The Israeli military downed a drone flying from Syria into Israeli airspace. The same day, Israel and Hizbollah repeatedly exchanged cross-border fire, while Israel’s defence minister told a senior U.S. diplomat: “We are committed to the diplomatic process. However, Hizbollah’s aggression is bringing us closer to a critical point in the decision-making regarding our military activities in Lebanon”.

The IRGC Navy confirmed the death of a member serving as a “military advisor in Syria”, in addition to two Hizbollah fighters, in an alleged Israeli strike.

Syrian state media reported Israeli strikes near Damascus, causing material damage.

After Hizbollah downed an Israeli drone, the Israeli army announced striking Hizbollah targets in eastern and southern Lebanon; Lebanese sources reported multiple casualties. In response, Hizbollah launched several dozen rockets towards the Golan Heights.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote to the UN Security Council that “over the past months, while Israel is engaged in an ongoing armed conflict on numerous fronts, Iran is accelerating the pace of its weapons transfers to Hizbollah… Iran is doing so by ground, using the porous Syrian-Lebanese border, as well as by air and sea”. He later warned: “Iran is the head of the snake. We will not be patient much longer for a diplomatic solution in the north. If the dramatic intelligence information we revealed to the Security Council does not bring about change - we will not hesitate to act”.

Syrian state media reported an Israeli air strike in Damascus, citing an unnamed military source who said it killed two civilians and injured one. The same day, the Israeli military struck Hizbollah targets in southern Lebanon. There were reportedly two civilian fatalities, for which Hizbollah responded by firing at what it said were military and civilian sites in Israel.

Syrian state media reported the downing of “two drones that violated… Syrian airspace”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes targeting in and around Homs, causing “a number” of casualties and damage. Media reports indicated that the targets included “Syrian army outposts and an airbase”.

CENTCOM announced conducting “strikes in self-defence against six Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea”. Subsequently, the U.S. and the UK led “strikes against 36 Houthi targets across thirteen locations in Yemen in response to the Houthis' continued attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea”. “These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade, and the lives of innocent mariners”, according to a joint statement with allies. A Houthi military spokesperson declared that “these attacks will not go without response and punishment”. Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson condemned the strikes, describing them as “in clear conflict with the repeated claims of Washington and London that they do not want to expand the war in the region”.

An Israeli military spokesperson affirmed that “we will continue to act wherever Hizbollah is present, we will continue to act wherever it is required in the Middle East. What is true for Lebanon is true for Syria, and is true for other more distant places”. He further reported that since 7 October the IDF had struck over 3,400 Hizbollah targets in Lebanon and over 50 in Syria. The following day, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned Hizbollah that “we have not yet begun to activate all our units and all our special abilities. We have many elements ready… The clear-cut instruction I gave the Air Force is to point the noses of our aircraft northward”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli strikes against “a number of points south of Damascus”. According to Iranian media reports, an IRGC advisor was killed.

The U.S. designated “three entities and one individual located in Lebanon and Turkey for providing critical financial support to an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Hizbollah financial network”. According to the Treasury Department, “these entities have generated hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of revenue from selling Iranian commodities, including to the Syrian government. These commodity sales provide a key source of funding for the IRGC-QF and Hizbollah’s continued terrorist activities and support to other terrorist organisations throughout the region”.

Hizbollah reported striking three military targets in northern Israel, while the Israeli military targeted Hizbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon. The IDF also shelled the source of rockets launched from Syria into Israel, in addition to hitting Syrian military locations.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against “a number of points in southern Damascus”, killing or injuring “a number of civilians”.

The U.S. sanctioned “Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad and its CEO for providing assistance to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon”, in addition to listing “two Iraq-registered aircraft owned by Fly Baghdad… as blocked property”. The U.S. also designated “three leaders and supporters of one of the IRGC-QF’s main Iran-aligned militias in Iraq, Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH), as well as a business that moves and launders funds for KH”. The State Department contended that “the IRGC-QF and Iran-aligned militia groups pose a significant threat to the Middle East region… The U.S. remains committed to exposing and taking actions against individuals and groups that abuse their local economies and engage in illegal activities that support terrorist groups destabilising the region”.

Iran confirmed the deaths of five IRGC “military advisors” in alleged Israeli strikes in Damascus. President Raisi warned that “the continuation of such terrorist and criminal acts… will not go unanswered”.

The Israeli military reported targeting several Hizbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including military infrastructure and the origins of rocket and missile launches at northern Israel, while three rockets were reportedly launched from Syria into the Golan Heights, in response to which the Israeli military fired artillery. Defence minister Yoav Gallant assessed that “as long as fighting continues in the south, there will be fighting in the north. But we will not accept this reality for an extended period. There will come a moment when if we do not reach a diplomatic agreement in which Hizbollah respects the right of the residents to live here in security, we will have to ensure that security by force”.

The IRGC announced that “in response to the recent evil acts of the Zionist regime [ie, Israel] in martyring IRGC and resistance commanders”, it had fired missiles at what was alleged to be “one of the main headquarters of Israel’s spying agency Mossad in Iraq’s Kurdistan region… This Mossad headquarters has been working for espionage operations and a center for terror attacks planning in the region”. The prime minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq condemned the attack, which led to several civilian fatalities, and the U.S. likewise denounced what it called a “reckless” action. The IRGC also declared that “in response to the recent crimes of terrorist groups… in Kerman and Rasak, [it] identified and destroyed a number of key terror commanders and elements, especially Daesh [ie, ISIS], in the occupied territories of Syria”. The following day, Iranian media reported Iranian missile strikes against Jeish al-Adl targets in Pakistan, whose foreign ministry denounced the attack as “completely unacceptable” while confirming two civilian fatalities. On 18 January, Pakistan conducted what it described as “a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts” in south east Iran.

Hizbollah confirmed the killing of a senior commander in a suspected Israeli strike in southern Lebanon. The same day, Israel revealed that it had killed a Hamas official in Syria, while warning: “We will not allow terror from Syrian territory, and it is responsible for any action that emanates its territory”. Hizbollah reported striking several Israeli targets near the border throughout the day, while the Israeli military said it hit “a series of Hizbollah targets across southern Lebanon, including military sites belonging to the organisation. We responded with fire to areas from which launches were identified toward Israeli territory”. At the norther border, Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that “we will do everything to restore security to the north and allow [residents] to return home in safety… We prefer that this be done without a wide-ranging campaign, but that will not stop us. We have given it an example of what is happening to its friends in the south; this is what will happen here in the north. We will do everything to restore security”.

An Israeli military spokesperson reported: “We eliminated a terrorist cell that tried to launch three Hizbollah UAVs from within a civilian area… in southern Lebanon. We struck before the attack was launched. In addition, we attacked a series of Hizbollah targets”. Hizbollah confirmed multiple fatalities. The IDF also reported rocket launches from Syria into Israel, in response to which it targeted “military infrastructure of the Syrian army”. The following day, Syrian state media reported Israeli strikes against “several sites in [the] Damascus countryside”.

Syrian state media reported that Israeli air strikes had targeted “some points in the southern region”, causing material damage.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq took credit for a drone that fell in the Golan Heights; no injuries were reported.

Israel’s defence minister asserted that “we are in a multi-arena war, we are being attacked from seven different sectors - Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran”, adding: “We have already reacted and acted in six… And I say here in the most explicit way – anyone who acts against us is a potential target, there is no immunity for anyone”.

