Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday appeared to acknowledge counterterror operations inside Iran, just hours after a Syrian air defense missile exploded in Israeli airspace. “We settle accounts with every terrorist and everyone who dispatched terrorists—in Gaza, in Judea and Samaria, in Syria and even in Iran,” said Netanyahu in comments published by his office. “Let all of our enemies know that we work according to a simple rule: Whoever harms us or tries to harm us, we will harm them and we will also thwart his designs.”
Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that since the current government was established, Israel has targeted a “record number of terrorists.” Said Netanyahu, “I have said that they are to be found in one of two places: The grave or jail, mostly the former.”
Netanyahu didn’t discuss his country’s strikes in Syria from the night before, but his comments could have been describing them precisely: More hits on terrorists and their sponsors. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that early Sunday morning, Israeli struck targets in Syria, killing another member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Per SOHR, one target was an ammunitions warehouse.
During Israel’s nighttime attack, the Syrians fired anti-aircraft defenses at the Israeli forces. A Syrian anti-aircraft rocket exploded over Israeli territory according to the IDF Twitter feed. In response to the Syrian rocket entering Israeli airspace, the Twitter posts said that Israeli fighter jets hit a Syrian anti-aircraft battery and “additional targets in the area.”
Israel has launched many airstrikes at Syria, where Iran has attempted to set up a new base of operations from which to attack Israel. In addition, Israel has expressed concern about weapons transferred through Syria to Hezbollah terrorists.
Just last Thursday, Netanyahu made it clear where Israel’s red lines lie in Syria and beyond. “We will not allow Iran to establish itself on our borders. We will not allow it to build precision weapons factories in Lebanon and Syria. And, of course, we will not accept Iran’s intentions to develop a nuclear arsenal,” said Netanyahu to an IDF pilots graduation event, in comments published by Israel.
Israel’s conflict with Iran extends even beyond Syrian territory. “We are working without respite against the attempts of Iran and its proxies to open terrorist fronts against us—in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and in Judea and Samaria,” said Netanyahu last Thursday.
“We are also working against Iran’s efforts to develop terrorist cells and capabilities in neighboring countries, which are not countries in conflict with us.”
As Israel demonstrated on Sunday morning, they will fight back as needed. Said Netanyahu in his comments to the pilots graduation, “We will maintain our right and our obligation to defend ourselves, with our own forces, against any threat whatsoever, throughout the Middle East.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, July 2, 2023)