• As 30 civilians dead in anti-ISIS strikes in Syria: Monitor

It has never been a particularly well-kept secret that Israel has conducted clandestine airstrikes in Syrian territory over recent years. But this week, Benjamin Netanyahu  seemed to not only admit that these strikes had occurred, but that they had occurred “dozens” of times.

The Israeli prime minister made this admission accidentally — all thanks to a hot mic.

Netanyahu’s remarks came during a meeting with Eastern European leaders in Budapest on Wednesday. Although the meeting occurred behind closed doors, the Israeli leader’s microphone remained on and his voice was transmitted to headphones given to reporters earlier.

Speaking to the leaders of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, Netanyahu said Israel had specifically targeted Iranian weapons shipments to the Lebanese militia Hezbollah in Syria, where Hezbollah is helping bolster Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the ongoing civil war.

“We blocked the border not only in Egypt but in the Golan Heights,” he said, according to an account from Haaretz newspaper. “We built the wall because there was a problem with ISIS and Iran trying to build a terror front there. I told [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, when we see them transferring weapons to Hezbollah, we will hurt them. We did it dozens of times.” ISIS is an alternative acronym for the Islamic State militant group.

It’s not quite the first time that Israel has acknowledged carrying out military actions in Syria. In late June, Israel announced that it had struck three Syrian army targets in the Golan Heights after errant fire landed in Israeli-controlled territory.

In April, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported that an Israeli airstrike had hit buildings being used to store weapons for Hezbollah near Damascus International Airport. That evening, Israel said it was forced to deploy its Patriot missile defense system to intercept an incoming projectile from Syria — an apparent attempt at retaliation.

But, generally, Israel has declined to talk about such actions. Despite the country’s long-standing animosity with the Syrian government and a tense border in the Golan Heights, Israel has tried to keep itself out of Syrian affairs for fear of inadvertently aiding extremist groups such as the Islamic State or al-Qaeda.

It was only recently, as the Syrian war has dragged on, that the situation has evolved. Israel now seems more concerned about the threat posed by Hezbollah and other Iran-backed forces helping Assad in Syria, who could end up occupying territory near Israel’s border as conflict slows down.

Netanyahu’s comments about Syria came in the midst of a broader conversation about the European Union — an institution that he has deemed “crazy” for the way it deals with Israel. “The European Union is the only association of countries in the world that conditions the relations with Israel — that produces technology in every area — on political conditions. The only ones. Nobody does it,” Netanyahu said, adding that Russia, China and India remained willing to separate their economic ties from politics.

In the meantime, at least 30 civilians were killed today in separate bombing raids by the US-led coalition and pro-regime warplanes on jihadist-held territory in Syria, a monitor said.

Fifteen of the victims died in coalition air strikes on a village near the Islamic State group’s stronghold of Raqa, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The strikes this morning hit the village of Zur Shammar, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Raqa on the southern banks of the Euphrates River,” said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

“The victims included three children and four women,” he added.

The US-led coalition is providing air support to Arab and Kurdish fighters battling to oust IS from Raqa and the wider province.

To the southeast, Syrian government forces backed by their Russian allies are fighting IS in the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor.

Suspected Russian air strikes today killed another 15 civilians – mostly children – in an IS-held village in that province, the Observatory said.

The dead were two families, Abdel Rahman said, “a man, his two wives, and their seven children, and a second family of two parents and three children.”

More than 330,000 people have died since Syria’s conflict erupted in 2011 with anti-government protests that have evolved into a complex proxy war.

The Britain-based Observatory – which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information – says it determines what planes carried out raids according to their type, location, flight patterns and the munitions involved.

MSN with additional report from Zee