Iran confirmed the death of a senior IRGC official in Syria in what it asserted was an Israeli missile strike in Damascus. President Ebrahim Raisi contended that “this heinous act is another sign of frustration and helplessness of the usurping Zionist regime [ie, Israel] in the region, and it will definitely pay for this crime”.

An Israeli spokesperson reported that the IDF had “attacked a series of Hizbollah targets in Lebanon from the air and land throughout the day in response to launches towards our territory”, further contending that “southern Lebanon is now a combat zone and will continue to be as long as Hizbollah operates there and attacks from within as it is currently doing… We will continue to attack and eliminate them as long as they attack and target us. We will not allow them to stay near our borders”. Hizbollah confirmed at least two fatalities and there were also reports of one civilian killed in southern Lebanon. The same day, the Israeli military reported rocket fire from Syria, to which it responded with artillery against the source location and hitting a Syrian army position.

Hizbollah claimed responsibility for firing missiles at an Israeli town in response to what it said were Israeli strikes against a “funeral procession”, warning that “any harm to civilians will be met with equal measures”. The group also reported striking Israeli military targets near the border. The Israeli military reported that in response to several launches from Lebanon and Syria, it struck the sources of the attacks and other targets including Hizbollah sites and a Syrian Army post.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against “several areas near the capital Damascus”, wounding two soldiers.

The Israeli military reported striking several Hizbollah sites in southern Lebanon in response to multiple rocket attacks from Lebanon into Israel.

The Israeli military reported several rockets and anti-tank missiles fired from Lebanon, in addition to mortar fire from Syria; it struck the origin points in response.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes against “some points in the vicinity of Damascus”.

Hizbollah reported targeting multiple Israeli sites with guided missiles and other weapons. An Israeli military spokesperson asserted that “we are attacking Hizbollah terror targets in Lebanon from the air and the sources from which rockets were fired into our territory from Lebanon and Syria. One of the launches from Lebanon hit a military vehicle near Beit Hillel. Several soldiers and civilians were lightly injured”.

Syrian state media reported an Israeli missile strike against “some points in the vicinity of Damascus”, causing “some material damages”. The same day, the IRGC confirmed that two of its “military advisors” serving in Syria were killed in an Israeli attack; Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson subsequently warned that “no action against Iran’s interests and our advisory forces in Syria will go unanswered”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes against “Damascus International Airport and some points in Damascus countryside”, putting the airport out of service.

Syria state media reported Israeli airstrikes “targeting some points in the vicinity of Damascus”, causing material damage.

The Israeli military reported striking “a wide range of military targets in Lebanon of the Hizbollah terror organisation, in response to fire on Israeli communities in the north over the past day”. The IDF confirmed firing artillery at targets in Syria “in response to two rockets that were fired into the Golan Heights and fell in an open area”. A spokesperson contended that “Hizbollah, with the guidance of Iran, are trying to challenge Israel with the aim of distracting the IDF’s attention from Gaza. We are focused on Gaza and will continue to operate and respond to Lebanon, and Hizbollah specifically, against every firing, every terror cell, that will try to attack Israel”. “In parallel”, he added, “we are also following the Huthi terror, supported by Iran and Hizbollah, with our American partners and other partners in the world”.

The Israeli military reported that “in response to a UAV from Syria that hit a school in Eilat, the IDF struck the organisation that carried out the attack… The IDF holds the Syrian regime fully responsible for every terror activity emanating from its territory”. The same day, the IDF confirmed airstrikes and artillery fire against “Hizbollah terrorist infrastructure” in Lebanon, in addition to other ongoing cross-border exchanges.

The Israeli military reported anti-tank missile fire from Lebanon, against which it replied with artillery. It also confirmed two injuries as a result of a Hizbollah drone operation against a military position; in response it struck a Hizbollah facility.

The Israeli military asserted that “the Iranian Imam Hossein militia, originally stationed in Syria, was deployed to southern Lebanon in an attempt to support Hizbollah. The militia is involved in confrontations with the IDF and terrorist activities against Israel, putting the lives of the Lebanese people at risk”.

The Israeli military reported missile and mortar fire from Lebanon, to which it responded by targeting the sources of the attacks.

The Israeli military reported missile strikes, rocket launches and gunfire from Lebanon against military sites and residential areas in northern Israel, to which it responded by targeting the sources of the attacks and Hizbollah positions as well as striking cells allegedly preparing to fire anti-tank missiles.

The Israeli military reported Hizbollah mortar and missile fire, to which it responded by targeting the sources of the attacks as well as Hizbollah “military infrastructure”. It also struck a cell that were allegedly preparing to launch rockets against a northern Israeli town. The same day, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister remarked that “I am doing my duty to prevent Lebanon from entering the war… For now, Hizbollah has managed the situation rationally and wisely, and the rules of the game have remained constrained to certain limits”. “But at the same time… I cannot reassure Lebanese”, he added. “I cannot rule out an escalation because there is a race to reach a ceasefire before escalation spreads in the entire region”.

The Israeli military reported multiple rocket attacks from Lebanon against military sites and residential areas in northern Israel, in addition to anti-tank fire and a cross-border UAV interception. The IDF responded by striking the sources of the attacks and Hizbollah targets; Hizbollah confirmed one fatality. The same day, the Israeli military announced that it had “struck military infrastructure in Syrian territory” in response to rocket fire.

Hizbollah reported that it had repeatedly targeted northern Israel using guided missiles and artillery. In response, the Israeli military attacked Hizbollah targets and observation posts in southern Lebanon. Unconfirmed accounts also reported Israeli strikes against “Syrian Army posts and pro-Iranian militia positions, in the Quneitra area of southern Syria… reportedly in response to shelling toward the Golan Heights”.

The Israeli military reported that Hizbollah had fired anti-tank guided missiles and small arms; no casualties were reported. The IDF responded with artillery at the origin sites. The same day, it announced foiling “an aerial threat” over the Red Sea, as Israeli officials indicated that a missile that had struck Egypt had been “launched towards Israel by the Huthis”.

The Israeli military struck with a UAV what it said were Hizbollah forces preparing to fire anti-tank missiles towards Israeli forces.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had targeted Aleppo International Airport with airstrikes, putting it out of service.

The Israeli military announced that “in response to rocket launches from Syria toward Israel yesterday, IDF fighter jets struck military infrastructure and mortar launchers belonging to the Syrian Army”; military sources cited by Syria state media reported eight fatalities. The same day, the IDF reported striking with tanks fire and UAV multiple Hizbollah targets that had fired or planned to fire missiles and rockets at northern Israel from Lebanon.

The Israeli military reported targeting multiple Hizbollah cells and facilities that had fired or planned to fire missiles and rockets at northern Israel from Lebanon. The IDF also reported two rocket strikes from Syria, in response to which it fired artillery at the launch location.

Addressing a UN Security Council ministerial meeting, Secretary of State Antony Blinken contended that “for years, Iran has supported Hamas, Hizbollah, the Huthis and other groups that continue to carry out attacks on Israel… In recent weeks, Iran’s proxies have repeatedly attacked U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria, whose mission is to prevent ISIS from renewing its rampage. So let me say this before this council and let me say what we have consistently said to Iranian officials through other channels: The U.S. does not seek conflict with Iran. We do not want this war [between Israel and Gaza] to widen. But if Iran or its proxies attack U.S. personnel anywhere, make no mistake: We will defend our people, we will defend our security – swiftly and decisively”.

The Israeli military reported striking multiple Hizbollah targets that had carried out or were believed to be planning cross-border attacks, in addition to intercepting drones approaching Israel.

