Syrian air defense systems were activated on Sunday night in response to Israeli airstrikes on targets south of Damascus, Syrian state media reported.

Israeli media outlets reported the strikes as targeting Iranian-based militia in response to the blast on the Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman last week.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Monday morning that it is clear that Iran was behind the attack on the MV Helios Ray.

סוכנות הידיעות הסורית: מערכות ההגנה האוויריות הצליחו להפיל כמה מהטילים הישראליים@HaimOmri pic.twitter.com/xKmSK4SPkh

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 28, 2021

Israel’s senior security officials held a meeting on Sunday evening regarding the attack, Kan News reported.

On Thursday, in the first military action carried out by the Biden administration, the United States carried out airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups in Syria in retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member and other coalition troops.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)