Israel Strikes Syria After Rocket Attack On Golan Heights

Click to see full-size image. Source: the Israeli Air Force.

Late on November 11, two rockets were fired from southern Syria, setting off sirens in a number of settlements in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that both rockets landed in open areas in Golan, causing no casualties or damage.

In an initial response, IDF artillery shelled the source of the rocket fire in southern Syria. According to Syrian activists, around seven artillery rounds hit an open area between the towns of Nafa`ah and al-Shubruq in the western countryside of Daraa.

Later in the early hours of November 12, the IDF announced that the Air Force struck what it called “terror infrastructure” in southern Syria.

The airstrikes reportedly hit an artillery battalion of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) 112nd Mechanized Brigade. Heavy damage was reported at the battalion’s site near the town of Nawa in the Western Daraa countryside. However, there were no casualties.

Israel has escalated its attacks on Syria significantly since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. Strikes attributed to Israel have hit Aleppo and Damascus airports several times in the past month. In addition, the IDF struck southern Syria more than once in response to rocket attacks that targeted Golan.

At least seven fighters of Lebanese Hezbollah were killed near the central Syrian city of Homs by an Israeli strike on November 10.

The IDF said that the strike was carried out in response to a drone attack that targeted Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat a day earlier. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah praised the attack and talked about its importance during his most recent speech. However, he didn’t claim responsibility or confirm that the drone was launched from Syria.

Syria has largely refrained from responding to Israel’s repeated attacks over the past decade in an attempt to avoid a full-blown war.

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