The Israeli military reported targeting multiple Hizbollah cells and facilities that had fired or planned to fire missiles and rockets at northern Israel, in addition to striking and intercepting a drone approaching Israel; Hizbollah confirmed five fatalities. Meanwhile, the Israeli government expanded evacuation orders for northern communities. The same day, an Israeli military spokesperson stated that “Hizbollah… is dragging Lebanon into a war… They’re escalating the situation. We see more and more attacks every day”. Prime Minister Netanyahu warned: “If Hizbollah decides to enter the war… It will be making the mistake of its life. We will strike it with a force that it cannot even imagine, that will be destructive for it and for the Lebanese state”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against Aleppo International Airport and Damascus International Airport, killing one and putting both airports out of service.

Hizbollah reported that it had launched multiple guided missiles against Israeli targets. The IDF confirmed five injuries (three military and two civilian) and responded by targeting both the origins of the strikes and cells planning to conduct such attacks, leading to six fatalities, according to Hizbollah.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, citing “recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the Middle East”, announced “the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery as well as additional Patriot battalions to locations throughout the region to increase force protection for U.S. forces”, adding: “An additional number of forces on prepare to deploy orders as part of prudent contingency planning, to increase their readiness and ability to quickly respond as required”. He also conferred with his Israeli counterpart regarding “the continued provision of security assistance and the U.S. commitment to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war [between Israel and Gaza]”. The following day, Secretary of State Antony Blinken: “We are concerned at the possibility of Iranian proxies escalating their attacks against our own personnel... We’re taking every measure to make sure that we can defend them and, if necessary, respond decisively. Not at all what we’re looking for, not at all what we want, but we’ll be prepared if that’s what they choose to do”.

The Israeli military reported rocket attacks, anti-tank missile strikes and gunfire from Lebanon into northern Israel, killing one soldier and wounding several others; Hizbollah claimed responsibility. In response, the IDF struck Hizbollah military infrastructure and personnel, and intercepted a drone heading towards Israel.

The Israeli military reported that dozens of rockets, claimed by Hamas, and anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, injuring three. The IDF responded with artillery and airstrikes against Hizbollah targets and launch sites. An Israeli military spokesperson asserted that “Hizbollah will bear the consequences for all the actions”.

The Israeli military reported multiple exchanges with Hizbollah, including anti-tank and missile fire from Lebanon and UAV as well as tank fire in return; Hizbollah reported two fatalities.

The Israeli military announced foiling an infiltration attempt from Lebanon, in addition to multiple rounds of strikes against Hizbollah targets in southern Lebanon, killing five. The same day, the IDF reported anti-tank missile and rocket attacks from Lebanon toward northern Israel, injuring two reservists and a civilian. It also reported intercepting a drone approaching Israel over the Lebanese territory.

Hizbollah announced that it had targeted “five Israeli border posts” and an Israeli tank. The Israeli military responded with artillery strikes. The same day, the Israeli government ordered “the implementation of a plan to evacuate residents of northern Israel who live in the area up to 2km from the Lebanese border”. Prime Minister Netanyahu warned Iran and Hizbollah: “Do not test us in the north. Do not repeat your previous mistake because the price you will pay will be much worse”. Relatedly, an IDF spokesperson claimed that “Hizbollah carried out a number of attacks yesterday in order to try to divert our operational efforts [away from the Gaza Strip], under the direction and backing of Iran”. “If Hizbollah dares to test us, the reaction will be deadly. The U.S. is giving us full backing”, he underscored.

Hizbollah said that it had conducted “several strikes on an Israeli post and a settlement near the border with Lebanon, in retaliation for the aggression on Lebanon which killed three Lebanese in the last two days”. According to Israeli sources, the attacks led to two fatalities and several injuries. Separately, Hamas claimed responsibility for firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon. The Israeli military responded by striking Hizbollah facilities and the rocket launch site in Lebanon. The same day, defence minister Yoav Gallant asserted that “we have no interest in a war in the north”, adding: “If Hizbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very heavy price… But if it restrains itself, we’ll respect the situation and keep things the way they are, despite shooting from both sides”.

The Pentagon announced the deployment of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group to the Eastern Mediterranean  “as part of our effort to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas’s attack on Israel”. The following day, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the bolstered presence was “not meant as a provocation; it’s meant as a deterrent. It’s meant to make clear that no one should do anything that could add fuel to the fire in any other place”.

Hizbollah reported targeting “Israeli military outposts in Lebanon’s occupied Sheba Farms… [with] precision missiles and mortar shells”, in response to Israeli strikes against “a number of Lebanese border towns”. Moreover, the Israeli military announced foiling an infiltration attempt claimed by Hamas, in addition to intercepting multiple drones, both originating from Lebanon. The IDF responded with artillery and airstrikes against Hizbollah’s facilities. The same day, the IDF reported that two rockets fired from Syria landed in open area, to which it responded with artillery against the source of the launch.

Syrian state media reported Israeli strikes against Aleppo International Airport, putting it out of service.

Hizbollah reported targeting multiple Israeli border sites in response to what it described Israeli “aggression on… a number of Lebanese towns”. The Israeli military, which also reported downing an unidentified object that had crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon, responded with drone strikes and artillery.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against Aleppo International Airport and Damascus International Airport, putting them out of service.

Hizbollah announced that in response to the killing of three its members on 9 October, it had targeted an Israeli border post with what it said were guided missiles. An Israeli soldier was killed during the attack. In response, the IDF launched air and artillery strikes against Hizbollah targets.

CENTCOM announced the arrival of “the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group… in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in order to deter any actor seeking to escalate the situation or widen” in Israel and Gaza. A spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council underscored that one reason for the deployment was “to send a clear, unequivocal message to any actor or nation-state that thinks that this is a chance to try to take advantage of the position that Israel finds itself in”, adding: ”[We] have been in close contact with our Israeli partners and are working with our regional partners to warn anyone who might seek to take advantage in this situation against taking hostile action”.

The Israeli military announced that “in response to the rockets launched from Lebanon at Israel… IDF tanks struck two observation posts belonging to Hizbollah”. This was followed by a further exchange of fire. Separately, the military reported that “a number of launches from Syria aimed for Israel were identified”, to which it “responded with artillery and mortar shells toward the origin of the launching in Syria”.

The Israeli military reported that it had “neutralised a number of terrorist infiltrators who crossed from Lebanon into Israel”, which was claimed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Three members of the IDF were killed in the clash, and Hizbollah confirmed three deaths as a result of Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

Hizbollah announced that it had struck three sites “in the occupied Lebanese Sheba Farms region… [using] a significant number of artillery shells and guided missiles”. The IDF responded with artillery and a UAV strike against what it described as “Hizbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of Mount Dov”.

Unconfirmed media reports indicated that Israel had conducted airstrikes near Damascus, said to be “targeting an Iranian weapons shipment” en route to Lebanon.

