The Israeli military struck military positions in Syria early Sunday, following a rocket attack on the Israeli Golan Heights late Saturday night. Syria's state-run media reported that three Syrian soldiers were killed and seven others were wounded in the strike.
An IDF spokesman said that two rockets were fired at Israel, causing no casualties or damage. It was still unclear who had fired the rockets or where they had landed, he said.
According to Israeli media, air raid sirens in northern Israel were not activated.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying, "I held a security consultation yesterday [Saturday] following the fire on the Golan Heights and I instructed the IDF to take offensive action.
"Our policy is clear – we will not tolerate any aggression against us, and we will respond forcefully. This has been our consistent policy, which I have been leading, and we will continue with it, for the sake of Israel's security."
The army spokesman also confirmed on Twitter that Israel targeted several military positions in Syria. He said the targets included two artillery batteries, several observation and intelligence gathering posts and an SA2 air defense unit.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said Israeli warplanes struck positions and an arms depot of Iranian troops and Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters.
Syrian television reported big explosions near Damascus early on Sunday and said air defenses had "confronted the enemy."
Another report by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency quoted an unnamed military official as saying the attacks struck military positions in the southern region of Quneitra, near the Golan Heights. They also caused material damage, it said.
Last week, Israeli aircraft hit a Syrian military post after the army said an anti-aircraft missile was fired at one of its fighter jets flying inside Israeli airspace. Syrian media said a soldier was killed in the Israeli response.
Israel has said repeatedly that it will not allow Iran, which has sent forces to help Syrian President Bashar Assad in Syria's civil war, to establish a permanent military presence in Syria.
For years, Israel has remained largely silent about its attacks against Iran and its Shiite proxies operating in neighboring Syria. But in recent months, military and political leaders have become increasingly outspoken about these activities.
