Looming War Between Israel and Iran? Israel Strikes Back After Rocket Fire
Israel has struck back with extensive strikes against Iran's forces across Syria, the heaviest Israeli action in Syria since the onset of the 2011 civil war. Israel said that is retaliation was a response to the rocket attacks reportedly fired by Iranian forces at Israeli-held territory for the first time.
Tensions between the two countries are now at an all-time high since Thursday, May 10, as the threat of an all-out war looms over the region, as The Guardian reported. Escalating military action in the area came about two days after Trump has reimposed sanctions on Iran after pulling the US out of the so-called Iran deal.
Israel has targeted dozens of Iranian military installations across Syria, destroying bases and anti-aircraft units that tried to defend them against Israeli airstrikes, according to Israeli military representative Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus via Reuters.
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The White House, for its part, has issued a statement condemning the rocket attacks on Golan Heights and supported Israel's right to defend itself, calling Thursday's assault on Israeli-held positions "provocative."
"The Iranian regime's deployment into Syria of offensive rocket and missile systems aimed at Israel is an unacceptable and highly dangerous development for the entire Middle East," the White House said in a statement, adding that it falls on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to take responsibility and the "consequences of its reckless actions."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the renewed assault on Syria "appropriate" as a response to Iran having "crossed a red line."
"We are in the midst of a protracted battle and our policy is clear: We will not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily in Syria," Netanyahu affirmed as he addressed the media in a short video.
Netanyahu confirmed that the airstrikes carried out by the Israeli army was a "very broad attack" aimed against Iranian targets in Syria, and a message to the Assad regime as well. "If the Syrian army will act against us, we will act against it," he said.
Israel has warned the international community about the Iranian forces building up inside Syria, and now is the first time the country has initiated decisive action against them since the 2011 start of the civil war in the country.
Iran, for its part, has denied the reports that its forces launched rocket attacks against the Israeli forces arrayed in Golan Heights, calling the claims by Israeli armed forces "baseless" and "fabricated."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bahram Qasem went on to call the "frequent" attacks on Syria a clear "breach of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria," as well as a violation of all international laws and agreements.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council seems to be divided over the issue and has not yet issued a statement as of this time, according to Al Jazeera.
