Israel claims it hit ‘dozens’ of Iranian & Syrian military targets in response to rocket fire

Israeli fighter jets have pummeled Syrian territory with missiles, targeting dozens of installations belonging to the Syrian Army and Iranian Quds Force, Israel has claimed amid reports of civilian casualties.

Following reports in Syrian state media that air defense systems shot down hostile missiles, destroying the majority of the projectiles before they could reach their targets, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the attack, saying it conducted “wide-scale strikes of Iranian Quds Force & Syrian Armed Forces targets in Syria” on Wednesday night.

The Israeli military said that the massive bombing campaign was in response “to the rockets fired at Israel by an Iranian force in Syria last night.” On Tuesday, the IDF said that its Iron Dome missile shield took down four missiles that were reportedly launched from Syrian territory. All of them were intercepted in the air.

The IDF confirmed that Damascus deployed its air defenses to repel the attack by the Israeli fighter jets, thus defying a warning by Tel Aviv to not attempt to mount any response. The IDF further claimed it destroyed “a number of Syrian aerial defense batteries” as they were activated to thwart the aggression.

Referring to the Syrian government as a “regime,” the Israeli military justified the bombardment saying that they hold Damascus responsible for “allowing” attacks against Israel.

While the Israeli armed forces claimed in its statement to have engaged an array of military targets, including command HQs, weapons depots, military bases, and anti-aircraft missiles, Syria’s state media reported that the airstrike destroyed at least two residential buildings and led to injuries among civilians.

The IDF statement, meanwhile, lacks any mention of “collateral” damage to civilian structures.

Earlier, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that a family have been injured after shrapnel from an Israeli missile hit their house in the town of Sa’sa, southwest of Damascus near the Golan Heights. A father, a mother and their two children were reportedly inside the dwelling at the time. 

SANA reported that two family members died in the strike, while several others were injured.

Another residential building in Qudsaya, west of Damascus, was also badly damaged by shrapnel, and a girl was reportedly wounded in the strike.

Photos released by the agency show shattered glass littered across the ground, gaping holes in place of windows, and wires dangling from concrete debris.

Syrian authorities, meanwhile, pledged to provide all necessary assistance to those caught up in the strike. Alaa Ibrahim, governor of the Damascus countryside province, said that rescuers managed to save three people trapped under rubble in Sa’sa, adding that ambulances and fire engines were deployed to the hardest-hit areas.