The Israeli military announced that it had targeted “two temporary structures that were being used by the Syrian army… violat[ing] the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights”, and added: “The IDF holds the Syrian regime responsible for all activities emanating from its territory and will not allow any attempts to violate Israeli sovereignty”. The same day, unconfirmed accounts reported that “two men were killed in an alleged Israeli drone strike in southern Syria”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against “air defence positions in Tartous”, killing two soldiers and injuring six others. The following day, Israel’s defence minister remarked: “Last night, we saw another proof that in Israel, the roar of the jets is greater than all the other noises on the ground... In the end, what counts is action, not words”.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant presented what he described as evidence of Iran building an airport in Lebanon approximately 20km from the border with Israel, adding: “You can see the Iranian flag flying over the runways, from which the ayatollah regime plans to operate against the citizens of Israel… The land is Lebanese, the control is Iranian, and the target is Israel”. “If it comes to a conflict”, he warned, “Hizbollah and Lebanon will pay heavy and painful prices”. He further asserted that “Israel… will not allow the establishment of a second Hizbollah in the Syrian Golan Heights, and the use of Syrian soil as a springboard for the transfer of [advanced] weapons to Hizbollah”. Gallant also noted that Iran’s “ultimate goal is to create another front against Israel, along the Jordanian border… Iran is also behind the wave of terrorism in Judea and Samaria: funding, weaponry, and direction, with the aim of sowing destruction and terror”. Relatedly, the IDF chief of staff warned that “our enemies may be tempted to see an advantage in the multi-front threat to us. It is better for them to know that when Israel is threatened, it knows how to mobilise all its resources, put the differences aside – and attack”.

During a visit to Damascus, Iran’s foreign minister denounced Israeli strikes in Syria and asserted that “no acts of aggression and crimes by the Zionist regime have gone unanswered and nor will it in the future”. He further called on U.S. forces “to return home and we advise the American authorities to leave the region to the people of the region”.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that “the potential for escalation on the northern border is increasing following a blatant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty by Hizbollah’s military build-up… The UN must urgently intervene to reduce tensions by strengthening the freedom of movement of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon in the region, and implementing its mandate on the northern border”.

Syrian state media reported renewed Israeli airstrikes against Aleppo International Airport, putting it out of service. Media reports citing unnamed regional intelligence sources indicated that “the attack targeted an underground munitions depot run by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps within the compound of Nairab military airport” nearby.

After a senior Hamas official warned that “the Resistance alliance is prepared… to partake in a regional war, and the active parties are ready and prepared for it”, Prime Minister Netanyahu responded: “Hamas, and the other Iranian proxies, understand very well that we will fight with all means against their attempts to use terrorism against us – in Judea and Samaria, Gaza and everywhere else. Whoever tries to hurt us, whoever finances and organises, whoever dispatches terrorists against Israel – will pay the full price”. Two days later, Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared that “no assassination attempt on the Lebanese soil targeting the nationals of Lebanon, Palestine or Iran or other countries would go unanswered”.

Iran’s UN envoy told the Security Council that “Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity persistently endure grave violations, stemming from both the occupation of certain areas by illegal foreign forces and aggressions by the Israeli regime and terrorist groups”. He went on to call “for the complete withdrawal of all illegal foreign military forces from Syrian territory”, and maintained that “there is no other alternative to pursuing a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned settlement with UN assistance”.

Syrian state media reported that Israeli missiles targeted “some sites in the vicinity of Damascus”, injuring one soldier.

The Israeli military reported that “a suspect approached the security fence in the area of Metula on the Blue Line with Lebanon... The suspect hurled a Molotov cocktail toward the fence and caused light damage to the indication cable of one of the culverts in the area of the fence”.

Unconfirmed accounts reported explosions at “missile stockpiles of pro-Iran militias” near Damascus.

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad contended that “Israeli attacks [in Syria] are mainly directed against the Syrian army... It’s an excuse that it's an Iranian presence”.

During a visit to the border with Lebanon, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned Hezbollah’s leadership that in the event “an escalation or conflict develops here, we will return Lebanon to the Stone Age. We will not hesitate to use all our power, and erode every inch of Hezbollah and Lebanon if we have to… Don’t mistake us, we don’t want war, but we are ready to protect our citizens, our soldiers, and our sovereignty”.

Syrian state media reported that Israeli missile strikes near Damascus had killed four military personnel, injured four others and inflicted material damage.

During a meeting with his Syrian counterpart in Tehran, Iran’s foreign minister “strongly condemned” Israeli strikes in Syria and called for “the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syrian soil”. Separately, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali-Akbar Ahmadian, told the Syrian diplomat that “in order to disrupt the new de-escalation process in the region, Washington is trying to create fabricated crises in Syria through military campaigns and controlled conflicts, and continues to portray itself as an important and influential actor in Syria to persist with its illegal and illegitimate presence”.

Syria state media reported Israeli strikes near Damascus, injuring two soldiers.

The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots and used crowd dispersal methods against a group of individuals who had crossed the Blue Line; Lebanese media indicated that a parliament member and “a number of journalists suffered suffocation injuries after Israeli troops fired smoke grenades at them as they were touring the border”.

The Israeli military announced that “multiple suspects approached the northern security fence with Lebanon in a sabotage attempt. We operated to distance them from the fence”. Media reports citing an unnamed security source indicated that the individuals were Hizbollah members, three of whom “were wounded by Israeli fire near the border”.

Israel’s military confirmed that “a launch was carried out from Lebanese territory and exploded adjacent to the Blue Line in Israeli territory. In response, the IDF… [targeted] the area from which the launch was carried out in Lebanese territory”. The same day, unconfirmed accounts reported an Israeli air strike against targets described as “Iranian advanced arms depots in Damascus”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes against “some sites in the vicinity of Homs”, noting: “air defences repelled the aggression which only caused a material damage”. The Israeli military indicated that “an anti-aircraft rocket was launched from Syria toward Israel…the rocket appears to have exploded in the air over Israeli territory”. It subsequently stated that “in response… IDF fighter jets struck an anti-aircraft battery in Syria. In addition, the fighter jets struck additional targets in the area”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu affirmed that “we are working without respite against the attempts of Iran and its proxies to open terrorist fronts against us – in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and in Judea and Samaria. We are also working against Iran’s efforts to develop terrorist cells and capabilities in neighbouring countries, which are not countries in conflict with us. We will not allow Iran to establish itself on our borders. We will not allow it to build precision weapons factories in Lebanon and Syria. And, of course, we will not accept Iran’s intentions to develop a nuclear arsenal. Even if an agreement is signed between the U.S. and Iran regarding the latter’s nuclear program, we will not be bound by this agreement”.

Iran’s UN envoy told the Security Council that “the illegal presence of foreign military forces including the U.S. forces in Syria constitutes a blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law and is the primary source of insecurity in the country. We call for the immediate and complete withdrawal of these unlawful forces”. He further denounced what he characterised as “the continuous acts of aggression and military attacks by the Israeli regime against Syria, particularly those that target civilian infrastructure, alongside the persistent occupation of the Syrian Golan”.

The Israeli military confirmed that an IDF drone fell in Lebanese territory during what it described as routine activity; Hizbollah claimed credit for downing the drone.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes against “some sites south west of Damascus”, causing “serious injury to a soldier and material damage”.

A Palestinian militant group claimed that an Israeli airstrike had killed five of its members near Lebanon’s border with Syria, adding: “This crime is not isolated from the recent accelerating events on the Lebanese and Syrian fronts, and within the framework of continuous Zionist [ie, Israeli] threats targeting resistance forces inside and outside Palestine”. However, media reports cited unnamed Israeli sources denying involvement, and Lebanese sources indicating that the blast was “caused by mines or rockets detonating as they were being moved”.

The U.S. sanctioned five Syrian entities and individuals for having “secretly helped the Syrian regime under Bashar al-Assad and its Hizbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) allies maintain access to the international financial system in violation of international sanctions”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes against “some sites in the vicinity of Damascus”.

