Israeli army hit dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria overnight and accused Iran of launching rocket and missile attack towards its forces in the occupied Golan Heights, Aljazeera reported.
“The (Israeli military) has struck dozens of Iranian military targets in Syria,” Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus, was quoted by the Aljazeera as having said. .
He also stated that they have targetted intelligence, logistics, storage and vehicles as well as the origin of the rockets.
A Syrian radar installation was destroyed in the attack, Syrian state news agency SANA cited a military source as saying, as quoted by Aljazeera.
According to Aljazeera correspondent Harry Fawcett from Jerusalem, as he told to news organization that this is the first time that Israel has directly accused Iran of attacking it from within Syrian territory since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
It [Israeli military] also said that some of those attacking forces were met by Syrian anti-aircraft systems and that resulted in Syrian military targets being struck as well.
“The question is whether that will be a deterrent or whether it could invite further escalation from the other side now that these things are in train, accidental escalation towards further conflict is always a possibility,” reads the Aljazeera report.
According to Haaretz the Israel attack ‘the most extensive strike in the neighboring country in decades’ was carried out in response to a barrage of 20 rockets that were fired from Syria at Israeli military outposts.
The report in Haaretz said that the Israeli military accused the Revolutionary Guards’ Al Quds force and its commander, Maj. Gen.Qassem Soleimani, of launching the attack at the Israeli Golan Heights.
Haaretz also quoted Israeli defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who said that they have struck ‘all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria’.
Lieberman said that Israel does not seek escalation, but added that it won’t allow Iran to turn Syria into a “forward base” against Israel, Haaretz report reads.
Quoting sources in the Israeli security establishment, Haaretz claimed that this attack was the largest carried out by Israel since it signed a disengagement agreement with Syria in May 1974. The Israeli military warned Syria not to respond to its attack.
The report also claimed that Russia is reported to have been informed in advance of the Israeli attack.
(Pic used for representational purposes only)
