Pro-Iranian militias operating in Syria explicitly threatened Israel and the United States in a joint statement Thursday morning following an alleged Israeli airstrike Wednesday night on a base near the city of Palmyra in the province of Homs. The statement claimed that four militia members were killed in the strike and that others were wounded.
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Syria's defense ministry said on Thursday that one of its soldiers has been killed and three wounded.
According to the statement, which was published by Hezbollah-affiliated news outlet Al Mayadeen, the alleged Israeli attack targeted a recruitment center and several other facilities serving the militias in eastern Syria.
"On [Wednesday] night, Israeli and American planes launched an aggression against positions belonging to the resistance alliance near the city of Palmyra. The targets were a youth recruitment center and other service facilities. As a result of the attack, several mujahideen were martyred and others were wounded," the statement said.
"Accordingly, we declare three things. First, our mission and presence in Syria are of utmost legitimacy and are at the behest and oversight of the Syrian country, with the aim of fighting the takfiri project (a reference to radical Sunni Islamic groups) led by the Islamic state group. Second, for years now, the Israeli and American enemy has attacked us in an effort to drag us into side-battles that are not the purpose of our presence in Syria. The Zionists' excuse is that they are attacking precision weapons that represent a threat to their thievish entity," the groups added in their statement.
"Third, in accordance with the fact that the attack was carried out from Jordanian territory and occupied territory by the Americans in Syria, we have made the decision to retaliate for the blood of our fighters who were killed and wounded. The response will be harsh," the militias warned.
State-run television initially quoted an unidentified Syrian military official as saying the strike occurred shortly before midnight and targeted a telecommunications tower and some posts around it, only causing material damage.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strikes hit an airbase known as T4, adding that Iran-backed militiamen based there were targeted.
Residents of Palmyra said on social media that loud explosions were heard in the south of the city and that fires erupted in several areas.
The strikes came five days after Syrian state media reported that Israeli strikes in Homs province wounded six soldiers and killed at least two members of a pro-Iranian militia.
Over the past years, Israel is believed to have been behind many strikes inside government-controlled parts of Syria.
Israel has staged hundreds of strikes against Iran-linked military targets in Syria over the years but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.
Israel views Iranian entrenchment on its northern frontier as a red line, and it has repeatedly struck Iran-linked facilities and weapons convoys destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist group.
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