The IDF reported downing “a drone crossing from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory”, adding that it would “continue to prevent any attempt to violate Israeli sovereignty”.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi assessed that Hizbollah “thinks it understands how we think. This thought brings it to dare and challenge us where it is sure it will not lead to war. I see this as a good way to create surprises if necessary”. He further highlighted that “we have good preparedness in the northern arena. A campaign in the northern arena will be difficult on the home front. We will know how to deal with it, but it will be difficult. It will be seven times harder for Lebanon, and even more so for Hizbollah”. Halevi also discussed Syria and argued: “Iran uses Syria for a potential war zone with Israel… We are not indifferent to this. I would remind Bashar Assad of one very interesting fact in an era where data is being talked about: The countries that clung to Iran became failed states. If he wants to build after the civil war, let him take that to heart”.

A senior IDF official asserted that Hizbollah’s leadership was “close to making a mistake that could plunge the region into a big war. [Hassan Nasrallah] is close to making this mistake from Lebanon or Syria”. Noting bullishness on the part of Syria’s government, he went on to assess that “all this creates a high potential for an escalation in the region and we need to be prepared that our enemies won’t understand the message we’re sending. Let them not be mistaken, we’re ready to use force and we will do whatever is possible and necessary to bring calm”.

Israel’s defence minister estimated that “since I took office, the number of Israeli strikes against the Iranian in Syria have doubled... We are working methodically to strike the Iranian intelligence capabilities in Syria. These strikes inflict significant damage to the attempts by the Revolutionary guard to establish a foothold a few kilometres from the Israeli border”. He further asserted that “Iran aims to expand its reach to the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and even the shores of the Mediterranean... This is a structure plan designed to threaten trade and flight route - both military and civilian - and to create a permanent threat in the maritime arena”.

Iran’s defence minister met with his Syrian counterpart, and expressed readiness “to cooperate with the Syrian Arab Republic in establishing factories and launching production lines of strategic defence equipment”.

Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson welcomed Syria’s readmission in the Arab League, asserting that “settling difference among Islamic countries and convergence and synergy among them positively affects stability and inclusive peace and paves the way for reduction in expedient foreign interventions in regional affairs”. Secretary of State Antony Blinken remarked that “we do not believe that Syria merits re-admission to the Arab League. It’s a point we have made to all of our regional partners, but they have to make their own decisions. Our position is clear: We are not going to be in the business of normalising relations with Assad and with that regime”.

Defence Minister Gallant warned that “over the past six months, Iran has sent aircraft to Syria on a weekly basis, delivering weapons to be used for terrorism. The Syrian regime should be aware that the IDF will respond forcefully to any attacks launched from its territory. We will not allow Iran to establish military power in Syria, or to build a ‘highway’ for the delivery of advanced weapons to Lebanon”.

President Raisi visited Syria and met with President Bashar al-Assad, asserting: “Just as the Islamic Republic stood by the Syrian government and nation in the fight against terrorism, it will also stand by its Syrian brothers in the field of development and progress". The two sides inked a “Comprehensive Program of Strategic and Long-Term Cooperation”, and fourteen other agreements in various fields, including oil and energy. Raisi, who described his trip within Iran’s ”framework of supporting the resistance”, also reiterated that “the presence of Americans in Syria not only does not create security, but also disrupts the security of Syria and the region. The faster the Americans leave Syria, the more secure Syria will be”. A U.S. diplomatic spokesperson maintained that “the Iranian regime and the Assad regime continuing to deepen their ties should be of great concern to not just our allies and partners and countries in the region, but also the world broadly”, adding: “We will not normalise relations with the Assad regime. And we do not support others normalising with Damascus either… The U.S. believes that a political solution that is outlined in UN Security Council Resolution 2254 is the only viable solution to this conflict in Syria”. The following day, Raisi met with Palestinians in Damascus, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad officials, insisting that “the unity and cohesion of the resistance forces, the region and the Islamic world is necessary to accelerate the defeat of the Zionist regime [ie, Israel] and the liberation of the Holy Quds and the sovereignty of the Palestinians over their destiny”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Knesset that “the first and most urgent challenge is the joint effort by Israel and the U.S. to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons… We will not allow Iran to place a noose of terrorism around us – not in Syria, not in Lebanon, not in Gaza, and not in Judea and Samaria. We will not allow Iran to entrench itself militarily on our borders and we will do everything to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes in Aleppo, killing one soldier, injuring seven (five soldiers, two civilians) and putting the airport out of service.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes near Homs, wounding three civilians and causing fire in “an oil station and a number of tankers”.

Media reports indicated that Israel had “shelled targets in southern Syria”. According to unconfirmed accounts, the targets were Hizbollah-linked militias.

Defence Minister Gallant assessed that “we are facing a new security era in which there may be a real threat to all arenas at the same time. We operated for years under the assumption that limited conflicts could be managed, but that is a phenomenon that is disappearing. Today, there is a noticeable phenomenon of the convergence of the arenas”. “Iran”, he continued, “is the driving force in the convergence of the arenas. It transfers resources, ideology, knowledge and training to its proxies… The increasing dependence [of the proxies] on Iran leads them to step over the boundaries and become more brazen”. Gallant further highlighted that “we continue to systematically damage Iranian assets and capabilities in the region. We will not allow Iran to establish an Iranian army in Syria, we will not allow the Golan Heights to become Lebanon, and we will not allow Syrian territory to be a springboard for advanced weapons heading to Lebanon... In the first quarter of 2023 we doubled the rate of attacks in Syria. We are systematically attacking [Iranian] intelligence and military capabilities”.

The IDF reported that an Israeli drone had suffered a technical malfunction and fell in Syrian territory. There were also unconfirmed accounts of Israeli artillery fire against Iran-linked sites in southern Syria.

President Raisi asserted that “the enemies of the Islamic revolution, especially the Zionist regime [ie, Israel], have received the message of the power of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran that the slightest mistake against our country will be responded with a harsh response and will be accompanied by the destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv”.

Israel’s defence minister asserted that “Iran is waging a multi-front war of attrition against the State of Israel... [and] continuing its attempts to establish itself on the northern front and at the same time sending its proxies to Judea, Samaria and Gaza”. The following day, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen underscored that “the way to change Iranian behaviour is through massive economic and political pressure, in every sector of Iranian interests... [along with a] military threat against it”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu contended that “we hit the Iranians, we attacked Syria, we attacked Hizbollah and Hamas targets in Lebanon... Hamas won’t be allowed to open another front in Lebanon, and I think that message was received”. “We attacked in many different ways, and not everything was visible”, he added.

Amid a visit by Syria’s foreign minister to Saudi Arabia, a U.S. official asserted that “our position is clear: we will not normalise relations with the Assad regime absent real progress towards a political solution to the underlying conflict… We have also made clear that the core architecture of our sanctions remains firmly in place”.

The Israeli military reported that “three rockets were launched from Syrian territory toward Israel, two of them crossed into Israeli territory”, It subsequently struck “the launchers in Syria from which [the] rockets were launched” using a UAV.

