Israel launches retaliatory attack on Iranian targets in Syria, leaving 11 people dead after a rocket 'was fired at a packed Golan Heights ski resort'
- Israel's military said it had attacked Iranian targets near Syrian capital Damascus
- Witnesses in Damascus said loud explosions rang out in the night sky for an hour
- Eleven have been killed including two Syrians in deadliest strikes since May 2018
- Followed previous night of cross-border fire, which Israel said was prompted by a rocket fired at a packed ski resort in the Golan Heights
At least 11 have been killed after Israel launched retaliatory attacks on Iranian targets in Syria overnight.
Israel's military said it had targeted Iranian installations near the Syrian capital Damascus early today, hours after intercepting a rocket fired from Syrian territory.
They were the deadliest Israeli strikes in Syria since May last year, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
It followed a previous night of cross-border fire, which Israel said was prompted by a rocket fired at a packed ski resort in the Golan Heights, close to the frontier with Syria. Israel did not say who it suspected of carrying out that rocket attack.
The threat of open confrontation between arch-enemies Israel and Iran has long simmered in Syria. The Iranian military has established a presence there since early in Syria's civil war in support of President Bashar al-Assad's battle against rebels.
At least 11 have been killed after Israel launched several strikes on targets in Syria overnight. Pictured: Syrian air defenses intercept Israeli missiles targeting an area in Damascus overnight
Targets included weapons depots belonging to Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and Iranian fighters, it has been claimed. Pictured: Syrian air defences attempting to intercept Israeli strikes overnight
Israel, regarding Iran as its biggest threat, has repeatedly attacked Iranian targets and those of allied militia, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, in Syria, aiming to push them far from its frontier.
This morning, witnesses in Damascus said loud explosions rang out in the night sky for nearly an hour.
'Israeli strikes targeting Iranian and Syrian military positions near and south of Damascus killed at least 11 fighters including two Syrians,' Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
The targets included weapons depots belonging to Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and Iranian fighters, he said.
Air strikes and ground-to-ground missiles hit several targets around the capital including near the Damascus airport, as well as near the Thaala military airport to the south of the capital, the Observatory said.
Israel's military said its aerial bombardment targeted 'Iranian Quds military sites in Syria', including munition storage sites and a site located in the Damascus International Airport, along with an Iranian intelligence site and an Iranian military training camp.
'During the strike, dozens of Syrian surface-to-air missiles were launched, despite clear warnings to avoid such fire. In response, several of the Syrian Armed Forces' aerial defence batteries were targeted,' the military said in a statement.
Air strikes and ground-to-ground missiles hit several targets around the capital including near the Damascus airport, as well as near the Thaala military airport to the south of the capital. This was the scene in the skies above Damascus overnight
The Quds Force is in charge of Iran's Revolutionary Guards´ overseas operations.
Monday's overnight strikes followed cross-border attacks on Sunday in which Syria said it repelled an Israeli air attack. Israel said it intercepted a rocket fired at a packed ski resort in the Golan Heights, close to the frontier with Syria.
'We have a permanent policy, to strike at the Iranian entrenchment in Syria and hurt whoever tries to hurt us,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier.
The Israeli army said a popular ski site on Mount Hermon in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights would be shut for the day. It added that otherwise things remained 'routine' along the frontier with Syria.
Syrian state media, meanwhile, cited a Syrian military source as saying Israel launched an 'intense attack through consecutive waves of guided missiles', but that Syrian air defences destroyed most of the 'hostile targets'.
Israel has pledged to stop its main enemy Iran entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria.
In May, Israeli strikes killed 27 pro-regime fighters including 11 Iranians in strikes on dozens of Iranian targets inside Syria.
Israel said at the time it was responding to a salvo of rockets fired by Iranian forces into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
More than 360,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the start of Syria's civil war with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
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