Israel strikes Iranian targets in Syria, state media reports

A Syrian war monitor said the attack comes less than 48 hours after a visit by top leaders of the Iranian military.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday night conducted a series of strikes against several targets in southern Syria, the country’s state media reported.

SANA news quoted a Syrian military source who said that many of the missiles launched during the attack were intercepted.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) quoted its sources in the country who reported hearing several explosions over Damascus, caused by the IAF attack on military positions in the Al-Kiswah area in southern Damascus.

No further details were available on the number of casualties and material damage caused by these attacks.

The SOHR noted that the attack comes less than 48 hours after a visit by top leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the area.

The Al-Kiswah area, where Iranian militias and their proxies are based, has previously been targeted in Israeli strikes.

Another attack on the radar system battalion in the west of Al-Dour village in Al-Suwaidaa, where Iranian militias and groups of the Lebanese Hezbollah are located, left casualties, the SOHR reported.

Israel has remained silent on the reports.

This is Israel’s second reported attack in Syria in a week.

Israel has significantly stepped up its strikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria in recent weeks.

In a summary of 2020, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi noted that “the Iranian establishment in Syria is in a clear slowdown, but we still have a long way to go to complete the goals in the arena.”

“We have struck over 500 targets this year, on all fronts, in addition to multiple clandestine missions,” he said.

In general, Iran and Hezbollah’s military build-up in Syria remains a red line for Israel. The IAF has carried out thousands of attacks to thwart the Iranian entrenchment in the war-torn country.

Israeli leaders have repeatedly declared that they will not tolerate an Iranian threat on its northern border with Syria and will take all necessary measures to ensure that such a menace does not emerge.