BICOM

Four rockets were fired yesterday from Syria into northern Israel, prompting the IDF to hit strategic targets across the Syrian border in response. Israel accused Iranian supported Islamic Jihad of orchestrating yesterday’s attack.

The rockets were fired yesterday afternoon, triggering warning sirens in northern Israeli communities which sent local residents hurrying for cover. Two rockets landed on the Golan Heights adjacent to the Syrian border, but two others landed much further away in the Upper Galilee region. All fell in open areas and did not cause injuries or any material damage. However, they did ignite several brushfires which were extinguished by fire crews.

Israel has remained largely on the side-lines during the four-year Syrian Civil War, although mortar and gunfire from the fighting has infrequently landed on Israeli territory. More often than not the Israeli military has determined errant Syrian fire to be unintentional. However, Israel determined that yesterday’s rocket salvo was a deliberate attack, emanating from areas under the control of President Assad’s forces. Israel used artillery and air power against 14 strategic targets in response.

Yesterday’s violence comes just days after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon toured the norther border and warned of Iranian attempts to escalate tensions there. A statement from Israel’s Foreign Ministry yesterday said that Islamic Jihad was responsible for the attack, which was “facilitated and directed by an Iranian operative Saeed Izaddhi, who heads the Palestinian unit in the IRGC Qods force [part of the Iranian National Guard].” Islamic Jihad denied any involvement. The statement called yesterday’s attack “another clear and blatant demonstration of Iran’s continued and unabating support and involvement in terrorist attacks.”

Also yesterday, Israel deployed Iron Dome anti-missile batteries in the south of the country as a precaution against a possible uptick in violence, should the condition of Islamic Jihad activist Mohammed Allan deteriorate. Allan remains in an Israeli hospital having refused food for more than two months, protesting his administrative detention.