ICEJ: Staff

Trump Administration Offers Full Support

IDF spokesperson Brig-Gen. Ronen Manelis held a briefing Thursday morning in which he revealed that “For several weeks we have been conducting a large-scale operation with the aim of disrupting a strike by the [Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s] Quds Force. We have acted several times in the face of Iranian ticking time bombs. Last night the Quds Force carried out an attack…20 rockets were fired, and not one fell in Israeli territory.” He then revealed that the IDF had carried out a massive retaliatory raid, wiping out nearly all of Iran’s military assets and infrastructure in southern Syria.

“This is an achievement for the Israeli operation that aimed to disrupt and prevent the other side’s achievement of their goals, and we can sum this up as a success,” Manelis said. “It was impudence on the part of the Quds Force and Qassem Soleimani.”

“Last night, the IDF conducted dozens of strikes against Iranian targets in Syria. This is the largest Israeli strike for decades. Dozens of targets belonging to the Iranians Quds Force were struck, including intelligence and logistics centers, camps, weapons depots, listening posts and more. We struck the vehicle that launched the rockets against Israel. The Syrian army fired significant volleys of anti-aircraft missiles, and five Syrian batteries, which fired dozens of missiles, were also struck. All of our aircraft returned safely.”

“We will remain vigilant and ready,” Manelis said. “The Quds Force has chosen the wrong area of operations, and we will not allow an Iranian presence in Syria. The Quds Force paid a heavy price last night. We have seen a demonstration of the IDF’s intelligence and airpower capabilities.”

“We have acted with the greatest responsibility in order to maintain normalcy, and the instructions for the home front is just that: to maintain normalcy,” he said. “We are not heading towards a worsening of the situation, and the Golan Heights is one of the best-protected places there is.”

“We consider the Syrians responsible for what happens in Syria, and it will take a long time for the Iranians to rebuild the infrastructure that was hit,” Manelis concluded. “We struck all the planned targets, and the person responsible for this incident is Qassem Soleimani.”

Hours later, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman spoke at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, giving more details of the Israeli air strikes. He said that four of the incoming Iranian rockets, which were fired at Israeli territory from a distance of between 30-40 km, were shot down by the Iron Dome system, with the other 16 landing in Syrian territory.

Israel’s response included strikes on some 50 targets, including Iranian assets deployed to Assad regime military bases, training sites, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps intelligence collection and logistics, rocket firing positions, airfield positions and weapons storage facilities. Additionally, two air defense batteries manned by troops loyal to Syria’s Assad regime which attempted to interfere in the Israeli strike were targeted and destroyed.

Lieberman explained that “if Iran hits us with rain [a small number of rockets] – we will hit them with a deluge [of airstrikes].” Israel, “will not let Iran turn Syria into a base for attacking Israel…Iran has wasted $13 billion in the Syrian civil war and continues to spend $2 billion a year there. Iran is wasting its next generation with its efforts to expand.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was quick to defend the Israeli strikes, telling Fox News during a televised interview Wednesday evening that “Israel absolutely has a sovereign right to defend itself. This just further shows that the Iranian regime cannot be trusted. We support [Israel] in whatever efforts they have in order to defend themselves, but again I think this activity and this action is just further demonstration that the Iranian regime cannot be trusted and another good reminder that the president made the right decision to get out of the Iran deal.”

Spokespersons for the British and German governments issued similar statements on Thursday afternoon condemning Iran’s attack and confirming Israel’s right to self-defense.