Israel admits to two attacks on Syria, says Hezbollah member among victims

September 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Thursday that they had carried out at least two attacks in southern Syria and confirmed the death of a member of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah in one of the few public acknowledgements by the Israeli authorities of such incidents.

The IDF, which did not specify the date of the attacks, said in a brief note that a member of Hezbollah’s “terrorist cell” in the Golan Heights, Ahmad al Jabr, was “eliminated” in the Quneitra area, hours after the Syrian regime reported two deaths in the bombing of a vehicle near the town of Khan Arbane.

The Israeli army has also reported a second attack in Al Rafeed, in southern Syria, against a person who “was planning terrorist activities against the State of Israel and was operating with the cooperation and under the direction of Iran.”

On Sunday, more than 25 people, including five civilians, were killed in a series of bombings also attributed to the Israeli army late on Sunday against the city of Masyaf, in Hama province.

Israel has generally acknowledged attacks in Syria, arguing that it is acting to prevent the establishment of Iranian bases in the country and the sending of weapons to the Lebanese Shiite militia party Hezbollah by the Iranian authorities, which support Damascus in the framework of the war that broke out in 2011.