In a rare acknowledgment, the IDF stated on Sunday night that it struck Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror targets in Syria in response to the barrage of rocket strikes on Israel from the PIJ group in the Gaza Strip. “IDF fighter jets struck terror sites belonging to the PIJ terror group south of Damascus in Syria, as well as dozens of PIJ sites throughout the Gaza Strip,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement that the airstrikes on Damascus killed two of its members, identifying them as Salim Salim, 24, and Ziad Mansour, 23. It did not disclose their nationalities or elaborate on their roles. It vowed to respond to the deaths of its members. Media reports on Monday morning said that the death toll from the Israeli strikes in Syria rose to six from the two reported on Sunday night. תמונת 2 מחבלי הג’יהאד האסלאמי שנהרגו בהפצצה הישראלית באזור דמשק:סלים אחמד סלים בן 24 וזיאד מנצור בן 23.אולם ארגון זכויות אדם סורי מוסר כי בתקיפה נהרגו 6 בני אדם. pic.twitter.com/ixtQxTQfOe — יוני בן מנחם yoni ben menachem (@yonibmen) February 24, 2020 Israel’s attack on Syrian targets triggered anti-aircraft fire from the country’s air defenses that shook Damascus. דמשק: הפעלת נמ סורי נגד מטוסי חיל האוויר הישראלי לטענתם התוקפים באזור דמשק במקביל לתקיפת מטרות גאפ בעזה https://t.co/DhnriXXtLc — Or Heller אור הלר (@OrHeller) February 23, 2020 A Syrian military statement reported an Israeli attack near Damascus International Airport and said its air defenses confronted Israeli rockets coming from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It said the defenders intercepted or shot down most of them. Israel said its warplanes attacked targets of the Palestinian militant Islamic Jihad group south of Damascus in addition to sites in the Gaza Strip. It said the sites attacked were used for “research and development of armaments” that are manufactured in Syria and the Gaza Strip. It said the sites also produce dozens of kilograms of rocket fuel each month. The military said the attacks “were carried out in response to the attempted attack this morning on the security fence (in Gaza) and the launching of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel.” Residents said multiple explosions shook Damascus for about 15 minutes as air defenses fired back. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian conflict, said the explosions resulted from Israeli bombing of suspected Iranian-backed militias in the vicinity of Damascus International Airport. Israel frequently strikes at targets inside Syria, but has largely refrained from public admissions of its covert military operations there. Iran is an ally of Damascus and has offered military advisers and sent militiamen and material support to help President Bashar Assad’s government forces in the nine-year civil war. Israel considers Iran a national security threat and says it won’t tolerate Iran’s presence on its borders. In November, Israel targeted two senior Islamic Jihad commanders in a simultaneous attack, killing one in the Gaza Strip and missing the second in Syria. At the time, Israeli warplanes fired three missiles at the home of Akram al-Ajouri, a member of Islamic Jihad’s leadership living in exile. He was not harmed, but his son and granddaughter were killed. Israel and the Islamic Jihad group engaged in a heavy round of fighting last November after the Israeli military killed a top […]

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