Israeli jets hit Iranian Quds Force in Syria

The air strikes were in retaliation to the discovery of three claymore anti-personnel charges near an Israeli military position in the Golan Heights, above. (AFP file photo)

• 10 dead in wave of airstrikes from Golan Heights to Damascus

JEDDAH: At least 10 people died in a wave of Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday against Iranian targets in Syria.
Fighter jets pounded installations operated by the Quds Force, the elite overseas unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.
The dead included five Iranians from the Quds Force and at least two militiamen, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the war monitor in the UK.
Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said eight targets were hit in areas stretching from the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights to the outskirts of Damascus.
They included an Iranian headquarters at Damascus international airport, a “secret military site” that hosted Iranian military delegations, and the 7th Division of the Syrian armed forces, he said. Syrian surface-to-air defenses were also hit after firing at Israeli planes and missiles.
Israel has regularly attacked Iranian-linked targets in Syria in recent years, but has stepped up strikes this year in what Western intelligence sources describe as a shadow war to reduce Iran’s influence.
But Wednesday’s attacks struck a far wider range of targets than usual, and the Israeli military was more forthcoming about the details than in the past, suggesting a clear aim to send a public message about Iranian involvement in Syria.
Israel said it was retaliating for an Iranian-sponsored operation in which Syrians planted explosives near an Israeli military base in the occupied Golan Heights.
The Quds Force is responsible for supporting Tehran’s allies in proxy conflicts across the Middle East, coordinating Shiite militia fighters in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere.
The Assad regime has never admitted that Iranian forces operate on its behalf in Syria, only that Tehran has sent military advisers. Western intelligence sources say Israeli strikes have undermined Iran’s military power in Syria without triggering a major increase in hostilities.