Israel’s military has said it thwarted an “imminent” Iranian attack involving killer drones after its fighter jets had attacked targets in Syria. The announcement came unusually quickly after the attack.
Israel’s military said that its fighter jets had attacked targets in Syria in order to prevent what it described as a “very imminent” drone attack launched by Iran.
The airstrikes triggered Syrian anti-aircraft fire. Syrian state TV reported that air defenses had responded to “hostile” targets over Damascus and shot down incoming missiles but did not provide further details.
In a major operational effort, we have thwarted an attack against Israel by the Iranian Quds Force & Shi'ite militias. I reiterate: Iran has no immunity anywhere. Our forces operate in every sector against the Iranian aggression. “If someone rises up to kill you, kill him first.”
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) August 24, 2019
While Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria over the past years, Saturday’s appeared to be one of the most intense.
In a briefing to reporters, military Spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said that Iran had been planning to send explosive-laden attack drones into Israel.
He added that the country had been monitoring the plot for several months and on Thursday had prevented Iran from an even earlier launch.
“The threat was significant, and these killer drones were capable of striking targets with significant capacity,” Conricus said. He described it as an attack planned from the top down rather than a low-level attack.
Conricus said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Al Quds force, as well as allied Shiite militias, were behind the attempted attack.
Immediately after the military’s announcement, President Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted a statement on the operation. He described the Israeli airstrikes as a “major operational effort” and warned that Iran would not be immune from Israeli strikes, regardless of location.
“Iran has no immunity anywhere,” he added in his Tweet. “If someone rises up to kill you, kill him first.”
