Israel blamed for strikes near Damascus after ordering shelters open in the Golan

Joanne Stocker May 8, 2018

1 minute read

Israeli forces reportedly struck Syria on Tuesday night, shortly after recalling reserve units and ordering shelters open in the Golan Heights border area.

Israel ordered missile shelters open in the Golan Heights on Tuesday, May 8 and cancelled school trips to the area, citing intelligence that Iranian forces may be preparing an attack from Syria. Shortly after, the Israel Defense Forces called up reserve soldiers from the intelligence, home front and air defense commands.

IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said the IDF “detected irregular Iranian activity in Syria and is preparing the civilian population on the Golan Heights accordingly, as well as defensive systems.”

“Defense systems have been deployed and IDF troops are on high alert for an attack,” the army said in a statement.

The strike was first reported by the pro-Syrian government National Defence Forces militia, which said missiles hit near the Al Kiswah industrial zone, 13 kilometers (8 miles) outside Damascus.

Israel is blamed for striking an Iranian military base in the same area in December.

State news channel SANA reported that the Syrian defenses “address[ed] two Israeli missiles” and destroyed them.

The IDF has not commented on the strike. Israel regularly attacks Iranian and Hezbollah targets inside Syria, and is believed to be behind airstrikes on several Syrian sites since the country’s civil war began.

#Pt. Video showing aftermath of #Israel|i airstrikes tonight near #Kiswah & M5 highway (#Daraa–#Damascus). In Dec. 2017 Israel already bombed a base reportedly used by #Iran few km away, N. of Kiswah. #Syria https://t.co/Ddswt0bIpb pic.twitter.com/UdxJ0Dgsxi

— Qalaat Al Mudiq (@QalaatAlMudiq) May 8, 2018

Last month, Syria and Russia accused Israel of carrying out a missile strike on the T4 airbase in Homs.

In February, an Israel Defence Forces F-16 fighter jet crashed while on a mission to attack Iranian targets in Syria. Conricus said the F-16 was targeting “Iranian control systems in Syria” that sent a drone into Israeli airspace. The Syrian army said its air defense systems intercepted an Israeli strike on a military position near Damascus on February 7. Al Hadath reported that the strikes targeted a military scientific research center in the suburb of Jemraya, 10 kilometers (7 miles) northwest of the capital.

In January, the IDF carried out air strikes and fired rockets at targets in Syria, causing damage near what it said was a military position near Damascus.