IDF says it carried out strikes in Syria after two rockets fired at Golan Heights

Israeli targeting of Syrian sites comes less than two days after it struck area around Damascus airport and four days after IDF reportedly killed IRGC general

By AFP and ToI Staff 30 December 2023, 4:48 am Edit
Missiles flying into the sky near international airport, in Damascus, Syria, January 21, 2019. (SANA, the Syrian official news agency, via AP, File)
Missiles flying into the sky near international airport, in Damascus, Syria, January 21, 2019. (SANA, the Syrian official news agency, via AP, File)

The Israeli army said early Saturday that it carried out strikes in Syria after two rockets fired from the country fell in the Golan Heights.

It was the latest in a string of heightened activity by Israel in Syria over the past week.

“Following the report regarding sirens sounding in northern Israel, a short while ago two launches that were identified crossing from Syria fell in an open area,” the army said Friday. “The IDF is striking the sources of fire.”

The army also said it struck “terror infrastructure” belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, including a launch site used by the terror group, following a number of cross-border attacks earlier Friday.

The IDF confirmed to AFP that the projectiles fired from Syria were rockets, but did not say the precise location where they fell.

An Israeli strike targeted the area around the Syrian capital of Damascus on Thursday, the Syrian defense ministry and state media said.

Citing a military source, SANA said air defenses shot down “most” of the missiles launched by Israeli fighter jets from over the Golan Heights, but that there were “material losses.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported Israeli strikes targeting a Syrian air defense position in the country’s southern Sweida province, as well as near Damascus international airport.

The attack near the airport came “one whole day after the airport resumed flights,” said the British-based monitor of unclear funding, with a network inside Syria.

Damascus international airport had been out of service since it was targeted by alleged Israeli strikes in late November, just hours after flights resumed following similar strikes the previous month.

The airport was not damaged in the latest strike, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

On Monday, Syrian state media said an Israeli missile strike near Damascus killed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Razi Mossavi.

Israel rarely comments on individual strikes targeting Syria, but it has repeatedly said it will not allow arch-foe Iran, which backs President Bashar Assad’s government, to expand its presence there.

Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its northern neighbor since Syria’s civil war began in 2011, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces including Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in four civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of nine IDF soldiers. There have also been several rocket attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 129 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 19 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 19 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.

The exchanges of fire have been largely limited to the border area, but Israel has warned it is ready to intensify its military action if Hezbollah fighters do not pull back.

There have also been several rocket attacks on Israel from Syria, without any injuries.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report

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