The Israel Defense Forces published aerial photos on Friday of several intelligence and logistics installations that it destroyed in a massive bombardment of Syria-based Iranian military sites on Thursday.
Israeli F-15 and F-16 fighter jets issued colossal reprisals on Iranian installations in Syria following a barrage of 20 missiles fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Israel just after midnight on Thursday morning. Most of the enemy rockets landed in Syrian territory, though four were neutralized by the Iron Dome missile-defense system. Warning sirens were sounded in some Israeli communities in the Golan Heights.
The aerial photos provided by the IDF showed buildings decimated at Tel Gharba, Tel Maqdad, Tel Kleb and Nabi Yusha in what has been named “Operation House of Cards,” the largest air campaign by Israel in Syria in 40 years.
IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis called the mission, which is believed to have set back Iran’s presence in Syria by many months an dealt a blow to Hezbollah, “one of the greatest operations of the Israel Air Force in the past decade.”
The Israeli attack targeted Iranian weapons depots, storage facilities, intelligence and logistics centers, and observation posts. It also struck multiple Syrian air-defense systems, including long-, medium- and short-range Russian-made missiles, high-altitude missiles and medium-range air-defense systems.