Report: At least 23 dead in wide-scale Israeli strikes in Syria
War monitoring group says at least 7 of the casualties are foreign nationals; IDF says it carried out the attacks, hitting targets belonging to Iran's elite Quds force, in response to the rocket fire at Israel's north; 'Our message to Iranian leaders: you're no longer immune,' says Bennett
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 7 out of 23 casualties were foreign nationals and are believed to be Iranians. "We cannot confirm whether the seven foreigners killed are all Iranians or pro-Iranian fighters of different nationalities," added Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the London-based NGO with an extensive network of sources in the country.
The 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 a number of Syrian aerial defense batteries were also destroyed.
The Syrian Observatory said the airstrikes targeted arms depots belonging to the Quds Force in the Damascus suburbs of Kisweh and Qudsaya. Abdul Rahman added that several other areas were targeted in Wednesday's strikes, including the Mazzeh airbase in western Damascus where air defense units are stationed.
Earlier, Syria's state SANA news agency said the two people were killed by shrapnel when an Israeli missile hit a house in the town of Saasaa, southwest of Damascus.
The report also said several others were wounded in the airstrikes near the capital, Damascus. It claimed that Syrian air defenses destroyed most of the Israeli missiles before they reached their targets.
The 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.
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, the military said in a statement, adding that it would continue operating firmly and resolutely against Iran in Syria.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said the significance of the operation was the multitude of targets hit.
Several important targets were struck, he said, including what he described as the Iranian headquarters at Damascus airport 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, and all have been thwarted, Conricus said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a series of warnings recently about Iranian aggression throughout the Middle East and has vowed to respond firmly. "I made it clear: whoever harms us, we will harm them. That's what we did tonight," he said early Wednesday. 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," he said. "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."
The rare rocket fire comes 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 but his son and granddaughter were killed.
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, where Tehran supports Shiite Houthi rebels at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing the government, to plan attacks against Israel. Hamas also receives some support from Iran.
