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Israel hits Iranian and Syrian targets around Damascus - military Israel hits Iranian and Syrian targets around Damascus - military
(35 minutes later)
The Israeli military says it has hit Iranian targets around the Syrian capital Damascus. Israel says it has hit Iranian targets around the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The Israel Defense Forces said the overnight operation targeted the elite Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, as well as Syrian air defences. Four people are reported to have died. The Israel Defense Forces says the overnight operation targeted the elite Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, as well as Syrian air defences.
Syrian media said most of the Israeli missiles had been shot down. The Syrian military says it shot down most of the Israeli missiles. But a monitoring group reported that at least 11 pro-government fighters were killed.
Israel said it acted after the Quds Forces launched a rocket from Syria over the Golan Heights on Sunday. The IDF says it acted after the Quds Force fired a rocket from Syria towards the occupied Golan Heights on Sunday.
It said the rocket had been intercepted. Iran, Israel's arch-enemy, has backed Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war and has sent thousands of military personnel to support him.
What do we know about the operation? What do we know about the Israeli operation?
Israel rarely admits carrying out attacks inside Syria. The IDF rarely admits carrying out attacks inside Syria. But it announced the start of Monday's strikes on the Quds Force in a tweet.
But on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the start of its operation in a tweet. A statement issued later said Israeli fighter jets had hit munition storage sites, a site located in Damascus International Airport, an Iranian intelligence site and an Iranian military training camp.
It said the Quds Force sites targeted included a munitions storage facility and a position near Damascus International Airport. The jets also struck several Syrian military air defence batteries after dozens of surface-to-air missiles were launched "despite clear warnings", according to the IDF.
The IDF also said that "dozens of Syrian surface-to-air missiles were launched, despite clear warnings to avoid such fire". "In firing towards Israeli territory yesterday [Sunday], Iran once again offered definitive proof of its real intentions of its entrenchment in Syria, which endangers the State of Israel and regional stability," the statement said.
"In response, we also targeted several of the Syrian armed forces' aerial defence batteries." "The IDF will continue operating determinedly to thwart Iranian entrenchment in Syria.
Syria's state-run Sana news agency quoted a military source as saying that the country's air defences had shot down most of "hostile missiles". "In addition, the IDF holds the Syrian regime responsible for everything taking place within Syria and warns the Syrian regime against targeting Israel or permitting it to be targeted."
The Russian military, who are supporting the Syrian government, say more than 30 Israeli missiles had been destroyed, Russian media report. What does the Syrian military say?
They are also quoted as saying that four Syrian soldiers were killed in an air strike targeting the airport. Syria's state-run Sana news agency quoted a military source as saying that the country's air defences "confronted an Israeli attack" and "prevented it from achieving its objectives".
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, said Israeli missiles had destroyed weapons depots and military posts belonging to Iran and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. "Our air defences dealt with the situation and intercepted the hostile missiles, downing most of them before reaching their targets as they continue their heroic response to the aggression," the source added, without mentioning any casualties.
Witnesses in Damascus spoke of hearing loud explosions in the night sky. The Russian military, which also supports the Syrian government, said more than 30 missiles and guided bombs were shot down by Syrian air defences.
Netanyahu's warning However, it added that the "infrastructure" of Damascus International Airport was partially damaged and that four Syrian soldiers were killed and six were wounded.
The operation comes after Israel said that "a rocket was fired at the northern Golan Heights and was intercepted by the Iron Dome Aerial Defence System". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said the strikes had targeted weapons depots belonging to Iran and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah.
The popular winter tourist site on Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights was closed as a result. At least 11 fighters, including two Syrians, were killed, it added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning during his visit to Chad on Sunday. What triggered the strikes?
"We have a set policy, to target the Iranian entrenchment in Syria, and to harm whoever tried to harm us," he said. The operation came a day after IDF said Quds Force personnel launched a surface-to-surface rocket from Syrian territory towards the northern Golan Heights, which was intercepted by the Iron Dome air defence system.
Israel has expressed alarm at Iran's deployment in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad, who has been battling rebel forces and Islamist groups since the start of the civil war in 2011. A popular winter tourist site on Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights was closed as a result.
In May 2018, Israel said it had struck almost all of Iran's military infrastructure there, following a rocket attack on its positions in the Golan Heights. "We have a set policy, to target the Iranian entrenchment in Syria, and to harm whoever tried to harm us," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to Chad.
Israel seized the area from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it. In May 2018, Israel said it had struck almost all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria, following a rocket attack on its positions in the Golan Heights.
Israel seized the region from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it.