“In recent months,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement, Israel carried out a special ground operation in Syria.
Furthermore, the IDF said that during the mission, it arrested a “Iranian terror network operative” and named him Ali Soleiman al-Assi. The man was sent to Israel to be questioned there because it was thought he was spying on IDF troops along the border.
The IDF said that al-Assi’s arrest “prevented a future attack and led to the exposure of the operational methods of Iranian terror networks located near the Golan Heights.”
“The IDF will continue to operate to defend the sovereignty of the State of Israel and will not allow Iranian proxies in southern Syria to operate and threaten Israeli civilians,” it stated.
In the past few years, Israel has launched hundreds of attacks on targets in parts of war-torn Syria that are controlled by the government. However, the country rarely talks about or acknowledges these attacks. Usually, the strikes go after Syrian forces or groups backed by Iran.
Based on what the Syrian Defense Ministry said, Israel attacked western Syria from the air last month. It also said that the strikes happened at a military site in Hama and a plant in Hassia that makes cars.
On Syrian state TV, it was also said that the attacks hit vehicles carrying medical and relief supplies and started a big fire in the area.
The Syrian state news agency SANA said at the time that Israeli attacks in September damaged a highway in Hama province and started fires in several places in central Syria. More than 40 people were hurt, and 14 were killed.
Israel has promised to stop Iran from becoming too strong in Syria, especially since Syria is a key way for Iran to send weapons to Hezbollah, a militant group in Lebanon.
Israel has been at war with Hamas, which is a partner of Hezbollah, in Gaza for 11 months, which has caused clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces.