IDF fighter jets struck Iranian and Syrian military targets in Syria from the Golan Heights to Damascus early Wednesday morning in response to explosives found on the Israeli/Syrian border on Tuesday.

“IDF fighter jets attacked military sites of Iranian Quds and Syrian Armed Forces in Syria tonight [overnight Tuesday],” the IDF spokesperson stated. “The attack damaged storage facilities, command posts, and military complexes as well as anti-aircraft missile batteries. The attack was carried out in response to improvised explosive devices placed in Israeli territory next to the Syrian border by an Iranian-directed Syrian cell.”

Eight targets in Syria were hit in the IDF strikes, including a secret Iranian military complex near the Damascus International Airport which hosts senior Iranian military officials and delegations and base of the Syrian Army’s 7th Division, which is controlled by Iran’s Quds Force.

At least ten soldiers were killed in the strikes, including three Syrian Air-Defense officers, five Iranian Quds Force fighters and two pro-Iranian fighters, who were either Lebanese or Iraqi nationals, according to a report by the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“This was a powerful strike,” IDF spokesperson Hidai Zilberman said. “We attacked targets near the border and all the way to the Damascus area including a central command center of the Iranian forces deployed near the capital’s airport and a secret compound which houses high-level Iranian visitors, just south of the city.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
"This morning, the air force attacked significant Iranian Quds Force targets, and Syrian military targets, in Syria. This is the clear policy that I have been leading for years. pic.twitter.com/jkAmSPKXtZ

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 18, 2020

Zilberman said the attack on the complex was to send a message to Iran that “we won’t allow Iranian entrenchment at all and next to the border specifically,” as well as a message to Syria that it will be held responsible for allowing Iran to operate from its territory.

“The Iron Dome missile defense system has been reinforced in the north and we are prepared for whatever might come next,” Zilberman added.

A team of IDF combat engineers disarmed the IEDs found in the southern Golan Heights on Tuesday, which were planted there several weeks ago by a Syria cell at the instructions of the Iranian Quds Force, according to the IDF Spokesperson. The IEDs were found in a buffer zone near the border under Israeli control but on the Syrian side of the security fence.

Zilberman added that the IDF has been closely monitoring Iranian Quds Force cells attempting to plant IEDs on the border for months and has been conducting foot patrols to prevent attacks as well as reconnaissance drones and missions.

What Iran & Syria did: placed improvised explosive devices by the Alpha Line to hit Israeli troops.

What we did: just struck Iranian Quds Force & Syrian Armed Forces targets in Syria.

We stand prepared to operate against Iranian entrenchment in Syria.

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 18, 2020

Yesterday, the IDF exposed an Iranian-led Syrian attack along the Alpha Line.

But what exactly is the Alpha Line?

@LTCJonathan is here to set the facts straight about one of the most contested locations in the world: the Israel-Syria border. pic.twitter.com/LIjEmVI8Yc

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 18, 2020

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)