The Israeli military confirmed that at least “34 rockets… were fired from Lebanon into Israel. 25 rockets were intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defence Array, while five landed in Israeli territory. Four additional launches are under review”. Three people were reportedly injured. A military spokesperson said that “Hamas was behind the rocket attack from Lebanon. The Lebanese government is responsible for any attack from its territory. We are checking if there was any Iranian involvement in the rocket attack”. The following day, Israel conducted airstrikes targeting what the military described as “infrastructures belonging to Hamas in southern Lebanon”, asserting: “The IDF will not allow the Hamas terrorist organisation to operate from within Lebanon and hold the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory”. The IDF also downed a drone that had entered Israel from Lebanon.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes against “some points in the vicinity of Damascus and the southern region”, killing two. The same day, Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson opined that “the more the path of diplomacy and convergence is strengthened in the West Asia region, the more the adventurous measures of the usurping Zionist regime [ie, Israel] increase”.

Iran’s UN ambassador wrote to the Security Council condemning U.S. 23 March strikes in Syria, and maintaining that Iran had “never been involved, directly or indirectly, in any attacks against the U.S. military forces in Syria and Iraq”. He called on the U.S. to “end its illegal occupation” of Syrian territory, while maintaining: “Iran’s presence in Syria is fully legal and is based on a formal request and consent from the Syrian government to provide assistance and support in the fight against terrorism. The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves its inherent right to self-defence under international law and will take decisive measures to protect its forces, interests and facilities from any threat or unlawful act perpetrated by the U.S. or others”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against “some sites in the city of Homs and its countryside”, wounding five soldiers and causing material damage. Also, Israel’s military confirmed downing a drone, assessed to be Iranian, that entered Israeli airspace from Syria. In comments the same day, Defence Minister Gallant contended that “we have tensions on all fronts. The Iranians are extending their outreach to Judea and Samaria and Gaza, and are attempting to entrench themselves in Syria and Lebanon. We will not allow the Iranians and Hizbollah to harm us. We have not allowed it in the past, we won’t allow it now, or anytime in the future”. “If necessary”, Gallant warned, “we will push them out of Syria to where they belong – and that is Iran”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes “targeting a site in Damascus countryside”. Iran’s IRGC confirmed the death of two IRGC personnel during the attack, pledging revenge against Israel.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had launched “a number of missiles… [against] some sites in the vicinity of Damascus”, wounding two soldiers and causing material damage.

Syrian state media reported that Israeli missile strikes had “targeted Aleppo International Airport, causing material damages”. Unnamed intelligence sources were cited as indicating that the target was “an underground munitions depot linked to the nearby Nairab military airport, where missile systems delivered on several Iranian military planes had been stored”.

A U.S. diplomatic spokesperson reaffirmed that “we will not normalise with the Assad regime, nor will we encourage others, absent authentic and enduring progress towards a political resolution in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254… We continue to urge anybody engaging with Damascus to consider sincerely and thoroughly how their engagements can help provide for Syrians in need, no matter where they live”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had “carried out an aerial act of aggression with bursts of missiles… targeting some sites in the countryside of Tartous and Hama provinces”, injuring three.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against Aleppo International Airport, putting it out of service. Syrian foreign ministry condemned the attack and said it had “targeted one of the main channels for the delivery of humanitarian aid from inside and outside Syria to the victims of the devastating [6 February] earthquake”.

Iranian state television declared that “Syria needs to rebuild its air defence network and requires precision bombs for its fighter plans… It is very likely that we will witness the supply by Iran of radars and defence missiles, such as the 15 Khordad system, to reinforce Syria’s air defences”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had fired “waves of missiles… [against] some points in Damascus city and its surroundings, including residential neighbourhoods”, killing five and injuring fifteen.

Iran’s UN envoy told the Security Council that “the presence of foreign forces in the north of Syria under the pretext of combating terrorism should not be used to violate and undermine Syria’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity... In order to create conducive grounds for ending the crisis in Syria, all uninvited foreign forces must leave that country without any precondition or delay, and terrorist groups must be confronted”. He further urged the Council to “compel the Israeli regime to end all acts of aggression against Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity immediately”.

Outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi reported that “we crossed 52 operations [against Iranian-related targets] in 2022”, adding: “Iran still has a desire… to put weapons and advanced capabilities in Syria… but there is no doubt that we have prevented what was supposed to be there. They wanted hundreds of surface-to-air missiles and surface-to-surface missiles. They wanted tens of thousands of militiamen and a second Hizbollah. All of this was thwarted completely”. Asserting that the IDF had stopped more than 90 per cent of Iranian arms going into Syria, Kohavi noted: “Some of our action is to block the crossings – by air, ground or sea – and some is to hunt what gets in. Just look at the media reports and understand where we operate”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, visiting IDF Northern Command, asserted that “the main enemy that we face is the terrorist regime in Iran and its proxies in Syria and Lebanon. We are determined to fight Iran’s attempts to develop a nuclear arsenal. We are determined to fight any attempt by Iran to entrench militarily in Syria on our northern border. We are determined to fight any attempt by Hizbollah to show aggression against us in Lebanon. Whoever needs a reminder about our red lines on this matter will receive it”. During the same visit, Defence Minister Gallant maintained: “the security establishment will prevent Iran from entrenching in Syria and will sever the channels by which Iranian weaponry is transferred to Lebanon and Hizbollah… In addition to maintaining quiet, we will take strong action against any attempt to attack Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that “we will work openly, from a position of strength, in the international arena against a return to the nuclear agreement [ie, JCPOA], not only in talks with leaders behind closed doors but strongly and openly in the sphere of global opinion, which is now aware of the true dangers posed by Iran – the Iranian regime that is killing innocent citizens in and beyond Iran”. He added: “In contrast to the prevailing opinion that this dangerous nuclear option has disappeared from the agenda following the recent events in Iran, I think that this possibility has not yet finally disappeared from the agenda”. Netanyahu further affirmed that “we will also take vigorous action to prevent the Iranian military entrenchment in Syria and elsewhere and we will not wait”.

Syrian state media reported Israel airstrikes against “Damascus International Airport and its vicinity”, killing two, wounding two others and causing damage to the airport.

The Syrian military reported two injuries and material damage as a result of Israeli airstrikes near Damascus.

Unconfirmed accounts reported an Israeli air strike against “a radar site belonging to the Syrian military” in southern Syria.

Iran’s UN envoy told the Security Council that “security and stability in the north of Syria can only be achieved by preserving and fully respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and any military operation in the north of Syria would only make the already challenging humanitarian situation even worst”, while denouncing what he described as “the robbery of Syrian people’s natural resources, particularly oil products, in areas occupied by foreign forces”. He further asked the Council to condemn “ongoing aggressions and terrorist attacks of the Israeli regime against Syria”. “[Israel’s] systematic and intentional targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, particularly the attacks on commercial airports and humanitarian shipments, are a flagrant violation of international law”, he added, while underscoring Syria’s right to self-defence.

The IRGC announced that a colonel “serving as a military adviser in Syria, was martyred by the Zionist regime’s [ie, Israel’s] agents through a roadside bomb near Damascus”. It added that there would “undoubtedly” be a response.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against “some posts in the central and coastal region”, killing four soldiers and injuring one.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes against a “military airport in Homs countryside”, resulting in two deaths and three injuries.

A U.S. official denied U.S. involvement in an airstrike against a purported fuel convoy at the Syria-Iraq border; media reports citing “people familiar with attack” suggested that Israel had been targeting a suspected arms shipment.

Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes had targeted “some positions in the vicinity of Damascus”.

Syrian state media reported an Israeli missile strike against “some positions in the vicinity of Damascus”, injuring one soldier.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against “a number of posts in the surroundings of Damascus”.

The IDF reported that it had identified four individuals “hurling objects along the border fence with Syria toward Israel… IDF soldiers crossed the border and operated to stop them by firing toward the legs of one of the suspects. One of the suspects was injured and evacuated by a helicopter to a hospital”.

Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes had targeted Damascus International Airport and some sites south of Damascus, killing five soldiers and causing material damage.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid asserted that “Israel is working to prevent Iran from establishing terrorist bases throughout the Middle East and especially in Syria… Israel will not allow Syria to be used as an axis for the transfer of weapons to terrorist organisations, and will not accept the establishment of Iranian bases or militia bases on our northern border”. The following day, Defence Minister Benny Gantz posited that Iran had built “production facilities [in Syria] for mid- and long-range precise missiles and weapons, provided to Hizbollah and Iranian proxies. In other words, it became yet another Iranian front – a factory for advanced, strategic weapons”. “These sites, particularly the underground facility at Masyaf”, Gantz added, “host significant threats to the region and to the State of Israel… Masyaf, specifically, is used to produce advanced missiles”. He also said, “the Iranians are currently working to build missile and weapon industries in Lebanon and Yemen… If this trend will not be stopped, within a decade, there will be advanced Iranian industries across the region, producing weapons and spreading terror”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes at Aleppo International Airport, knocking out the runway.

Syria state media reported Israeli airstrikes against targets in south east of Damascus and Aleppo International Airport; the latter attack caused “severe damage”, according to Syria’s foreign ministry, making the runway unusable. Syria’s foreign minister described the operations as “playing with fire” and warned: “Syria will not remain silent… and the Israelis will pay the price sooner or later”. “The U.S and Western countries should be held responsible for encouraging Israel to increase its aggressions”, he added.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes around Hama and Tartous, injuring two and causing material damage.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had launched missiles against targets near Damascus and Tartous, killing three soldiers and injuring another three. Media reports citing Syrian sources suggested that the former site was manned by Hizbollah, and the latter said to be “an Iranian base”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had fired “two tank missiles" at a village in Quneitra, injuring two.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against “some points in the vicinity of Damascus”, killing three soldiers and injuring seven. Syria’s foreign ministry wrote to the UN emphasising its “right to respond by appropriate means”, while contending: “These Israeli attacks cannot be treated in isolation from the U.S. aggression… and its occupation of north east Syria, its looting of oil and supplying of weapons to the militias hired by Washington in order to impede the political solution and the restoration of security and stability to Syria”. Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson denounced the attack, urging the UN Security Council “to deal with continuous crimes and high-risk conduct” of Israel.

Iran, Russia and Turkey convened a meeting of the “Astana Process” talks over Syria and jointly reaffirmed “their determination to continue working together to combat terrorism”, “rejected all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism, including illegitimate self-rule initiatives” and “expressed their opposition to the illegal seizure and transfer of oil revenues that should belong to Syria”. The three countries also condemned “the continuing Israeli military attacks in Syria including civilian infrastructures... as destabilising and intensifying the tension in the region”.

President Raisi told Syria’s foreign minister that “America’s withdrawal from east of the Euphrates and the entire region is the basic and root solution to the crises in West Asia”. The same day, Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian conferred with his Syrian counterpart on “ways forward for all-out expansion of ties between the two countries, regional developments and international issues”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had launched a rocket that struck near Quneitra, killing one.

During a visit to Damascus, Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian told President Bashar al-Assad that “we are opposed to use of military operations to resolve problems… Problems must be solved and concerns must be dispelled through direct talks and cooperation”. He also offered “unwavering support for the resistance to ensure lasting security in the region against the threats posed by the fake Israeli regime”. Amirabdollahian also conferred with his Syrian counterpart on “the capacities of both states for further enhancement of mutual relations in political, economic, industrial and commercial fields”, noting that “Iran’s technical and engineering capabilities can contribute to the implementation of the two countries’ joint big projects”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had “carried out an air missile aggression… [against] several poultry farms” in western Syria, resulting in two civilian injuries and material damage.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had conducted air strikes against “some post south of Damascus”, injuring one and causing material damage. Service at Damascus airport was halted, with the transport ministry asserting that the strike “caused heavy damages to the airport’s infrastructure”. Speaking with his Syrian counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian condemned the attack and asserted Iran would “always stand with the government and people of Syria”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had conducted air strikes against “some sites south of Damascus City”, causing material damage.

Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian conferred with his Syrian counterpart on bilateral relations while reiterating “Iran’s determination to provide necessary assistance to Syria to overcome the negative impacts of the Western coercive measures imposed on the country”.

Syrian state media reported three fatalities in what it said were Israeli missile strikes south of Damascus. 

Referring to the transfer by Iran of what he described as “accurate munitions” to its regional allies, Defence Minister Benny Gantz declared: “Israel will continue to halt these efforts and prevent the threat to its citizens and the region”, adding: “The quantity of this strategic weapon in the hands of Iranian emissaries has increased significantly in the past year. In Iraq, there are hundreds of [munitions]; many dozens have been added this year. In Yemen, the number of [munitions] has increased in the past year, and the Huthis hold dozens of them”.

Visiting Northern Command, Defence Minister Benny Gantz asserted that “Israel will continue to act against any enemy that threatens it, and prevent the transfer of advanced capabilities from Iran that endanger the citizens of Israel and harm the stability of the entire region”. He further described the objective of a month-long military exercise as “preparing for various scenarios against our enemies in the various theaters, and against Hizbollah and Hamas, which also operates from Lebanon”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes against “some points in the central region”, causing five civilian fatalities and injuries to seven to others.

The U.S. announced a general license “authorising specific economic activities in certain non-regime-held areas of north east and north west Syria”, asserting that it “supports the Biden Administration’s strategy to defeat ISIS by promoting economic stabilisation in areas liberated from the terrorist group’s control”. The State Department noted that “the authorisation does not permit any activity with the Government of Syria or other sanctions persons”, and went on to underscore that it did “not indicate any shift in the Administration’s policy towards the Assad regime”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes in Quneitra, causing material loss; there were further reports of artillery fire in the area.

President Bashar al-Assad visited Tehran and met with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Raisi.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes “targeting some sites in the vicinity of Damascus”, killing four soldiers and injuring three.

The IDF reported that an Israeli drone had landed in Syrian territory during what it described as routine activity, with “no fear of information leak“.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes near Damascus, causing material damage.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz indicated that “Israel is operating against weapons transfers and other Iranian threats. In the recent period, we are seeing more stability in Syria and I see that there is some activity between Syria and members of the Arab League. If Assad wishes to be part of the [near] region, he will have to [cut] his negative ties to Iran and the terror that emanates from Syria”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes in the central region, causing material damage.

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi assessed that Israeli strikes “had a decisive impact on preventing the entrenchment of Iranian forces in Syria, on preventing the establishment of Hizbollah forces in the southern Golan Heights, on preventing enemy intensification with advanced weapons systems, and on the direct and immediate thwarting of threats to infiltrate Israel”.

Iran’s UN envoy told the Security Council that “Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity cannot be jeopardised in the name of fighting terrorism.… All occupying and uninvited foreign forces, including those of the U.S., must leave the country immediately and without any conditions”. He further denounced Israel’s “repeated violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”, urging the Council to hold Israel “accountable for such acts of aggression and malice, as well as its blatant threats to use force against other regional countries”.

During a visit to Damascus, Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian conferred with President Bashar al-Assad on, inter alia, “the expansion of economic cooperation” and also hailed “the trend of the normalisation of ties between regional countries and Syria”, while highlighting that “as for regional tensions, the Islamic Republic opposes any war and supports resolution of disputes through dialogue and political means”.

