Israeli Forces Retaliate with Airstrikes Against Syrian Missile Attack

"Iran Revolutionary Guard Member Death"

On the 2nd (local time), an Israeli military spokesperson announced that missiles were launched from Syria targeting Israel. The Israeli military immediately deployed fighter jets to carry out retaliatory airstrikes.

The Israeli spokesperson explained that in the early morning, an anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria toward Israel exploded in Israeli airspace. According to military authorities, the missile debris fell in the southeastern Bedouin village of Rahat, but no casualties were reported.

The military authorities, who launched immediate retaliatory airstrikes, stated, "Air Force fighter jets struck multiple targets, including the air defense battery that fired the missiles."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to major foreign media, Syrian military authorities claimed that their own air defense system intercepted Israel's missile attack. A Syrian military spokesperson explained, "Most of the missiles were intercepted, but some missiles that flew over Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, fell in western Homs, causing material damage."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a civil war monitoring group, reported that the Israeli military's targets were an ammunition depot and an air defense missile position of pro-Iranian militias northwest of Homs. The airstrikes resulted in the death of one member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and injuries to four militia members.

Israel, which has carried out intermittent airstrikes over several years to prevent the expansion of Iran's influence in war-torn Syria, has recently focused attacks on airports and airbases. Israel explains that this is to block the supply routes of weapons from Iran to its allied forces within Syria. Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Iran has expanded its influence in Syria by supporting President Bashar al-Assad.

The Observatory reported that since the beginning of this year, the Israeli military has conducted 19 airstrikes in Syria, resulting in 49 deaths.