Dozens of Airstrikes Launched by Israel on Iranian, Syrian Military Targets in Damascus

The Israeli military reports that it launched dozens of airstrikes on Iranian Quds Force and Syrian military targets in and around Damascus Wednesday. This follows Israel’s interception of four rockets that were launched from Syria toward the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Tuesday. The Britain-based war monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli airstrikes killed 11 people, including seven non-Syrians – most likely Iranians. Syrian state media only reported that two civilians were killed. The Syrian state news agency SANA said two civilians were killed and several wounded in the Israeli attacks, and that most of the Israeli missiles were intercepted by Syrian air defenses. An Israeli military spokesman described the targets of Israeli airstrikes as surface-to-air missiles, headquarters, weapons depots and military bases. Israel says it has launched hundreds of airstrikes in Syria to prevent the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from establishing a permanent presence there and to disrupt shipments of advanced weapons from Iran to the Lebanese Shi’ite militia, Hizbullah.