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Israel military says strikes Syria army targets

An Israeli self-propelled artillery howitzer shells southern Lebanon from a position in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel on Jan. 4, 2024. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)

The Israeli military said on Wednesday its warplanes struck Syrian army infrastructure overnight in response to rocket fire from the country.

"Last night, a number of launches from Syria toward the southern Golan Heights were identified," the military said in a statement.

"In response, IDF (Israeli) fighter jets struck military infrastructure belonging to the Syrian regime in the area of Daraa overnight." 

It did not offer details of any casualties or damage caused by the strikes on southern Syria.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.

The military rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria but has said repeatedly it will not allow Iran, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, to expand its presence. 

Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes during more than a decade of civil war in Syria, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces as well as Syrian army positions.

Such attacks have intensified since the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas began on Oct. 7.

On Monday, Israeli strikes in Syria killed eight people, including pro-Iran fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said.

Violence has also flared on the Israel-Lebanon border, with near-daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Hamas's Iran-backed ally Hezbollah.

On Wednesday, the Israeli army said its artillery fired at several locations in southern Lebanon, without providing details.

More than 200 people, most of them Hezbollah fighters, have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since Oct. 7, according to an AFP tally. 

On the Israeli side of the border, nine soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to Israeli officials. 


The Israeli military said on Wednesday its warplanes struck Syrian army infrastructure overnight in response to rocket fire from the country.

"Last night, a number of launches from Syria toward the southern Golan Heights were identified," the military said in a statement.

"In response, IDF (Israeli) fighter jets struck military...