Syrian state media reported that Israel attacked the T-4 airbase near the northern city of Homs just after midnight Sunday, killing one soldier and wounding two others. A watchdog group said 5 people were killed.
The attack comes after the IDF carried out airstrikes on several military targets in Syria in the predawn hours of Sunday morning, reportedly killing 10 in response to two rockets that were fired from the country at the Golan Heights the night before.
Military officials told SANA that the attack targeted and destroyed a weapons storage facility and several other buildings at the base. Israel has attacked the T-4, or Tiyas, air base on multiple occasions. They said one Syrian soldier was killed and two wounded.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported five killed, including one Syrian soldier. It said the attack also destroyed a rocket warehouse.
In addition to the Syrian army, Iranian fighters and Hezbollah forces are also stationed at the airbase, according to the monitor.
SANA also claimed that Syrian air defenses destroyed two of the incoming missiles.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF.
#BREAKING #NOW
Video documenting the targeting of the #T4 military airport by Israeli warplanes.#Israel #IDF #IAF #Iran #IRGC #Russia #USA #Syriapic.twitter.com/PqPvfxpJFN— Eva J. Koulouriotis – إيفا كولوريوتي (@evacool_) June 2, 2019
Israeli defense officials have previously claimed the base is being used by Iranian forces as part of the Islamic Republic’s efforts to entrench militarily in Syria, something Israel has vowed to prevent.
Beginning at 4:10 a.m. Sunday, IDF helicopters and planes attacked several targets connected to the Syrian army, including two artillery batteries, several observation and intelligence outposts, and an SA-2 type air defense unit, the army said in its statement. Syrian media reported that Israel also struck several targets connected to Iran and its proxy militias in Syria, in the area of al-Kiswah, south of Damascus.
The strikes reportedly targeted weapons caches and a military training facility. Seven “foreign fighters” were among the 10 killed by the strikes, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group.
The Israeli army refrained from specifying who it believes fired the two rockets at the Golan Heights — one of which landed inside Israeli territory, the other in Syria — but said it “sees the Syrian regime as responsible for all attacks against Israel from Syrian territory.”
Saturday night’s rockets appeared to be a relatively long-range variety, reportedly fired from the Damascus area, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) away, similar to an attack earlier this year aimed at Mount Hermon.
Speaking Sunday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran that Israel’s airstrikes on Syria earlier in the day showed that, when assaulted, the Jewish state hits back hard.
At least five Syrians, including a soldier in the Syrian army, were killed in an alleged Israeli attack on the T4 airbase in the eastern Homs province on Sunday night, one day after limited clashes between the two foes, Kan news reported.
An unnamed military source was quoted by SANA as saying that regime air defenses “confronted an Israeli aggression and destroyed two rockets targeting the T4 airport,” adding that the other Israeli rockets caused the death of one soldier and injured two others.
An unnamed military source was quoted by SANA as saying that regime air defenses “confronted an Israeli aggression and destroyed two rockets targeting the T4 airport,” adding that the other Israeli rockets caused the death of one soldier and injured two others.
An ammunition depot was destroyed in the strike and there was material damage to other buildings.
According to reports multiple explosions were heard inside the airbase during the strike.
According to reports multiple explosions were heard inside the airbase during the strike.
Iran has been moving its assets from areas repeatedly struck by Israel to locations closer to the border with Iraq, specifically the T4 Airbase strategically located between Homs and Palmyra and just yesterday a Fars Air jumbo jet returned to Iran from a possible arms delivery flight at T4.
With a large presence of Iranian-backed troops in the area,both civilian and cargo airlines are used by the IRGC as a front for military transport flights bringing in soldiers and weaponry to bolster Iran’s military presence in Syria.
Israeli officials have repeatedly voiced concerns over the growing Iranian presence on its borders and the smuggling of sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah from Tehran to Lebanon via Syria, stressing that both are red-lines for the Jewish State.
The strike came just hours after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would not tolerate missile attacks on its territory and would "respond forcefully to any aggression against it."
“Yesterday, two missiles were fired toward Israel from Syrian territory,” Netanyahu said. “One struck inside Syria and the other hit our territory on the Golan Heights. I held security consultations following the attack, and I ordered the IDF to take strong action, which it did, striking several targets.”
The Israel Air Force struck several Syrian military positions in southwestern Damascus and Quneitra, killing seven “foreign fighters” and three Syrian Armed Force (SAF) soldiers, and injuring seven others, in retaliation for the rockets fired earlier into northern Israel.
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