TEHRAN (FNA)- A Syrian lawmaker on Thursday refuted Tel Aviv’s claims that the attack on the Israeli military in the Golan was conducted by Iran, stressing that the barrage of rockets were sent by his own country’s army.
As Tel Aviv and Western media have accused Tehran of launching rocket and missile attacks at Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights, Member of the Parliament Fares Shehabi tweeted on Thursday that “Iran denies firing any rocket at Israel! The Syrian army fired more than 50 rockets at Israel in response to continuous Israeli terrorism against Syria”.
The Israeli army said it hit dozens of Iranian military bases in Syria overnight in responce to attack from within Syrian territory. But, according to battlefield reports, the Syrian Army has intercepted tens of incoming Israeli missiles, and then, reciprocated the assault with a barrage of rocket attacks on military centers in occupied Golan Heights.
The Syrian Army Command also said its air defense systems have managed to intercept and destroy the biggest part of Israeli rockets fired at military bases in the Arab country.
The Syrian Army Spokesman reaffirmed “the alertness of the army and readiness to defend the sovereignty of the homeland against any aggression”, stressing that attempts to support terrorism would prove futile.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that some 28 Israeli aircraft fired around 60 air-to-surface rockets in a massive overnight strike in Syria on Thursday morning, adding that Syrian air defense systems managed to intercept more than half of the missiles.
Israeli forces bombed the Syrian territory for two hours between 1:45 am and 3:45 am local time on Thursday, according to reports.
The Russian military said in a statement that “28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 planes” were involved in the assault, while “Syrian air-defense systems shot down more than half of the rockets as they repelled the Israeli attack”.
Tel Aviv said 20 rockets were fired into the Golan Heights early Thursday, and acknowledged that its well-known Iron Dome has only shot down 4 projectiles.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman, Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, told reporters that “several but not all” of the rockets were intercepted by Israeli defences, as minutes past midnight, approximately 20 projectiles were fired towards the line of IDF positions in the Golan Heights.
The military admitted that “Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system brought down four of the rockets”.
Other sources mentioned 50 to 68 rockets were fired at Israeli targets after midnight in reprisal for earlier missile attacks on Syria.
Israel has seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and continued to occupy two-thirds of the strategically-important territory ever since. The Tel Aviv regime has built tens of illegal settlements in the area since its occupation and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government.
The Tel Aviv regime has launched sporadic attacks against various targets on Syrian soil over the past few years, in assaults slammed by Damascus as attempts to boost terrorist groups who have been suffering heavy defeats in battle against Syrian government forces.
The Syrian army has also seized Israeli-made arms and military equipment from militants fighting pro-Damascus forces on numerous occasions ever since the war of militancy started in the country. Israel has also admittedly been providing medical treatment to the militants wounded in the Arab country.
“….stressing that the barrage of rockets were sent by his own country’s army…..”
Now this is a bit more believable than the Reuters article from yesterday. It always takes a few days to get close to the truth of the matter, but regardless of who fired the rockets, we’re going to war.