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(JERUSALEM) – In an extraordinary statement, the Israeli army confirmed Monday morning that it had attacked targets of the Iranian army in Syria, just hours after carrying out a rare daytime air raid near from Damascus International Airport.
The statement was issued hours after Israel's missile defense intercepted a missile on the Golan Heights following the airport raid.
"We have begun to hit Iranian Quds targets in Syrian territory," the statement said. "We warn the Syrian armed forces against any attempt to harm Israeli forces or territory."
So far, Israel has largely refrained from publicly announcing its covert military operations in neighboring Syria, in order to avoid widespread involvement in the eight-year civil war.
The brief bulletin
The Syrian army said Israel had conducted intensive air strikes with successive waves of guided missiles shortly after 1 am, but added that Syrian anti-aircraft defenses had destroyed most of the early missiles. that they do not achieve their goals.
On Sunday, Syrian media said the air defenses had repelled an Israeli airstrike near the international airport south of Damascus. State television said the Syrian air defenses "prevented" the attack from reaching its objectives. Israel reportedly targeted six missiles on an area near Damascus International Airport, five of which were shot down and another diverted to empty farmland nearby.
The residents of the capital said they heard five explosions early Sunday afternoon, apparently caused by the sound of anti-aircraft defenses.
The Israeli army initially refused to comment on the air strike, although a rocket fired into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defense system.
Israeli warplanes recently used Lebanon's airspace to strike inside Syria, including attacking a warehouse near Damascus International Airport earlier this month, according to reports. official Syrian media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently confirmed that Israel had hit hundreds of targets related to Iran and the militant group of Lebanese Hezbollah in Syria, including an arms factory there. two weeks. Iran and Hezbollah are allied with the Syrian government in the civil war.
Two hours after the announcement of the interception by the Israeli Iron Dome of a rocket fired towards the Golan Heights, Netanyahu, currently visiting Chad, said in a statement: "We have a political well-defined: to hurt Iran in Syria and anyone who tries to harm us. "
Earlier on Sunday, a roadside bomb exploded south of Damascus without casualties, state media reported. The SANA news agency said the explosion had targeted a military checkpoint located on a highroad during rush hours.
The Syrian human rights observatory based in Britain, which closely monitors the war in Syria, said the bomb was aimed at the vehicle of a "security personality" she did not identify . The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdurrahman, said it was unclear whether the individual had been killed or wounded. "It was not a random act," he added.
Attacks are rare in Damascus since Syrian government forces last year captured the last remaining rebel-controlled neighborhoods and suburbs of the capital. The bombings killed hundreds during the nearly eight-year civil war.
In the city of Afrin, in northern Syria, an explosion aboard a bus has killed at least three people.
The attack took place on the anniversary of a Turkish military operation aimed at expelling Kurdish fighters from the city and displacing tens of thousands of its inhabitants. The city is now under the control of Syrian opposition fighters backed by Turkey.
The Observatory said that three people had been killed and nine injured in the blast. The Syrian Civil Defense, an opposition-linked group known as the White Helmets, said the explosion had killed "martyrs" and that others had been injured and taken to the hospital. # 39; s hospital.
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