RTThu, 10 May 2018 08:49 UTC
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Some 28 Israeli aircraft fired around 60 air-to-surface rockets in a massive overnight strike in Syria, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Syrian air-defense systems managed to intercept more than half of the missiles.
A total of 70 projectiles, including 60 air-to-surface rockets and more than 10 surface-to-surface missiles, hit Iranian military targets and Syrian air-defense systems near Damascus and in the south of the country on Thursday morning, the Russian military said in a statement.
"28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 planes were involved in the attack," the ministry said. "Syrian air-defense systems shot down more than half of the rockets as they repelled the Israeli attack."
Israeli forces bombed the Syrian territory for two hours between 1:45am and 3:45am local time on Thursday. The attack was carried out under the pretext of allegations that Iranian forces had earlier hit Israeli targets in the Golan Heights. The damage inflicted on Iranian military and Syrian civilian infrastructure by the airstrikes is being evaluated.
Earlier, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that all its aircraft had safely returned after one of its most extensive attacks in years. Tel-Aviv claims that it was carried out in retaliation to 20 rockets launched at Israeli targets in the Golan Heights by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp's Quds Force.
"Four of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome and the rest landed on Syrian territory," the IDF said, according to Ynet, adding that the incident had resulted in no damage or casualties.
The allegations were denied by a member of the Iranian parliament's commission, Abolfazl Hassan Beigi, who accused Israel of "lying," as Iran has "no military presence" or bases in Syria, Sputnik reports.
Comment: See the following for additional developments and commentary:
More from
RT:
Three people have been killed and two wounded in an attack by Israeli forces against Iranian targets in Syria. Israeli strikes destroyed a radar station and an arms warehouse and damaged air defense units, Sana reports. Israel's direct action indicates "a new stage of aggression against Syria," the agency reported, citing a source in the Syrian Foreign Ministry. Tel-Aviv blames Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp's Quds Forces of attacking its positions in the Golan Heights and in response carried out the massive overnight attack.
From
Sputnik:
Dozens of Iranian targets in Syria have been hit by the Israeli Air Force after Iranian forces allegedly fired about 20 rockets at the IDF earlier. The Israeli airstrike on Syria killed at least 23 fighters, including five Syrian government troops and 18 other allied forces, AFP reported citing the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. [note: SOHR is an unreliable source] The information has not been officially confirmed yet. Israel said that the attack destroyed five Syrian air-defense systems after coming under heavy fire, going on to say that none of its warplanes were hit.
Bragging Israel,
RT:
Israel has carried out what it calls one of the most extensive military operations in years against dozens of "Iranian" targets in Syria. Tehran will need "a lot of time" to recover from the massive attack, according to the IDF. Iran paid a "heavy price" with multiple Israeli airstrikes against what Tel-Aviv says were targets belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp's Quds Force, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday.
"Iran will need a lot of time and resources to rehabilitate its operational, military and intelligence infrastructures we hit tonight," an IDF spokesman said, according to Ynet, warning that "any other attempt" to hurt Israel will "pay even more." Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman claims "all the Iranian infrastructure" in the Arab republic was hit. "They must understand that if it rains here, it will pour there."
Slutskiy comments on escalating threats,
RT:
"Israel's strikes on Iranian positions in Syria is a direct planned action after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal [with Iran], which became the next step in the chain of US-Israeli provocations against Iran," Slutskiy, who heads the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, said on Thursday.
"Tel-Aviv is escalating the threat of real military confrontation with Tehran," Slutskiy said, adding that any "aggravation of anti-Iranian hysteria is explosive." Slutskiy warned that the attack undermines an already-shaky situation around the 2015 Joint Plan Of Action (the JPOA), commonly known as the Iranian nuclear deal.
More details and French President Macron's reaction,
Sputnik:
The attack destroyed an Iranian military camp north of the Syrian capital, arms depots at the Damascus airport, and a car-mounted mobile launcher that was used to strike at Israeli positions near the border with Syria, the army said.
"The Russians were informed prior to the attack through the existing mechanism," Israel's Jonathan Conricus told reporters at a briefing. Conricus said Syrians had ignored demands by the IDF to stop the artillery fire and allow the air raid against Iranian targets to go ahead. He identified the attacked air defense systems as SA-5, SA-2, SA-22 and SA-17, using NATO code names.
French President Emmanuel Macron urged Israel and Iran to "de-escalate" tensions after the Israeli forces hit what they called were Iranian targets in Syria's Golan Heights following the alleged attack of Tehran through Syrian territory.
"He calls for a de-escalation", the presidency said in a statement, stressing that Macron would discuss the issue with Angela Merkel when he meets with the German chancellor in Aachen, western Germany, later in the day.
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More from RT: From Sputnik: Bragging Israel, RT: Slutskiy comments on escalating threats, RT: More details and French President Macron's reaction, Sputnik: