territory. The Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority on Wednesday called for a swap with Israel -- Shalit in exchange for thousands of jailed Palestinians. The PRC said the settler, Asheri, would be "butchered" unless Israel stopped its raid into southern Gaza. In addition, The Associated Press reported that militants allied with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party claimed to hold a third captive, a 62-year-old Israeli from the central city of Rishon Lezion, whom they did not name. Israeli police told AP that a 62-year-old man was missing, whom they identified as Noah Moskovitch. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas told Reuters that Israel is worsening the crisis with its raids. "We stress that the occupation must stop the military escalation in order not to complicate the situation and worsen the crisis," said Haniya. "We are following the existing crisis relating to the missing soldier ... We hope that this case will be a concluded in a suitable way." No casualties have been reported in the Israeli military raids, the largest since Israel pulled thousands of troops and settlers from Gaza last year after 38 years of occupation. Taher Nono, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry, said the ministry was calling on Arab governments to press for a "negotiated settlement" for the released of the Israeli soldier in exchange for jailed Palestinians, "especially women, children, the elderly and the sick prisoners" and long-term inmates. The Palestinian Authority government said that Israel holds some 9,800 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev said to bargain with the Palestinian Authority over hostages would only result in more hostage incidents. "People who take civilians and soldiers hostage and try to get ransom or to threaten us, it will not benefit them," Regev said. "It has to be a clear message, I think, from all democracies: If you take a hostage you are outside international norms, and you cannot expect to gain from hostage-taking." NEWS ALERT Syria says its air defenses fired at Israeli jets flying over the president's house, forcing them to flee, The Associated Press reports.
I'm sure the Israeli pilots were just doing their part in the diplomatic process by giving Assad the one finger salute.
I'm sure the leader of Syria likes to get buzzed just like 99% of the rest of the population, but not like this.....
I would also think that the Syrian president could afford beach front property in his own country. Why in the world would he want to own a house in Gaza?
I guess it was in Syria. The original story was about Gaza, so I got confused. Syrian air defenses fire on Israeli jets DAMASCUS, Syria - Air defenses fired on Israeli warplanes that entered Syrian airspace early Wednesday and forced them to flee, state TV said as Mideast tensions escalated over the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants. ADVERTISEMENT State-run Syrian television said two Israeli planes flew near Syria's Mediterranean coast early Wednesday, and "national air defenses opened fire in the direction of the planes, and they dispersed." The announcement did not mention a claim by Israeli military officials that the fighter jets buzzed the summer residence of President Bashar Assad in the coastal city of Latakia. The officials said on condition of anonymity that Assad was targeted because of the "direct link" between Syria and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group holding Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, in the Gaza Strip. Syria hosts Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' exiled supreme leader. "The overflight by two Israeli planes near the Syrian shores is an aggressive act and a provocation," the television news said, quoting an Information Ministry official it did not identify. Wednesday's flyover was the second time Israel has buzzed Assad's summer palace. In August 2003, warplanes reportedly flew so low that windows in the palace shattered. At the time, Israel said the flyover was aimed at pressuring Assad to dismantle Palestinian militant groups based in his country. In October 2003, an Israeli warplane bombed an Islamic Jihad training base deep in Syria. It was the first attack on Syrian soil in more than two decades. The airstrike followed a suicide bombing by Islamic Jihad that killed 19 Israelis in a restaurant. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks.
Mashugana: Muhammad, this is Mashugana requesting flyby? Air Boss Muhammad: That's a negative ghostrider, the pattern is full. WHOOOOSH!
Another 'buzzing' incident... Iranian drone plane buzzes U.S. aircraft carrier in Persian Gulf http://en.rian.ru/onlinenews/20060530/48833304.html TEHRAN, May 30 (RIA Novosti) - A pilotless Iranian reconnaissance plane circled for 25 minutes over a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf before returning safely to its base, a senior Iranian official said Tuesday. "Our pilotless reconnaissance plane flew over the USS Ronald Reagan in the Persian Gulf unnoticed to the Americans for 25 minutes," the official said, according to Iran's Fars agency. He did not say when the flight took place, but added that U.S. radars picked up the unmanned aerial vehicle after 25 minutes, and that four USAF fighters and two helicopters were scrambled to intercept it. However, the Iranian plane had already crossed the border back into Iran and landed at its base. "This points to holes in the U.S. military reconnaissance systems deployed in the Persian Gulf," the Iranian official said.
