Supposed Israeli airstrikes hit multiple targets on Wednesday night including Hezbollah positions on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights and the airport at Damascus. 

Syrian state media SANA reported that the majority of the missiles were shot down and showed footage of one. However, several independent media reports, including the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), and Saudi al-Arabiya television said that several targets were hit. A report from al-Arabiya said that a military base housing the Syrian military’s 165th Battalion, which has allegedly been used by Iran to store weapons and missiles, was also targeted in the airstrike.

Among the targets were also militias aligned with Hezbollah and the “Syrian Resistance for the Liberation of the Golan.” Elsewhere, SOHR reported hearing several explosions in military bases where the Syrian Army Brigade-90 tanks and Iranian-backed militias are located.

An amateur video posted to Twitter showed a missile strike at Damascus’s airport. The Jerusalem Post reported earlier on Wednesday that independent tracking sites followed two aircraft that were allegedly used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to transfer weapons to Syria and Lebanon. The aircraft were reportedly spotted en route from Tehran to Damascus. 

The Israelis have allegedly frequently targeted those shipments shortly after they’ve been offloaded. 

According to Arab News, a Syrian military official said that the Israeli missiles fired at targets in southern Syria caused only material damage.

The unnamed official said that the Israeli attacks originated from the Golan Heights and were immediately targeted by Syrian air defenses. Residents in the Syrian capital of Damascus reported hearing the sound of explosions. However, SANA state media said the explosion sounds in Damascus were those of the Syrian air defenses responding to the incoming missiles in the south.

Israel has made it clear that it will not accept an Iranian presence on its borders, including Iranian-made missiles that are transported to Iranian proxy militias including Hezbollah. Since the Syrian Civil War began in 2011, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), have conducted hundreds of airstrikes inside of Syria. 

However, the tempo of airstrikes has picked up since the Biden administration assumed power as the Israeli government fears a softer U.S. stance by the new U.S. administration, especially if it restarts negotiations on the nuclear deal (JCPOA).

JCPOA was signed by the Obama administration; Trump later withdrew from the deal. 

Israel won’t tolerate a nuclear weapon in the hands of Iran. It has made it clear that it will act alone if necessary. IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi has said that the IDF is drawing up new plans to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. 

In response to the targeted assassinations of Qassem Soleimani and Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the Jerusalem Post said that Iran had recently attempted to target Israeli embassies. An explosion was reported last week next to the Israeli embassy in New Delhi. The attack was carried out by a terrorist organization called Jaish-ul-Hind that is believed to be affiliated with Iran.

Another planned Iranian terrorist attack on an Israeli embassy in east Africa was recently thwarted according to KAN 11 television news.

The Iranians have reportedly sent operatives, who are dual European and Iranian citizens, to a country in eastern Africa to collect intelligence on the Israeli, American, and U.A.E. embassies to explore carrying out attacks against them.