Explosives discovered: Israel's air force bombs targets in Syria

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Israeli F-35 fighter aircraft at a demonstration (symbol image)

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Amir Cohen / REUTERS

On Wednesday night, the Israeli army reportedly bombed military positions in neighboring Syria.

A total of eight targets of the Iranian Quds Brigades and Syrian troops were attacked, said the Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus.

According to the Syrian news agency Sana, three soldiers were killed.

Conricus said Israel was responding to explosives that were discovered the day before on the Israeli side of the border.

They placed a Syrian unit under Iranian leadership.

The Israeli army published a picture on Twitter that is supposed to show the explosives and their location in the border area.

During the attack in Syria, warehouses, military facilities and Syrian surface-to-air missile batteries were bombed, the army said in a statement.

The discovery of the explosives is "further evidence of the Iranian establishment in Syria."

Israel holds Syria responsible for all attacks from its territory and will continue to take action against them.

"The Israeli army remains in increased readiness and is prepared for various scenarios."

Conricus said the explosives were found in close proximity to where an attempted attack on Israeli troops was thwarted in August.

"It is the same place in the south of the Golan Heights west of the Alpha Line." This line separates the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in 1967, from Syria.

"It seems that the message was not clear enough"

In response, Israel bombed targets in Syria in August.

"It seems that the message we tried to convey last time wasn't clear enough," said Conricus.

"We hope that this time it is clear."

This time targets in the area from the border to the suburbs of Damascus had been shot, said the military spokesman.

These include an Iranian headquarters at the international airport in Damascus and a secret military facility that is used to receive high-ranking guests from Iran.

This facility attacked Israel for the first time.

Israel calls on the UN troops in the Golan Heights to ensure compliance with the ceasefire, said Conricus.

The blue helmets of the Undof mission control an approximately 235 square kilometers buffer zone between Israel and Syria.

Israel repeatedly bombs targets in Syria, but very rarely makes official statements.

The attacks are mostly directed against troops and facilities associated with Shiite Iran.

The regime in Tehran sees Israel as an archenemy and is at the same time a close ally of the ruler Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war.

Israel wants to prevent Iran from expanding its influence there and, above all, its military facilities.

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