Rajeev Agarwal replies: Israel has been known to take unilateral military action on the premise of defending its own security interests. Potential military threats to its national security like weapon consignments, gathering of terrorists at launch pads across Israeli borders, etc., have been targeted by Israel in the past as part of its proactive and pre-emptive security measures.

As regards Syria, this is not the first time it has been targeted by Israeli air strikes. One of the most famous ones was the air strike in 2007 over a suspected nuclear facility in Syria. Even in the ongoing civil war in Syria, the strike at Latakia was the sixth air strike by Israel, as per some reports. Syria is in no position to take any counter action on Israeli air strikes. Also, presently, no one is challenging Israel's right to take out potential military threats unilaterally, even if it means launching operations across into the territory of its neighbours.