Israel says retaliation just the 'tip of the iceberg' after Iran blamed for overnight strikes

TIBERIAS, Israel — The Israeli military said Thursday that it had bombed dozens of Iran-linked military facilities in Syria, claiming the strikes were just the “tip of the iceberg” as tensions between the three countries soared. 

The army said in a statement that its fighter jets had targeted Iranian intelligence and logistics sites around Damascus, as well as munition warehouses, observation and military posts.

The attacks followed a wave of overnight missile strikes directed at Israeli territory — all of them apparently intercepted — that Israel blamed on Iran. 

Heavy military jet activity, explosions and air-defense fire could be heard across the Golan Heights throughout the night. An Israeli military spokesman said the rockets were fired by Iran’s Quds Force, a special forces unit affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, marking the first time Iranian forces have ever fired directly on Israeli troops.

The Israeli military said several of the rockets had been intercepted by Israel’s missile defense system, and sparks could be seen as they broke up in the sky. But Iranian media downplayed Tehran’s role in the violence, depicting the clashes instead as between Israel and Syria. 

[The shadow war between Israel and Iran takes center stage]

Tehran’s strong support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has allowed it to deepen its foothold across Syria. Although Israel has been escalating its attacks on Iranian forces in Syria for months, the hours-long assault early Thursday was the most intensive to date.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said that casualties were expected, although it did not provide a number.

“What we did tonight is only the tip of the iceberg of the Israeli Army’s capability,” Israeli army spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Menalis said Thursday morning on Israel Army Radio.

Among the targets that were hit were Iranian intelligence sites, a logistics headquarters belonging to the Quds Force, military logistics compound in Al-Kiswah, an Iranian military compound in Syria, north of Damascus, munition storage warehouses of the Quds Force at the Damascus International Airport, intelligence systems and posts associated with Quds Force, observation and military posts and munition in the buffer zone, the Israeli army said.

Separately, Syria’s state news agency conceded that at least one ammunition storage site had been hit, but claimed that the other strikes had been intercepted. 

The strikes come at an uneasy time across the region as President Trump’s decision to withdraw from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran has sharpened tensions between Tehran-linked forces and those who oppose them.

While Trump was in Washington announcing the withdrawal, Golan residents were being told Tuesday to open up their bomb shelters — the first time the army has instructed them to do so during seven years of civil war in nearby Syria. 

Speaking at the annual Herzliya Conference on Thursday morning, Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said his country’s position was clear, “we will not allow Iran to turn Syria into a front line post against Israel.”

“The strikes tonight were in response to the rockets that were launched by the Iranian Quds forces toward Israeli army forward posts in the Golan Heights,” said the Israeli army.

Air raid sirens sounded in the Golan Heights shortly after midnight. In nearby Tiberias, on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, explosions could be heard above the music of bars entertaining busloads of tourists. The explosions were followed by sporadic fire into the early morning hours.

Israeli residents of the Golan Heights reported a restless night in bomb shelters but that life had returned to normal Thursday morning. Schools were open and farmers continued with work as usual.

Targets belonging to the al-Quds Force and the Revolutionary Guard throughout Syria have taken a significant hit,” said Israeli army spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Menalis on Israel Army Radio. “In the next few hours they will understand very well how much we have hit them.”

Eglash reported from Herzliya, Israel and Loveluck from Beirut. Erin Cunningham in Istanbul also contributed to this report.

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