UPDATE – Israel strikes dozens of targets in Syria

UPDATES WITH DEATH TOLL

By Esat Firat, Ibrahim Ramadan

DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM (AA) – Two people were killed when Israeli fighter jets struck dozens of military sites in Syria, according to the official SANA news agency on Wednesday.

The Israeli military said warplanes launched airstrikes on military targets of the Syrian Armed Forces and Iran’s Quds Force, including surface-to-air missiles, headquarters, weapons and military bases.

The army said airstrikes were in response to rockets fired from Syria on Israeli territory Tuesday night.

"We will continue operating firmly and for as long as necessary against the Iranian entrenchment in Syria," a military statement said.

SANA said two civilians were killed in the Israeli attacks.

After midnight "Israeli warplanes fired several missiles from the direction of both the Occupied Golan, and Marj Eyoun in Lebanon targeting the outskirts of Damascus," SANA said, citing unnamed military source.

The news agency said Syrian defense systems "foiled the attack, intercepted the hostile missiles, and downed most of them before they reached their targets".

Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Israel has launched attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah forces and the Syrian military, claiming that rockets have been fired from time to time from Syria and the Golan Heights on its territory.

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin and Mahmoud Barakat