Israel launches airstrikes on targets in Syria
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out airstrikes against a number of Syrian Army targets after shelling from Syrian territory. "We hold the Syrian regime accountable for the attack and we will respond to any violation of Israel’s sovereignty," the IDF said on Saturday night, July 25. The Israeli side did not specify which targets were hit by its aviation. A few hours earlier, IDF reported explosions in the Golan Heights area and damage to a building and a vehicle.
The Syrian state television claims that Israeli helicopters attacked government army fortifications near the town of Al Qunaitra. Two Syrian servicemen were injured.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also reported a series of explosions near Al Qunaitra. According to SOHR, the Syrian air defense system attacked several "hostile" targets. Experts from a London-based human rights organization receive data from a network of whistleblowers in Syria. Their claims may not always be officially confirmed.
A new round of escalation on the Syrian-Israeli border began after an Israeli rocket attack on the outskirts of Damascus on Monday, July 20, killed one of the commanders of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which is fighting the side of the Syrian government army. Fearing possible retaliation from Hezbollah, Israel moved additional infantry units to the Syrian border in the Golan Heights area.