Satellite images released by an Israeli company show that a Hezbollah facility for storing Fajr-5 missiles was destroyed by overnight airstrikes Tuesday, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.
The missile storehouse was located on an Iranian base in Syria, approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border with Israel. The Fajr-5 missiles have an estimated range of 75 kilometers (47 miles).
The Iranian base is located on the Syrian regime’s 4th Division camp in the Al-Muna area.
#BREAKING: the #attacked (25 December 2018) site in the #Syrian 4th division camp is completely #destroyed. According to media reports, it was an Iranian #Fajr-5 rockets storehouse, located in an #Iranian base, only 40 km from the border with #Israel. pic.twitter.com/iPWpJDxYjn
— ImageSat Intl. (@ImageSatIntl) December 27, 2018
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that an unnamed Israeli security official acknowledged that Israel had carried out the airstrikes. According to initial reports, the airstrikes targeted advanced GPS components that would have increased the accuracy of Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal.
At the ceremony marking the graduation of 177 new Israeli Air Force pilots, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that despite the withdrawal of American troops from Syria. “We are not prepared to accept the Iranian military entrenchment in Syria which is directed against us. We will act against it vigorously and continuously including during the current period,” the Israeli leader said.
In September, the IDF claimed that it had carried out over 200 airstrikes into Syria over the previous 18 months in its effort to prevent Iran from establishing a military foothold in Syria.
In February and April of this year, Israel reportedly carried out airstrikes against the Tiyas or T-4 airbase, believed to be the center for Iran’s drone operations in Syria. In February, the attack on the Tiyas airbase came after an Iranian drone infiltrated Israeli airspace. In April, Israel announced that it was able to determine that the drone had been armed and on an attack mission.
In May, Israeli airstrikes destroyed “nearly all” of Iran’s infrastructure in Syria, according to former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, following the firing of 20 rockets towards Israel by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)- Quds Force troops located on the Syrian Golan Heights.
[Photo: ImageSat Intl. / Twitter ]