A terror cell that planted several explosives along Israel’s border with Syria earlier this week had been operating under orders from Iran, arny Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi said Friday.
The remarks made by the army chief during a meeting with soldiers from the Maglan reconnaissance unit that thwarted the Sunday attack represented the first time Israel has fingered Tehran as having been behind the attack. It appeared to put to bed initial speculation that the incident represented an attempt by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah to stage a counter-attack against Israel for the reported killing of one of its officers last month.
“You thwarted a squad sent by Iran, which was part of the process of establishing a radical axis in Syria,” Kohavi told the soldiers Friday, lauding them for their efforts, which led to the neutralizing of the four fighters who planted the explosives.
The Israel Defense Forces went on to conduct a series of airstrikes on Syrian military targets late Monday night in response to the Golan Heights attempted attack.
The IDF said it bombed Syrian observation posts, intelligence-gathering equipment, anti-aircraft cannons and command-and-control infrastructure.
“The IDF sees the Syrian regime as responsible for all activities that occur in its territory and will continue to act with determination against all violations of the sovereignty of the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement.
Syrian state media confirmed that attacks took place. The official SANA news outlet reported that the country’s air defenses were activated by the incoming missiles, which targeted sites southwest of Damascus. It also quoted a military source as saying the attack caused only material damage and no injuries.
Kohavi’s comments Friday came four days after the Haaretz daily reported that the military believed an Iranian proxy militia was responsible for the attempted attack, not Hezbollah, with which Israel has been in a standoff over the past two weeks.
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