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Israel Launches Airstrikes Against Syria

Retaliation for yesterday’s bombing that injured four IDF soldiers

by
Stephanie Butnick
March 19, 2014
An Israeli Army Artillery battery unit is deployed on alert near the border with Syria on March 19, 2014. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)
An Israeli Army Artillery battery unit is deployed on alert near the border with Syria on March 19, 2014. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel launched airstrikes against three military sites in Syria today, the AP reports, killing one soldier and injuring seven others. The retaliatory attacks were in response to yesterday’s bombing near the Syrian border, in which four IDF soldiers were wounded.

The Israeli military said its warplanes hit a Syrian army training facility, an army headquarters and artillery batteries. Israel also had carried out artillery strikes against Syrian military targets shortly after Tuesday’s bombing.

The Syrian army reportedly called the attacks an attempt to distract from their recent military advances, particularly the capture of the rebel stronghold Yabroud, which the Syrian army pulled off with the help of Hezbollah.

Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.