Israel struck tens of Iranian targets in Syria following rocket attacks on the Jewish state earlier the day.
By TPS
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday night carried out a series of strikes against tens of Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria in response to a rocket attack by Iranian-backed militia on Israel earlier in the day.
The IDF stated that it carried out “wide-scale strikes on Iranian Quds Force and Syrian Armed Forces targets in Syria in response to the rockets fired at Israel by an Iranian force in Syria” early Tuesday morning.
The targets included surface-to-air missiles, headquarters, weapons caches and military bases in Syria, the IDF stated, while providing a detailed map of the locations of the attacks.
During the IAF’s strike, the Syrian air defense fired missiles at the IAF fighters, despite “clear warnings” by Israel to Syria to refrain from such fire. The IAF responded by destroying a number of Syrian aerial defense batteries, the IDF said.
While Syria’s official SANA news reported that two people were killed in the attack and another two were injured, a Britain-based war monitoring group reported that 11 people were killed, with seven of the casualties assumed to be Iranians, according to the Associated Press.
The Israeli attack was conducted from the Golan Heights and from Lebanese airspace, and the “majority” of the Israeli missiles were intercepted by Syria’s air defense system, the report claimed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which has assets on the ground in Syria, reported that the Israeli strike generated explosions that were heard in the capital Damascus and its vicinity.
The SOHR noted that the Israeli attacks were conducted in areas “where the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian militias are active,” and that the strike targeted “sites from which the four missiles were launched from inside the Syrian territory” on the Golan Heights earlier in the day.
“We hold the Syrian regime responsible for the actions that take place in Syrian territory and warn them against allowing further attacks against Israel,” the IDF stated.
“We will continue operating firmly and for as long as necessary against the Iranian entrenchment in Syria,” the army added.
“The Iranian attack on Israeli territory yesterday is further proof of the reason for Iran’s presence in Syria. This establishment is a danger to Israel’s security, regional stability, and the Syrian regime,” stated IDF Spokesperson, Brigadier General Hidai Zilberman. “We will not accept Iran’s establishment on our border and will act against it.”