Iranian forces have shot rockets at Israeli-held territory overnight on May 9. On Thursday, Israel said that it attacked nearly all of Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria.
“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 said.
“If there is rain on our side, there will be a flood on their side,” Israel’s defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, was quoted as saying by the Times.
He said, “I hope we have finished with this round and that everybody understood.”
“This was by far the largest strike we have done, but it was focused on Iranian sites,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, who is an Israeli military spokesman. “We saw it was very clear what the Iranians were doing, attacking Israel from Syrian soil,” he added.
Syrian state-run media, quoting an unidentified Syrian foreign ministry official, reported that Israel’s overnight attacks was a “new phase of aggression,” the Post reported.
The White House issued a statement on the tit-for-tat strikes.
The White House said, “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,” as Reuters reported.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, condemned the overnight attacks by Iran and called on the country to de-escalate of tensions in the Middle East.
Russia called on both sides to exercise restraint and resolve their differences diplomatically.
The Israelis have claimed that Iran and its Lebanon-based ally Hezbollah are turning Syria into a front against Israel.
Friends Read Free