Suspected Israeli warplanes have attacked Iranian and Hezbollah targets near Damascus. It comes days after Netanyahu said Israel may expand military action against Iran.
Image: picture-alliance/Xinhua/A. Safarjalani
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Syrian air defenses "intercepted hostile targets" west of Damascus on Tuesday night, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.
There were reports of loud explosions through the Syrian capital and videos shared on social media showed Syrian surface-to-air missiles being fired into the sky. SANA said "most" of the incoming fire was shot down and three Syrian soldiers were injured.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Israeli air raids targeted Iranian and Hezbollah arms warehouses.
"Missiles fired from Israeli planes targeted ... arms depots southwest and south of Damascus that belong to Hezbollah or Iranian forces," the head of the Syrian Observatory Abdel Rahman said.
The Israeli Defense Forces said later that an anti-aircraft missile fired from Syria was intercepted by Israeli air defense systems.
"An IDF aerial defense system activated in response to an anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria," the Israeli military said on Twitter.
The Lebanese National News Agency said Israeli warplanes flew over Lebanon to carry out the raids outside Damascus. Citing a military official, SANA said the suspected Israeli missiles were launched "from over Lebanese territories."
There was no confirmation from the Israeli military of an attack on Syria.
Both political party and militant group, the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah is as strong as ever. Its ascendancy has stoked tensions within Lebanon and across the region.
Image: Getty Images/C. Furlong
Rise of Hezbollah
Hezbollah, or Party of God, was conceived by Muslim clerics in the 1980s in response to the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon in 1982. The Shiite group has a political and military wing.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
National support against Israel
Hezbollah emerged in the 1980s as an amalgamation of Shiite militias and played a major role in the Lebanese civil war. It used guerrilla warfare to drive Israeli forces out of South Lebanon — Israel withdrew in 2000. Israel and Hezbollah fought another war in 2006. Its defense of Lebanon against Israel had won it cross-sectarian support and acceptance in Lebanese society.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Zaatari
Backed by Iran
Since its creation, Hezbollah has received military, financial and political support from Iran and Syria. Today, Hezbollah's military wing is more powerful than Lebanon's own army and has become a major regional paramilitary force.
Image: Reuters/O. Sanadiki
Political apparatus
Hezbollah turned its focus to politics following the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. It represents a large section of the Lebanese Shiite population and is allied with other sectarian groups, including Christians. Their political development has mostly come under Hassan Nasrallah (pictured), who became the group's leader in 1992.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Armed wing
Unlike other parties in Lebanon's multi-sided 1975-1990 civil war, Hezbollah did not disband its armed wing. Some Lebanese political groups, such as Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Future Movement, want Hezbollah to put down its arms. Hezbollah argues its militant wing is necessary to defend against Israel and other external threats.
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Terror group?
A number of countries and bodies, including the United States, Israel, Canada and the Arab League, consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. However, Australia and most of the European Union differentiate between its legitimate political activities and its militant wing.
Image: picture-alliance/Pacific Press/I. Press
Hezbollah enters Syria's civil war
Hezbollah has been one of the main backers of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country's civil war. Its entrance into the war helped save Assad, one of its chief patrons; secured weapons supply routes from Syria and formed a buffer zone around Lebanon against Sunni militant groups it feared would take over Syria. As a result it has won considerable support from Shiite communities in Lebanon.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Syrian Central Military Media
Sectarianism
Lebanon has long been at the center of regional power struggles, particularly between Saudi Arabia and Iran. However, Hezbollah's military and political ascendancy, as well as its intervention in Syria, have also helped stoke Sunni-Shiite sectarian tensions in Lebanon and across the region.
Image: dapd
Renewed conflict with Israel?
Iran and Hezbollah have increased their political and military strength through the war in Syria. Israel views this as a threat and has carried out dozens of airstrikes on Iran/Hezbollah targets in Syria. Israel has vowed to not let Iran and Hezbollah create a permanent presence in Syria. There is growing concern of another war between Hezbollah and Israel that could draw in Iran.
Image: Getty Images/C. Furlong
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Netanyahu vows to hit Iran
The suspected Israeli attacks come two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the US withdrawal of some 2,000 troops from northeast Syria would not change Israel's policy of targeting Iranian forces in Syria.
"The decision to remove the 2,000 US soldiers from Syria won't change our consistent policy," Netanyahu said Sunday. "We will continue to act against Iran's attempt to establish a military presence in Syria, and if the need arises, we will even expand our activities there."
The Russia factor
Israel has carried out scores of air raids on suspected Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria, where they are backing the regime of President Bashar Assad.
However, Israel has been constrained from carrying out attacks in Syria since October when Russia provided Syria with its S-300 air defense system.
That came after the September 17 downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane by Syrian air defenses during an Israeli airstrike. The friendly fire incident stoked tensions between Russia and Israel, which generally have good relations and have had a degree of understanding over Syria.
Israeli airstrikes are viewed in Moscow as potentially destabilizing for Syria, where Russia seeks to consolidate the Assad regime's gains in the country's civil war. At the same time, analysts say that Russia understands Israel's security concerns over the entrenchment of Iran on its doorstep.
On Wednesday, Moscow accused Israel of putting two civilian flights in danger with its airstrikes. A statement from the Kremlin added that Syria's new defense system destroyed 14 of 15 Israeli missiles launched the day before.
Earlier this year, Russia played a mediating role in ensuring Iran and Iran-backed forces were held back from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as the Syrian army retook the southwest of the country from rebel groups.
