Report: IDF bombs targets in Syria in rare daylight attack

The IDF has remained silent on the report, as it usually does after reported operations in Syria.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) bombed targets in Syria on Saturday evening, a rare attack in daylight and more than a month after the last time Israel reportedly bombed in Syria.

Syria’s SANA news reported that the Syrian army’s air defenses “confronted an Israeli aerial aggression in the central region.”

A military source said the IAF launched an attack from the direction of Lebanon that “targeted some points in the central region.”

The attack caused material damage only, the report said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the IAF hit at least five targets, including the Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS) in the village of Suwayda, and a military point on the outskirts of Masyaf.

These sites have previously been hit by Israel.

After the attack, Iranian-backed militias have been working to reposition their forces, the SOHR reported.

The IDF has remained silent on the report, as it usually does after reported operations in Syria.

This is the eighth IAF strike in Syria since the beginning of 2022, according to the SOHR’s count, which resulted in the destruction of 13 targets, including buildings, weapons and ammunition depots, and headquarters.

These strikes resulted in the death of 12 soldiers, and 19 others injured. The dead included two Iranian officers from the Quds Force and four terrorists affiliated with Iran.

Iran routinely attempts to arm the Lebanon-based Hezbollah with advanced weapons. Israel has exposed and thwarted multiple attempts by Iran to transfer game-changing weapons to Hezbollah, including by air shipments from Iran, through Damascus Airport.

Over the years, the IAF has carried out thousands of attacks to thwart the Iranian entrenchment in the war-torn country and to prevent Hezbollah from accumulating advanced game-changing weapons.

According to the SOHR, the IAF conducted 29 strikes in Syria throughout 2021. The attacks hit 71 targets and killed 130 people, including 125 combatants from the Syrian military, Hezbollah and Iranian-backed Shiite militias.

The Damascus area was the most attacked area in 2021, with 12 attacks out of the 29. The Damascus airport, which serves as an entry point for weapons coming from Iran on their way to Hezbollah in Lebanon, was one of the main targets.