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Iran attacks Golan Heights prompting Israeli barrages against Syria
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iran vowed retaliation after a suspected israeli air strike last month killed seven of its military personnel in a syrian air base1 iranian forces in syria launched a rocket attack on israeli army bases in the golan heights early on thursday israel said prompting one of the heaviest israeli barrages against syria since the conflict there began in 20111 dozens of israeli missiles hit a radar station syrian air defense positions and an ammunition dump syrian state media said underscoring the risks of a wider escalation involving iran and its regional allies1 i hope we finished this chapter and everyone got the message israeli defence minister avigdor lieberman said at the herzliya security conference near tel aviv on thursday morning1 israel said 20 iranian grad and fajr rockets were shot down by its iron dome air defense system or fell short of the golan targets. the quds force an external arm of irans revolutionary guards carried out the launch israel said1 it was commanded and ordered by quds force chief general qassem soleimani and it has not achieved its purpose military spokesman lt.-col. jonathan conricus told newsmen1 israel struck back by destroying dozens of iranian military sites in syria conricus said as well as syrian anti-aircraft units that tried unsuccessfully to shoot down israeli planes1 we do not know yet the iranian casualty count he said1 but i can say that in terms of our purpose we focused less on personnel and more on capabilities and hardware to inflict long-term damage on the iranian military establishment in syria. we assess it will take substantial time to replenish1 israeli schools in the golan heights opened as usual on thursday morning after sirens had sent residents to shelters during the night1 i do not reside on the border of new zealand-australia. we are located here facing syria and lebanon and this is the reality which we will overcome together especially with the israel defence forces said alex gudish a golan settler1 the israelis fear that iran and its lebanese ally hezbollah are turning syria into a new front against them. israel says its occasional strikes in syria aim to foil that1 the attack on the israeli-occupied golan heights just past midnight marked the first time iranian forces have hit israel from syria where they have deployed along with iran-backed shiite militias and russian troops to support president bashar al-assad in the countrys civil war1 israel regards iran as its biggest threat and has repeatedly targeted iranian forces and allied militia in syria1 expectations of a regional flare-up were stoked by u.s. president donald trumps announcement on tuesday that he was withdrawing from the iranian nuclear deal1 hours later israeli rocket rockets targeted a military base in kisweh a commander in the pro-syrian government regional alliance said1 that attack killed 15 people including eight iranians the syrian observatory for human rights said though the commander said there were no casualties. israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility1 the trump administration cast its hard line against the iranian nuclear deal as a response in part to tehrans military interventions in the region1 the golan flare-up with israel is just further demonstration that the iranian regime cannot be trusted and another good reminder that the president made the right decision to get out of the iran deal white house press secretary sarah sanders told fox news1 the tensions worry russia which wants to stabilize syria1 thursdays flare-up came hours after israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu returned from a visit to moscow where he discussed syria concerns with russian president vladimir putin1 conricus said israel forewarned russia of its strikes on thursday which syrian state media first reported hit baath city in quneitra near the border. further waves of missiles followed. syrian state media said israeli missiles had been brought down over damascus homs and sueida1 air defenses confronted tens of israeli rockets and some of them reached their target and destroyed one of the radar sites syrian state news agency sana reported citing a military source. another rocket hit an ammunition warehouse it said1 syrian state television broadcast footage of its air defenses firing and playing patriotic songs. damascus residents described explosions in the sky from air defense systems1 lebanons national news agency reported israeli jets circling over lebanese territory early on thursday before exiting. reutersnan1