Israel retaliated for the attack, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus said, without elaborating. Here, Trump’s decision to withdraw from the deal, immediately followed by Israel’s strike on Damascus, is rushing into a conflict that could easily bring Russian Federation and the United States into direct conflict, risking drawn-out, bloody proxy attacks further tumbling the Syrian crisis beyond solution.
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In the past few hours, President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement and restore economic sanctions on the country has already led to drastic escalations rippling throughout the region. Israeli cities would be hit, as might strategic targets in Iran.
Iran has made no comment about the rocket fire. But Israel and Russian Federation have maintained close communications to prevent their air forces from coming into conflict.
Iran sent massive military help to its ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad, to rescue his rule against armed rebellion during that country’s 7-year-old civil war.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate halt to all hostile acts and provocative actions to “avoid a new conflagration” in the Middle East.
The extent of the damage inflicted by the Israeli airstrikes was not immediately clear.
The Israeli military said that a unit of Iran’s revolutionary guard had launched 20 artillery rockets into the Golan Heights shortly after midnight on Wednesday.
It said the rockets followed a “first Israeli bombardment on the town of Baath” in Quneitra province. According to Haaretz, the Israeli military said it was the most extensive Israeli strike in Syria in decades.
It blamed Iran’s Quds force, adding that Israel’s anti-missile system intercepted four while the rest did not land in its territory. In December, Israel reportedly bombed military positions in Kissweh, including a weapons depot.
But unlike Israel and its Arab neighbors, the two countries have never had a direct confrontation. “Our reaction was a effect”, the Israeli leader said in a video posted on social media. It said half the missiles were shot down.
“I have established a basic principle: Whoever strikes us, we are going to strike them”, Netanyahu said.
“But I can say that in terms of our goal, we focussed less on personnel and more on capabilities and hardware.to inflict long-term damage on the Iranian military establishment in Syria”. “They are determined to do it and we are determined to prevent it”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel would be victorious in its “ongoing campaign” against Iran. A rocket attack overnight on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights may have been a first salvo, underscoring Tehran’s reach. With the war winding down in favor of Assad, Israel – which saw him as the lesser of two evils compared to Islamic hard-liners among rebels – is now finding that his victory has brought Iran closer to its borders.
But the chairman of Iran’s parliamentary committee on foreign affairs condemned Israel for carrying out the strikes in Syria. The incoming attack set off air raid sirens in the Golan. “Increase alertness and look after those around you”, the warning said.
Pointing also to the USA withdrawal from the Paris accord on climate change, Merkel added: “If we always say that, if we don’t like things and we can’t achieve a new global order, everyone will do what they feel like, that’s bad news for the world”. “It means we are on a collision course”.
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He said that it was a mistake to think that Thursday morning’s attacks on the Iranian bases had completely solved the problem, but that the army was ready for anything and would continue to do whatever necessary to ensure Israel is secure. Syrian television reported large explosions in the area. Al-Ikhbariya TV said missiles targeted 10 Israeli positions.
