“The IDF sees the State of Syria responsible for all activities occurring within its territory and will not allow any attempts to violate Israeli sovereignty,” says the Israeli military.
According to the Alma Research and Education Center, ”it is very possible that the firing of rockets from Syria is intended to convey another message to Israel that the fight against it is united by all sectors.”
By JNS and European Jewish Press
The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday struck targets in Syria in response to six rockets fired towards the Golan Heights overnight, the military said in a statement.
Among the targets of the Israeli strikes were a military compound of the Fourth Division of the Syrian Armed Forces, military radar systems and artillery posts used by the Syrian Armed Forces, according to the IDF.
The strikes came after Israel earlier destroyed the launchers responsible for attacks via an unmanned aerial vehicle.
תיעוד מתקיפת מרחב הירי מסוריה על ידי כטמ”ם של צה”ל>> pic.twitter.com/B5B3eWCttf
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 9, 2023
“The IDF sees the State of Syria responsible for all activities occurring within its territory and will not allow any attempts to violate Israeli sovereignty,” the army said.
Three rockets were fired at the Golan Heights on Saturday night at around 22:00. An alert was activated on the Home Front Command app and sirens sounded, with one of the rockets falling in an open area adjacent to Moshav Meitsar in the southern Golan Heights and the other two falling in Syrian and Jordanian territory, respectively.
Another volley was launched from Syria at 02:40 a.m., triggering sirens Natur and Avnei Eitan. Two of the rockets landed in open areas and the other was intercepted by Israel’s air defense network.
On Saturday, Israel called up army and police reserves after two British-Israeli sisters were killed in a terrorist attack in the Jordan Valley and an Italian tourist was killed in a separate attack in Tel Aviv.
In recent days, rockets were fired from Gaza and southern Lebanon into Israeli territory, drawing an Israeli military response.
According to the Alma Research and Education Center, which provides geopolitical knowledge about the Middle East on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon and Syria, it is unclear who fired the rockets from Syria. ”Suspects include; Shia militias, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Golan file, and local militias (Sunni, Druze, or Palestinian) cooperating with Shia Axis-we know of 30 “mercenary” militias in this area,” it said.
According to local reports, the rockets were launched toward Israel from the Tel Jumou area.
The Alma Center wrote that a Palestinian militia named “Leua’ Al-Qads” (Jerusalem Brigade) allegedly “took” the responsibility for launching some of the rockets and the artillery unit of the militia called “South Lebanon” carried out the shooting. ”The militia’s name and commander, Muhammad Ahmed Saeed, has been known to us for about 10 years as a proxy mainly for the Syrian regime and the Shia Axis. It is possible that today it operates under the fifth division of the Syrian army mainly in the Deir el-Zor area,” according to the Alma Center.
”Saeed was born in the Bab al-Nirab refugee camp in Aleppo, a construction engineer by profession, and the owner of a large construction company in Syria that established many projects in collaboration with the regime, especially with senior intelligence officials and the Air Force.”
”It is very possible that the firing of rockets from Syria is intended to convey another message to Israel that the fight against it is united by all sectors,” the Alma Center said, noting that ”there are indications that Ismail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force, has arrived in Damascus.”