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JERUSALEM – Israel took the unusual decision Monday to announce a strike against Iranian forces linked to Iran after a rocket attack, as it enters an increasingly open confrontation with its great enemy, which also increases friction with Moscow.
Russia has reportedly killed at least four Syrian soldiers, including a training camp, ammunition depots and a Damascus international airport site. They came after a day of climbing in Syria on Sunday.
Damascus and Moscow accused Israel of staging a rare air raid Sunday morning in Syria, after which Israel said a rocket was fired on its territory by Iranian forces in the country around 3 pm.
This is the second time during the civil war in Syria that Israel accuses Iranian forces of launching rockets from the country, where Tehran has sent troops to support President Bashar.
Assad. In May, Israel launched a series of attacks on Iran-related targets in Syria after a burst of Iranian rockets, also following reports of Israeli gunfire.
Analysts say Sunday's launch of what the Israeli army has described as very mediocre
Surface missiles may have been an attempt by Iran to establish a level of deterrence against Israel, which has repeatedly bombed its military badets in the country.
Israel views the presence of Iranian forces in Syria as a red line and has pledged to use air power to prevent any Iranian retrenchment, which would be an attempt to establish a long-term vanguard against Israel rather than reclaiming Syria for Assad.
A view of Mount Hermon Sunday, seen from Ben Tal overlooking the Golan Heights occupied by Israel. (Atef Safadi / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock)
But continuous Israeli strikes have angered Moscow, which also has troops on Syrian bases supporting Assad.
Although Israel said it used the usual channels of "deconfliction" with Russia, Moscow said Monday that its "patience is limited" vis-à-vis Israel and that it would consider provide additional weapons to Syria if these strikes continue.
"Israel used to hit military targets on Syrian territory, but now it is targeting the Damascus International Airport," said Andrei Krasov, vice chairman of the defense committee of the Russian parliament, the Interfax news agency. "Israel has flagrantly violated international law. It is an act of aggression against a sovereign state. "
Last year, Russia began delivering to Syria advanced S-300 anti-aircraft defenses despite Israeli demonstrations, after a Russian plane was shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft fire at the time of the war. 39, an Israeli raid.
[[[[In a blow to Israel, Russia says it will send powerful anti-aircraft missiles to Syria.]
Israel hoped that Russia would get the guarantee that troops linked to Iran would not be present in areas near its border.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said the Sunday rocket had been fired from an area around Damascus where Israel had "received badurances" that it was not possible There would be no Iranian forces.
Skiers on Mount Hermon, on the Golan Heights occupied by Israel, caught footage of the Iron Dome system intercepting the missile earlier in the day. The tracks were closed on Monday.
"We will not ignore such acts of aggression as Iran attempts to root militarily in Syria," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. "We are acting against Iran and against Syrian forces that support the Iranian aggression. Whoever tries to hurt us, we do it too.
Israel's reaction was made overnight. The army made an announcement as its jet planes took off in the early hours of Monday.
"The IDF is currently hitting Iranian Quds targets on Syrian territory," he said in a statement, referring to the elite branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. "The IDF warns the Syrian armed forces against any attempt to harm Israeli territory or forces."
The group's spokesman, Conricus, said the targeted targets included the main Iranian logistics center at the Damascus International Airport, where secondary explosions were recorded after the coup.
The Syrian news agency SANA has released videos showing huge explosions illuminating the night sky. In a video posted on Facebook, filmed from the University of Damascus, students can be heard applauding loudly as anti-aircraft defenses open fire.
Syria said it had launched a "heroic response" to the wave of strikes Monday morning, shooting down most of the "hostile missiles".
Conricus said the Syrian anti-aircraft defenses were targeted only after firing on Israeli jets.
The Lebanese site Al Mayadeen, quoted by its Damascus correspondent, was quoted as saying that the strikes were concentrated in Kisweh, the site of an alleged Iranian base that Israel had already struck, and in the province of Quneitra in the south. west of the country.
Netanyahu took the unusual decision last month to confirm a new strike in Syria, recognizing that Israel had hit "hundreds" of targets in the country in recent years, appearing to have relaxed its previous policy of not confirming or deny the raids.
However, the military did not comment on whether Israel had conducted the strike near Damascus on Sunday morning before launching the rocket.
The official Syrian news agency said that Sunday morning's Israeli strike had been "confronted" and prevented from "realizing any of its objectives".
The Russian National Defense Control Center said the Syrian anti-aircraft defenses had shot down seven missiles at an airport southeast of Damascus.
Liz Sly in Beirut and Amie Ferris-Rotman in Moscow contributed to
this report.
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