Israel’s air force began a “surprise exercise” to improve combat readiness along the country’s northern border, the army said Monday.
The military said that during the drill, which will last until Wednesday, there will be an increase in air traffic throughout the country and explosions could be heard in northern Israel. He said that the “exercise simulates combat scenarios on the northern front and will test all components of core (air force) missions, including maintaining air superiority, protecting the country’s skies, as well as attacking and intelligence gathering “.
Israel says it has carried out hundreds of attacks in Syria against Iranian targets seeking to establish a permanent military presence there, and against shipments of advanced weapons to the Tehran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army said on Monday that the country’s air defenses had intercepted “Israeli aggression” on the capital Damascus in the latest intensified bombardment of Iranian targets inside the country in the past two months.
The Israeli army, which has just started a surprise air force combat drill along the country’s northern border, said it “did not comment on foreign reports,” according to a spokeswoman.
Syrian state media did not give details of what was attacked by the Israeli air force. Israeli military jets flew over the Golan Heights to hit targets on the outskirts of the capital, an army statement said, without mentioning casualties, but adding air defenses shot down most of the missiles.
“Our air defenses continue to repel Israeli missile strikes over the skies over the capital,” the Syrian army said in a statement.
A Syrian military defector said the shelling hit a major army division in the city of Kiswa, nearly 14 kilometers south of the capital, in a large area where Iranian-backed militias have a dominant presence.
Witnesses heard large explosions at the southern tip of Damascus, an area where Iranian-backed militias are entrenched, residents said. Israeli officials have acknowledged carrying out attacks inside Syria aimed at ending Tehran’s entrenched military presence in Syria.
Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi said late last year that Israeli missile strikes had “slowed Iran’s entrenchment in Syria,” hitting more than 500 targets in 2020. The military said Monday that during the surprise drill , which will last until Wednesday, there would be an increase in air traffic across the country and explosions could be heard in northern Israel. He said that the “exercise simulates combat scenarios on the northern front and will test all components in the core missions (of the air force), including maintaining air superiority, protecting the country’s skies, as well as attack and intelligence gathering.
Western intelligence sources say Iran’s military influence has expanded in Syria in recent years, prompting Israel to intensify its campaign to prevent its arch-rival from establishing a major military foothold along its border. Iran’s proxy militias, led by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, now dominate vast areas in eastern, southern and northwestern Syria, as well as in various suburbs around Damascus. They also control the border areas between Lebanon and Syria. Israel, which has staged some of its biggest attacks inside Syria in the past two months, has focused on Al Bukamal, the Syrian city that controls the border checkpoint on the main Baghdad-Damascus highway. The expansion of the military campaign was part of the so-called “campaign within wars”, which, according to Israeli generals and regional intelligence sources, has been tacitly endorsed by the United States.
Operations that aim to prevent Tehran from shifting the balance of power in Syria in its favor have gradually eroded Iran’s extensive military power without triggering a major escalation in hostilities, regional intelligence sources say.
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