New satellite images aired on Channel 2 News on Wednesday evening show the wreckage caused by the alleged Israeli strike on a Hezbollah-bound weapons convoy in Syria.
Channel 2 broadcast satellite images of what it said was the complex, taken eight months before the attack and a few days after it. The before and after images show a burnt road, as well as a crater caused by a bomb that missed its target.
Syria publicly accused Israel of striking a scientific research center northwest of Damascus, denying reports that the strike had targeted a suspected shipment of anti-aircraft missiles en route to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The description of the military research center that Syria claimed the IAF jets targeted fits the definition of Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, which has been labeled a state organization responsible for developing biological and chemical weapons and transferring them to Hezbollah and Hamas.
The images, however, don't show any damage done to a military research facility nearby that Syrians claim had been the target of the reported attack.
Channel 2 said that the second image had been taken by DigitalGlobe, a public company based in the United States. A spokesperson for DigitalGlobe contacted by Reuters confirmed the authenticity of the image and said it had been taken on February 4.
Syrian television had broadcast footage from the military base showing extensive damage to buildings and several heavy military vehicles which appeared capable of carrying missiles.
At least one vehicle, with light desert khaki markings, was equipped with what looked like a satellite dish. Several burnt out cars and trucks, including one with a large hole smashed through the roof of the driver's cabin, could also be seen in the footage, as well as the badly damaged interior of an office.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the attack, though Defense Minister Ehud Barak possibly hinted at Israel's responsibility for the raid when he was was quoted as saying "that’s another proof when we say something, we mean it – we say that we don’t think [Syria] should be allowed to bring advanced weapons systems into Lebanon, and Hezbollah, from Syria when Assad falls."
Earlier this week, American officials told American media outlets that Israel did carry out an air strike in Syria last week, and that the target was a Syrian convoy of trucks carrying weapons.
Reuters contributed to this report.