„We started attacking targets of the Iranian Quds Brigades,“ the army announced Monday night on its official Twitter page. The Quds Brigades are the elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and are used mainly abroad.
„We warn the Syrian military against trying to harm Israeli forces or Israeli territory,“ the Twitter message said. According to the state-run Syrian news agency Sana, the country’s air defense system was used against Israeli shelling.
In recent years, Israeli authorities have rarely openly commented on and reported such attacks in Syria. On the other hand, Israel’s government has repeatedly emphasized that it will not tolerate a lasting Iranian military presence in Syria.
Israel’s archenemy Iran is Russia’s closest ally to the government of rulers Bashar al-Assad and is supporting him militarily in the seven-year internal Syrian war (more on why Israel and Iran are fighting in Syria, read here).
The Syrian capital Damascus had been shaken by several explosions on Sunday. Israeli jet fighters had fired at least five missiles, the air defense caught several rockets, according to government figures. A short time later, the Israeli military announced that it had intercepted a missile that had been fired from Syria towards the northern Golan Heights.
