On Wednesday, Israel struck dozens of Iranian targets in Syria in a wide-scale attack. The strikes were in response to rocket fire on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights the day before.
A Britain-based war monitoring group said the Israeli airstrikes killed 11 people, including seven non-Syrians who are most likely Iranians.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets hit multiple targets belonging to Iran’s elite Quds force, including surface-to-air missiles, weapons warehouses and military bases. After the Syrian military fired an air defense missile, the Israeli military said it destroyed a number of Syrian aerial defense batteries.
The airstrikes targeted arms depots belonging to the Quds Force in the Damascus suburbs of Kisweh and Qudsaya. Israel targeted several other areas including the Mazzeh airbase in western Damascus where air defense units are stationed.
The Assad regime claimed that Syrian air defenses destroyed most of the Israeli missiles before they reached their targets. Assad air defenses are ill-equipped to threaten Israeli military superiority.
ISRAEL STRUCK DOZENS OF IRANIAN TARGETS IN SYRIA
Wednesday’s strikes on Syria were the most intense since Jan. 21, when Israel claimed responsibility for a series of airstrikes on Iranian military targets. They included munition storage facilities, an intelligence site and a military training camp.
The latest strikes further burst into the open what’s been a long shadow war between Israel and its archenemy Iran. The two foes have increasingly clashed over what Israel says is Iran’s deeper presence along its borders.
The Israeli military said in a statement:
Yesterday’s Iranian attack towards Israel is further clear proof of the purpose of the Iranian entrenchment in Syria, which threatens Israeli security, regional stability and the Syrian regime.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said the significance of the operation was the “multitude of targets” Israel destroyed.
Israel struck several important targets, he said, including what he described as the Iranian headquarters at Damascus airport.
This is where senior Iranian officials are based and which is used to coordinate shipments from Iran to its allies in Syria and beyond. He added that Israel also holds Syria responsible for hosting the Iranians.
Tuesday’s rocket fire on the Golan was the sixth attempt by Iran to attack Israeli targets since February 2018. Conricus said that Israel thwarted them all.
IRAN FACES TROUBLE IN THREE ARAB COUNTRIES IT OCCUPIES
While Israel faces tensions with Iranian proxies along its borders, the Arab street is challenging Iran’s regional influence by unprecedented, economically-driven mass protests in Iraq and Lebanon — two countries where Tehran wields major influence. The protests are creating unrest that Tehran fears would spark a backlash against Iran-backed proxy militias in those countries.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a series of warnings recently about Iranian aggression throughout the Middle East and has vowed to respond firmly.
Netanyahu said early Wednesday:
I made it clear: whoever harms us, we will harm them. That’s what we did tonight. We will continue to aggressively protect Israel’s security.
Israel’s new hard-line defense minister, Naftali Bennett, issued an equally firm statement:
The rules have changed: whoever fires on Israel during the day will not sleep at night. Our message to the leaders of Iran is simple: you are no longer immune. Any place you dispatch your tentacles, we will chop them off.
TARGETED ASSASSINATIONS
The rare rocket fire came a week after an Israeli airstrike against a top Palestinian militant based in Syria. Akram al-Ajouri, a member of the leadership of the militant Islamic Jihad group who is living in exile, survived the attack. However, the strike killed his son and granddaughter.
Israel frequently strikes Iranian interests in Syria. But last week’s airstrike appeared to be a rare assassination attempt of a Palestinian militant in the Syrian capital. It came the same day as another Israeli airstrike killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza, settling off the fiercest round of fighting there in years.
Iran has forces based in Syria, Israel’s northern neighbor, and supports Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. In Gaza, it supplies Islamic Jihad with cash, weapons and expertise.
Netanyahu also has claimed Iran is using Iraq and far-off Yemen to plan attacks against Israel. Hamas also receives some support from Iran.
AP contributed to this article.
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