WATCH: Israel strikes Syrian SA22 air defense battery
Israel struck 50 Iranian targets in Syria after 20 rockets were fired toward Israel’s front defensive line in the Golan Heights early Thursday morning.
By JULIANE HELMHOLDUpdated: MAY 10, 2018 20:09An Israeli air force F-15 fighter jet flies during an exhibition as part of the graduation ceremony of air force pilots at Hatzerim air base in southern Israel(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
Israel Defense Forces released a video Thursday of an Israeli strike taking out a Syrian air defense battery. The strike occurred during Israel's retaliatory attack early Thursday morning in response to rocket fire from Syria earlier that day, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.The video appears to be filmed from a camera loaded on the Israeli rocket. The rocket flies down toward the Syrian SA22, a combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery battery, eventually cutting out when it seems to hit the target.During the operation by the Israel Air Force on Thursday morning, Israeli jets were met with heavy anti-aircraft fire from the Syrian regime and in return, destroyed a total of five such air defense batteries.The operation came as a response to 20 rockets which were fired toward Israel’s northern front in the Golan Heights by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp’s Quds Force from Syrian territory.Israel strikes a Syrian SA22 during Israeli airstrikes in Syria on May 10, 2018 (Credit: IDF Spokesperson"s Unit)Incoming rocket sirens were activated at 12:10 in Israel’s northern Golan Heights communities of Majdal Shams, Neve Ativ, Nimrod, Masa’ade, Buqa’ata, Odem and El Rom.Israel has been preparing for a direct attack from the Quds force since mid-April, in response to a strike allegedly carried out by the Jewish state against an Iranian operated airbase in Syria which killed seven IRGC soldiers.On Tuesday night, the military instructed local governments to open bomb shelters to residents of the Golan Heights following the identification of “abnormal movements of Iranian forces in Syria.”The IDF has raised preparedness of “troops for an attack” and deployed air defenses in the several locations in the north of the country.Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.
