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Israel launches dozens of air strikes on Syria in response to Iran rocket attack

It is thought to be the heaviest strike since the start of the Syrian civil war

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Israel’s Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said it had struck “all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria” on Thursday morning in response to a barrage of rockets fired towards the country.

In one of the heaviest Israeli strikes on Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011, the IDF said its fighter jets hit “dozens of military targets” belonging to the Quds Force, an external arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missiles hit a radar station, air defence positions and an ammunition storage facility.

An illustration released by the IDF showed dozens of targets around Damascus and southern Syria were hit.

The strikes were a response to rockets launched by the Quds Force towards IDF positions in the Golan Heights late the previous night.

Speaking on Thursday morning, Mr Lieberman said no rockets had landed in Israeli territory and added that he hoped “this chapter is over”.

Tensions have increased in the region since US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his country would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.

The agreement, concluded in 2015 by Mr Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, had lifted international sanctions in return for a slower Iranian uranium enrichment programme and more frequent international inspections.

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