Israel strikes Iranian targets in Syria after rocket attack

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military on Wednesday said it struck dozens of Iranian targets in Syria, carrying out a “wide-scale” strike in response to rocket fire on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights the day before.

The military said its fighter jets hit multiple targets belonging to the elite Quds force, including surface-to-air missiles, weapons warehouses and military bases. After the Syrian military fired an air defense missile, the military said a number of Syrian aerial defense batteries were destroyed.

The strikes further burst into the open what’s been a long shadow war between Israel and its archenemy Iran. The two foes have increasingly clashed over what Israel says is Iran’s deeper presence along its borders.

“Yesterday’s Iranian attack towards Israel is further clear proof of the purpose of the Iranian entrenchment in Syria, which threatens Israeli security, regional stability and the Syrian regime,” the military said in a statement.

Israel intercepted the four rockets on the Golan Heights on Tuesday which came amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iranian proxies along its borders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a series of warnings recently about Iranian aggression throughout the Middle East.

Israel last week fought against the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza, striking and killing a top commander in the coastal enclave and is widely believed to have struck and missed another leader of the group in Syria.

Iran has forces based in Syria, Israel’s northern neighbor, and supports Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. In Gaza, it supplies Islamic Jihad with cash, weapons and expertise.

Netanyahu also has claimed Iran is using Iraq and far-off Yemen, where Tehran supports Shiite Houthi rebels at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing the government, to plan attacks against Israel. Hamas also receives some support from Iran.