Israel struck what it said were
Iranian targets in Syria early Monday in response to rocket fire it
blamed on Iran, sparking concerns of an escalation after a monitor
reported 11 fighters killed.
Israel openly claimed responsibility for the
strikes against facilities it said belonged to the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards' Quds Force, continuing its recent practice of speaking more
openly about such raids.
It said the strikes were in response to a
surface-to-surface rocket the Quds Force fired from Syria at the Golan
Heights on Sunday, which Israeli air defences intercepted.
"Yesterday, Iranian Quds forces
operating in Syrian territory launched a surface-to-surface rocket from
Syrian territory aimed at the northern Golan Heights," the Israeli
military said in a statement.
"In response to the attack, during the night
(Israeli military) fighter jets struck Iranian Quds Forces military
targets in Syria in addition to Syrian aerial defence batteries."
It said targets included munitions stores, a
site at Damascus International Airport, an Iranian intelligence
installation and an Iranian military training camp.
It said it had also hit Syrian air defence batteries in response to fire from them.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said at least 11 pro-regime fighters including two Syrians were killed.
Russia, which like Iran is a key
backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's war, said
the Israeli strikes killed four Syrian soldiers and wounded six, while
also damaging Damascus airport infrastructure.
Hezbollah 'also targeted'
The Observatory said air strikes and
ground-to-ground missiles hit several targets around the capital
including near the Damascus airport, as well as near the Thaala military
airport to the south of the capital.The targets included weapons depots belonging to the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and Iranian fighters, it added.
Israel's interception of the rocket on Sunday
came after Damascus accused Israel of carrying out air raids in the
country's south.
As Israel announced its strikes early Monday,
Syrian state news agency SANA said its country's air-defence systems had
responded to "enemy" fire.
Israel has pledged to stop its main enemy Iran from entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria.
It has carried out hundreds of air strikes
there against what it says are Iranian military targets and advanced
arms deliveries to Tehran-backed Hezbollah.
Its fighter planes have faced anti-aircraft
fire during such raids, but it has rarely faced surface-to-surface
rocket fire in response.
On Sunday, SANA quoted a military source
saying Syria's air defences went into action after Israel earlier in the
day launched air strikes on the south of the country.
In those strikes, the Russian army said Syrian
air defences had destroyed seven Israeli projectiles, after four of the
Jewish state's F-16 military planes "fired rockets into Syrian
territory".
'Permanent policy'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told
reporters on Sunday that "we have a permanent policy: to strike at the
Iranian entrenchment in Syria and hurt whoever tries to hurt us."
Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have
been speaking more openly about the country's strikes on Syria in recent
days, which some analysts partly attribute to the premier wanting to
burnish his security credentials ahead of April 9 elections.
But Israel also risks an escalation with Syria and Iran, as well as possibly further angering Russia.
Military coordination between Israel and
Russia in Syria took a hit after a friendly fire incident in September
that led to a Russian plane being downed by Syrian air defences during
an Israeli raid.
The incident angered the Kremlin and
complicated Israel's operations in Syria, particularly as Moscow
delivered an advanced air defence system there in response.
Israel has sought to maintain its coordination with Russia as well as its free hand to strike in Syria.
On Thursday, Israeli military officials
concluded a series of talks with their Russian counterparts aimed at
improving their coordination there.
More than 360,000 people have been killed and
millions displaced since the start of Syria's civil war with the brutal
repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
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