Illustrative image. Source: the Israeli Air Force.
At last 15 Syrian troops were killed or wounded early on October 25, when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a series of airstrikes against positions of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the southern Syrian governorate of Daraa in response to an attack that targeted the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The IDF said that it had identified two rocket launches from Syria that had landed in open areas late on October 24, and that it had responded with artillery fire at the sources of the launches. Israel did not accuse the SAA of firing the two rockets, which set off air raid sirens in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
In a further response, the IDF said the next day that its fighter jets “struck military infrastructure and mortar launchers” belonging to the SAA.
The Syrian official SANA news agency, citing Syrian military sources, said that eight soldiers were killed and another seven were wounded in an overnight Israeli strike on Daraa. The agency added that damage was also caused to the targeted positions.
According to Syrian media reports, the IDF strikes targeted a radar site as well as ammunition depots and barracks located near the towns of Izraa and Qarfa in the northern Daraa countryside. These positions belong to the 12th Armored Brigade of the 5th Armored Division, one of the SAA’s largest formations in the southern region.
Following the strikes, the IDF dropped leaflets over Daraa warning that it will hold the command of the 12th Armored Brigade responsible for any attack from Syrian territory.
Click to see full-size image. Via X.
The rocket attacks on the Golan Heights were most likely carried out by Palestinian fighters as a form of protest to Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
This was the second confirmed indirect fire attack to target the occupied Syrian heights since the October 7 Hamas-led surprise operation against Israel which caused the war. On October 10, a mortar attack was reported. Israel responded back then by attacking civilian airports near the capital, Damascus, and in the northern governorate of Aleppo.
With the death of eight SAA troops, the death toll in Syria from Israel strikes during the war on Gaza has risen to ten. Two civilian meteorologists were reportedly killed in the October 22 strikes on Damascus International Airport.
The war in Gaza has already led to clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah on the Lebanon front and a wave of attacks by the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq against United States bases in the country and neighboring Syria. There was an attempt by the Houthis (Ansar Allah) to target Israel with missiles and drones launched from Yemen.
The SAA will not likely respond to the deadly Israeli strikes due to the extremely difficult political, military and economic situation in war-torn Syria.
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