Damascus is close to concluding a large deal with Russia to procure thousands of advanced anti-tank missiles for the Syrian army.


Some estimates say the deal is worth several hundred million dollars and involves several thousand advanced anti-tank missiles.

Such a development suggests that Israel’s diplomatic efforts to block the sale have failed, the Israeli daily Haaretz has reported.

For years Syria secured anti-tank missiles from the Soviet Union and later from Russia.

During the war against Lebanon last summer, Tel Aviv claimed it found proof that Syria had transferred to Hezbollah advanced Russian-made anti-tank missiles from its arsenal.

Israeli defense officials confirmed that Syria had ordered new stocks of the anti-tank weapons after noting Hezbollah’s successful use of them against Israeli armor in last summer’s fighting in south Lebanon.

Israel and Syria are officially at war, though there have been no open hostilities between them for decades. Syria has demanded the return of the Golan, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed, as the price for any peace deal.

Israel says it will not discuss a formal treaty with its northern neighbor as long as Damascus continues to back Hezbollah and the radical Islamic Hamas group.

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