Israel’s blistering counterattack to Iranian rocket fire at its soldiers early Thursday shows the country is determined to dislodge Tehran’s forces in Syria from its border, despite the risk of a wider Middle East war.
In what the Israeli military called its largest-ever operation inside Syria, warplanes made dozens of strikes against key Iranian infrastructure, an overwhelming response after an Iranian unit in Syria fired about 20 short-range artillery rockets that Israel said were either shot down or fell short of a nearby military base.
The U.S. and Israel are concerned about Iran’s exploitation of the instability of Syria’s seven-year war to spread its influence, with officials saying they see its activities there as part of Iran’s efforts to project power in the wider region.
Israel’s military wants to prevent Tehran from building up military capabilities in Syria comparable to those in neighboring Lebanon, where it has nurtured the Shiite militia Hezbollah and helped it confront Israel militarily, according to Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence.