IDF strikes Syria after rocket attack on north; 8 Syrian soldiers said killed
Air Force hits Syrian military infrastructure and mortar launching sites after two rockets land near Golan Heights communities
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces said it struck several Syrian military targets early Wednesday morning after rockets were fired from Syria toward Israeli communities in the Golan Heights.
The IDF said fighter jets hit “military infrastructure” belonging to the Syrian Arab Army and mortar launching sites.
Syria’s state-run news agency SANA, citing a Syrian military source, said eight soldiers were killed and another seven were wounded in the overnight Israeli airstrike in the Daraa area.
SANA added that damage was also caused to the sites that were hit by the Israeli Air Force.
The IDF said the strikes were carried out after two rockets were launched from Syria at northern Israel on Tuesday night, setting off alarms in the Golan Heights communities of Neot Golan, Bnei Yehuda, and Givat Yoav.
According to the IDF, both projectiles landed in open areas, causing no injuries.
The IDF said it had also responded with artillery shelling at the source of the fire in Syria.
A video of tonight's Israeli airstrikes in the vicinity of the town of Izraa in Daraa Governorate, southern Syria, said to be conducted in response to a mortar fire on Israeli territory. pic.twitter.com/1qNVsk7ZFF
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) October 25, 2023
On October 10, several mortars were launched from Syria at northern Israel, to which the IDF responded with artillery shelling.
Recent weeks have also seen several alleged Israeli airstrikes against Syria’s Damascus and Aleppo airports. Israel is believed to be stepping up efforts to prevent the shipment of advanced weapons from Iran to its various Middle East proxies, chief among them Hezbollah.
The rocket attack from Syria on Tuesday night came as skirmishes continued on the Lebanon border amid fears a new front could be opened as the military continues its war with Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip in the south.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group has fired dozens of anti-tank guided missiles, rockets and mortars at Israeli military positions and Israeli towns since the October 7 Hamas onslaught. It also sent gunmen — some affiliated with Palestinian terror groups — to infiltrate northern Israel. Several drones have been intercepted over northern Israel.
Amid the repeated attacks from Lebanon, the military and Defense Ministry have been evacuating 42 border communities and the city of Kiryat Shmona. Many residents in northern towns had already evacuated southward amid the escalating attacks.
In recent days, the IDF has reported striking more than 30 terror cells in southern Lebanon.
The tit-for-tat attacks have so far remained limited in scope, amid threats from Israel that Lebanon will suffer if Hezbollah steps up its attacks.
At least six Israeli soldiers, 41 Hezbollah gunmen and six Palestinian gunmen have been killed in the exchanges. One Israeli civilian was killed in a Hezbollah attack, and four Lebanese civilians and a journalist were also reported killed by Israeli shelling.
The attacks from Lebanon have come as Israel is waging war in Gaza against Hamas after the terror group’s murderous assault on the country on October 7, in which it killed some 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped over 200 people and took them to the Strip.
