JERUSALEM – Iranian forces have attacked Israel army’s outposts directly for the first time as it fired 20 artillery rockets into the country from Syria, prompting fears of war.
The barrage of the rockets were fired by the Quds Force, an external arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, deployed in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assa in the civil war, targeting posts in Israel occupied Golan Heights, Israel military spokesman Lieutenant-General Jonathan Conricus told media.
The attack prompted one of the heaviest shelling by Israel in Syria since its civil war started in 2011. The Israel Defence Force shelled Iranian posts in the war-torn country before air strikes on Damascus.
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Syrian state media said dozens of Israeli missile strikes targeted a radar station, Syrian air defense positions and an ammunition dump, mounting risks of escalating tension.
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Syria’s state media said Syrian air defenses had intercepted ‘hostile Israeli missiles’ early Thursday that were fired over southwestern Damascus.
“Air defenses confronted tens of Israeli rockets and some of them reached their target and destroyed one of the radar sites,'” Syrian state news agency SANA quoted military source.
The Israel military spokesperson said that the attack was carried out at 12:10am, adding that four of the rockets were intercepted, while the rest of the rockets fired landed in Syrian territory. The attacked caused minimal damage at the army’s position while no casualties were reported, he said.
Lebanon’s National News Agency, citing Lebanese Army Command, reported Israeli jets circling over Lebanese territory early on Thursday before exiting.
Tensions between Israel and Iran had already escalated in Syria. Iran had vowed retaliation after an Israeli air strike last month killed seven of its military personnel in a desert airbase in Syria. Israel regards Iran as its biggest threat, and has repeatedly targeted Iranian forces and allied militia in Syria.
