Israel hits Syrian targets following rocket attack

Israeli warplanes struck several sites in southern Syria overnight Sunday in response to earlier rocket fire on the Golan Heights, according to the military.

The IDF said it struck the launchers responsible for the cross-border fire.

All of the projectiles launched from Syria landed in open areas, causing no injuries or damage.

Overnight Saturday, Israel targeted Iranian terror assets in Quneitra in the Syrian Golan Heights, according to Israeli media reports.

The IDF reportedly struck Syrian military and Iranian-linked targets in response to shelling towards Israeli territory earlier in the day.

There was no immediate comment from the IDF.

On Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes caused damage to Aleppo Airport, according to Syrian media reports. Days earlier, Israeli strikes reportedly put the Damascus and Aleppo airports out of service.

On Tuesday night, the IDF hit Syrian military sites in response to rocket fire toward the southern Golan Heights. Israeli warplanes hit “military infrastructure and mortar launchers” after two rockets were launched at Israeli territory from Syria; both fell in open areas, according to the IDF.

Israel has struck hundreds of targets in Syria in recent years as part of an effort to prevent Iranian military entrenchment in the country. However, Jerusalem rarely acknowledges these incidents.

On Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that U.S. forces had struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated terror proxies.

The strikes came in response to a series of attacks this week by Iranian-sponsored groups against American personnel stationed in Iraq and Syria.

While Iran seeks to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks, Austin said, “We will not let them. If attacks by Iran’s proxies against U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people.”

Calling the U.S. strikes “narrowly tailored” and defensive, Austin said that they were “intended solely to protect and defend U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria. They are separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and do not constitute a shift in our approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict.”

Last week, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Iran is assisting Hamas by supplying it with intelligence, and is also boosting anti-Israel incitement worldwide.

Tehran also helped Hamas with training, weapons, funding and technological knowledge, said Hagari.