Hezbollah terrorists on parade. Photo: File.

JNS.org – Israel carried out multiple missile strikes in southern and central Syria on Thursday, Syrian state media reported.

Syrian air defenses “successfully confronted” Israeli missile attacks early on Thursday morning against targets in Homs, in the center of the country, and minutes later in Quneitra in the Syrian Golan Heights near the border with Israel, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported. Syria routinely makes false claims about having downed Israeli missiles.

The missiles were launched from Israeli warplanes in Lebanese airspace and over the Golan Heights, according to the report.

Other Arab media outlets also attributed the attacks to Israel. Arab media reports identified the targets as a missile shipment earmarked for Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Syrian military bases, including an airbase near Homs used by Hezbollah forces in the country that was allegedly attacked by Israel in May 2018.

Last Thursday, Arab media outlets reported that an Israeli had assassinated a senior Hezbollah operative in charge of creating an Iranian-backed terrorist network in the Syrian Golan.

According to the UK-based monitor group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Imad at-Tawil was killed when his car was hit from the air. Russian media said witnesses on the ground reported intense activity by Israeli aircraft nearby.

According to reports, Israel’s “campaign between wars” has also included strikes against Iranian efforts to build a land corridor linking Iraq to Syria for the purpose of transferring weapons and fighters.

The reported Israeli strikes in recent years represent the tip of a very large iceberg. For every reported preventive action taken by Israel, it can be assumed that there are many more that go unreported and remain unknown to the general public.

Israel is determined not to allow Iran to build drone bases, missile factories and proxy terrorist networks with which to threaten its citizens, and the Israel Air Force operates around the clock to monitor and disrupt emerging threats.

Israel’s overall strategic objective in these strikes was spelled out by the director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, Yossi Cohen, hours after an alleged July 1 attack, when he stated at a conference in Herzliya: “I believe that Iran will reach the conclusion that it is just not worth it.”