Iranian forces backing the Syrian regime reportedly fired up to 20 missiles into Israeli positions in the Golan Heights on Wednesday, a day after military sites near Damascus were hit in a fresh round of airstrikes.
Air-raid sirens went off in the Israeli enclave just after midnight as the munitions began flying into the area, The Associated Press reported. The Israeli anti-missile system Iron Dome, put on alert after U.S. and Israeli intelligence picked up indicators of a pending attack on Tuesday, intercepted a majority of the incoming fire.
Military officials in Tel Aviv said no one was killed by the missiles that evaded the Iron Dome system, and the damaged caused by the attack was minimal, Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told the AP.
Tel Aviv characterized incident “with severity” and has responded, Lt. Col. Conricus said, without providing details on what that response was.
Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force, fighting in Syria in support of Syrian dictator and longtime Iranian ally Bashar Assad, were responsible for the strikes, IDF Spokesperson Ronen Manelis told Israeli news outlet Haaretz.
The missile strikes into the Golan Heights comes a day after Syrian military facilities were hit by a round of airstrikes. Tel Aviv has denied any involvement in the airstrikes targeting a Syrian military facility in Al-Kiswah on Tuesday, near the country’s capital, with military officials refusing to comment on the attack.
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Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman held a private discussion on the growing threat posed to Tel Aviv from Syria and Iran, hours before the Al-Kiswah strikes.
Details of Wednesday’s telephone conversation between Mr. Mattis and Mr. Liberman reportedly did not touch upon any possible military action Israel planned to take against the pro-regime forces in Syria, which include Iranian-backed militias and paramilitaries linked to the Hezbollah terror group, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The call came weeks after Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Mattis held face-to-face meetings at the Pentagon last month. The Pentagon visit was the third high-level meet between American and Israeli defense leaders in less than a week.
• Carlo Muñoz can be reached at cmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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