destruction in Syria
destruction in SyriaAFP file

Syrian authorities claimed on Wednesday they had discovered Israeli equipment in the country.

The official Syrian SANA news agency reported that after monitoring and investigations, the local authorities had discovered what was described as “Israeli espionage equipment” in an area on the Syrian coast.

An official source told SANA that after examining the equipment, it was discovered that its functions included wiretapping, photography, recording, and broadcasting information. The report did not indicate exactly where this equipment had been located.

In the two years in which the civil war in Syria has gone on, the Syrian government several times claimed that Israeli-made weapons and equipment have been found in its territory.

In February of last year, Syrian security forces claimed to have captured an “armed gang” whose members possessed weapons manufactured in Israel and in the United States.

The weapons, which were allegedly seized in a neighborhood in the city of Homs, were described as “high-quality weapons" and included sniper rifles, mortars, missiles and other explosives.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) rejected the claims, saying President Bashar Al-Assad was trying “to scare the people. The fact is that Al-Assad family's regime alone has been the agent of Israel for 40 years. It is starting today to claim that it is the target of an Israeli-American conspiracy and at times claims it is targeted by Al-Qaeda organization. We assert there are no foreign gunmen in Syria other than the fighters of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah who are fighting alongside this regime for its survival.”

Several months earlier Syria also claimed it found a Peugeot 404 car loaded with Israeli weapons, explosive devices, ammunition and stolen military uniforms.

The Syrian government has often blamed foreign forces for inciting the protests and arming the rebels seeking to oust Assad. The authorities have more than once claimed that “armed terrorists” are the reason for the full mobilization of military forces in Syria.