US Chief of Staff General Mark Milley paid a surprise visit to Israel on Friday to discuss "Iran and regional security challenges , " the IDF said. The visit comes as the army reinforced its presence on the northern border and struck military targets in southern Syria in the evening in retaliation for "ammunition" fire from Syria earlier in the day.
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General Mark Milley spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Army Chief Aviv Kohavi. In the evening, “combat helicopters struck military targets in southern Syria, belonging to the Syrian Armed Forces (SAF). A number of targets have been hit, including SAF observation posts and intelligence systems installed at SAF bases , ” an IDF statement said.
These strikes were a response to “fire of (....) ammunition from Syria” towards the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since the Six Day War in 1967. According to the Syrian state agency SANA, Israeli "missiles" hit three targets, causing two "minor injuries" and causing forest fires. Earlier on Friday, the IDF reported explosions on the Syrian side of the security fence in the Golan Heights, which damaged a vehicle and a civilian building on the Israeli side. But she said at the time that it was not possible to immediately establish whether it was an attempt to attack Israeli positions from Syria.
The Israeli army announced a strengthening of its presence on the northern border on Tuesday. The day before, five pro-Iran fighters had been killed in Israeli strikes south of Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), and the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, an ally of the Syrian regime, announced Tuesday. evening the death of one of its fighters in these raids. According to Israeli media, it was about preparing for a possible response from Hezbollah. The army announced Friday that new reinforcements had been sent there, specifying to have "raised its level of preparation against various potential enemy actions".
The Israeli army "holds the Lebanese government responsible for all actions emanating from Lebanon," the statement continued. Benny Gantz said that General Milley's visit underscored the close security ties between Washington and the Jewish state, and warned in a statement that Israel was "ready for any scenario and any threat."