Israeli Air Strikes in Syria Follow Border Incident

The Israeli Air Force early Wednesday launched air strikes against several Syrian and Iranian military posts in eastern Syria, responding to a Tuesday incident in which anti-personnel mines were found on an Israeli patrol road near the border. In a rare move, Jerusalem immediately claimed responsibility for the airstrikes, noting it had bombed army bases near Damascus belonging to the Iranian Quds forces and a battery of ground-to-air missiles. The state-controlled Syrian Arab News Agency acknowledged the attack and reported that three soldiers had been killed, while a Syrian opposition group claimed at least 10 dead. The Israeli military spokesman explained that Israel would not tolerate attempts to ambush its troops near the border. “We witnessed a similar incident in August, when our forces managed to stop a cell on its way to placing bombing devices,” the spokesman said Wednesday, adding that Tuesday’s discovery of the landmines was “proof that the other side didn’t get the message.”