CENTCOM Commander Kenneth McKenzie indicated that “I do worry about… [military] exchanges between Iran and Israel because many times, our forces are at risk, whether we’re in Iraq or in Syria”.

CENTCOM Commander Kenneth McKenzie described Iran as “the greatest single day-to-day threat to regional security and stability”, noting that “the risk of miscalculation and escalation remains high because of Iran's strategic calculation that it can simultaneously and discretely engage in diplomacy with and a proxy campaign against the U.S.”. McKenzie's statement to a Senate committee further addressed the role of Iran and Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had conducted missile strikes near Damascus, killing two and causing material damage. The following day, Iran announced the death of two IRGC members in the attack, warning that Israel would “pay the price of this atrocity”. On 10 March, Iran’s UN ambassador told the Security Council that “Iran reserves its inherent right to self-defence… to respond to such criminal act whenever it deems appropriate”.

Iran’s UN ambassador told the Security Council that “the fight against terrorism cannot be used as an excuse to undermine Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The illegal presence of foreign forces in parts of Syria which has provided favorable conditions for terrorist activities in Syria, must end immediately”. The Iranian diplomat further denounced Israel’s “repeated violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity… We call on the Security Council to hold this regime accountable for such acts of aggression and its malign activities as well as its open threats to use force against other regional countries”. The following day, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, met with his Syrian counterpart.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had conducted “an aerial aggression with bursts of missiles” against sites near Damascus, killing three soldiers and causing material damages.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had launched surface-to-surface missiles against “areas in the vicinity of Quneitra… causing material damages”.

The Israeli military reported intercepting “a Hizbollah drone that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli airspace”, and in a second incident downed a drone launched by Hamas in Gaza.  

Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah remarked that “we now possess the ability to transform our thousands of rockets into precision-guided missiles… We started that years ago and converted a large number of our missiles into precision-guided ones, so we do not need to bring them from Iran”. “We have been producing drones in Lebanon for a long time”, he added. Nasrallah further noted that Israel “tries throughout its aggression in Syria to prevent the reach of precision-guided weapons to the resistance in Lebanon. I tell the Israelis that what they call a ‘battle between wars’ has turned the threat into an opportunity for the resistance”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had “launched an aerial aggression with a number of ground-to-ground missiles”, causing material damages near Damascus.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid underscored that “there’s a good mechanism with… the Russians in Syria. Israel, as usual, will operate as it sees fit to protect its security in all theaters, and will not accept long-term Iranian presence on its northern border”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had launched airstrikes and surface-to-surface fire against targets near Damascus, killing one soldier and injuring five. Syrian air defences were activated and the Israeli military confirmed that “an anti-aircraft missile was launched from Syria and exploded mid-air”, in response to which the IDF “struck surface-to-air missile targets in Syria, including radar and anti-aircraft batteries”.

President Biden announced that “we have taken off the battlefield… the leader of ISIS” as the result of a military operation in north-western Syria.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had “launched an aerial aggression with bursts of missiles… targeting some points in the vicinity of Damascus”, causing “material damage”. Unconfirmed accounts claimed that “Hizbollah positions, outposts and weapon depots” were targeted.

A U.S. diplomatic spokesperson reaffirmed that “we continue to believe that now is not the time for normalisation [with Syria under Assad]. Now continues to be the time for accountability for the atrocities of the regime”.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett remarked that “we and the Americans don’t see everything eye to eye… A deal that will send tens of billions of dollars to this rotten and weak regime will be a mistake”. “We think Iran is in a difficult situation”, Bennett added. “They’re very weak, and we must not give them a tailwind of money, and we relay this message. But the Israeli strategy doesn’t depend on whether there’s an agreement or not… Even if there is an agreement, we’re not committed to it”. The prime minister went on to describe two objectives for Israel’s strategy: “to roll back Iran’s regional influence… [and] keep Iran significant far from nuclear breakout forever”.

The U.S.’s UN envoy told the Security Council that Washington’s goals in Syria included “sustaining the U.S. and Coalition campaign to prevent the resurgence of ISIS… [and] to support a political process, one led by the Syrian people, as envisioned and agreed by this Council in Resolution 2254”. During the same session, Iran’s ambassador maintained that “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria continues to be seriously violated either through the occupation of parts of the country or by the aggression of the Israeli regime and the terrorists… While the Syrian crisis has no military solution, it cannot also come to an end without ending its occupation, restoring its sovereignty and territorial integrity and confronting the threat of terrorism”.

The Israeli military reported that IDF tanks had “fired shells aimed at chasing away... suspects” near the Syrian border.

Israel’s military chief of staff assessed that “the increase in the scope of operations over the past year has led to a significant disruption of all smuggling routes into various arenas by our enemies… But we still have a long way to go to complete our goals in this arena”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had “launched an aerial aggression with a wave of missiles… targeting the container yard at the commercial port in Latakia”, causing “significant material damages”. Unconfirmed accounts claimed that “two members of a pro-regime militia were killed” and three others injured. The same day, Defence Minister Benny Gantz, without commenting on the incident, affirmed that “Israel will not allow Iran to stream game-changing weapons to its proxies and to threaten our citizens”. Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson condemned the attack.

An Iranian diplomat told the Security Council that it “must compel the Israeli regime to end the occupation of the Syrian Golan and also stop immediately its aggressions against Syria”, adding: “all occupying and uninvited foreign forces must leave that country without any precondition or further delay”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli “aerial aggression through launching waves of missiles… targeting some sites in the southern region”, killing one and causing material damage.

The U.S. designated “two Syrian Air Force officers responsible for chemical weapons attacks on civilians, and three Syrian intelligence officers in Syria’s repressive security and intelligence apparatus”.  

Syrian state media reported that Israel had fired “several missiles… targeting the container yards at the commercial port of Latakia”. In subsequent remarks, Prime Minister Bennett, while not addressing the incident specifically, asserted: “we’re pushing back on the bad forces of this region, day and night… This happens almost daily. In the face of destructive forces, we will continue to act, we will be persistent and we will not tire”.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan assessed that “since Donald Trump made the decision to pull the U.S. out of the Iran Nuclear Deal in 2018, Hizbollah has continued to menace Lebanon and the region. Iran’s proxies in Iraq and Syria and Yemen have continued to move forward. So, not being in the nuclear deal has hardly been a solution to the proxy”. He further asserted that “nothing about the nuclear deal stops the U.S.’s capacity to deal with those proxies. And we are prepared to do so”, adding: “ultimately, an Iran with a nuclear weapon is going to be a greater menace in partnerships with its proxies than Iran without one. And so it is our determination to ensure they never get a nuclear weapon, and diplomacy is the best way forward”.

Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian met with his Syrian counterpart and noted “the need for special focus on promoting economic and trade relations”. He further denounced “the Zionist [ie, Israeli] regime’s aggression against Syria”, and charachterised “the military presence of foreign forces without coordination with and permission from the Syrian government as a source of insecurity in the region, particularly in Syria”. The Syrian minister also met with President Raisi, who asserted that “comprehensive planning should be done to develop and deepen relations”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had launched “a wave of missiles… targeting some posts in the central region”, resulting in two fatalities, seven injuries and material damages.

Calling Iran “Israel’s single most significant enemy”, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett maintained that “Iran is further along in its nuclear program than ever before and its enrichment machine is more advanced and broader… Iran has also been consistently and persistently successful in encircling Israel in rings of militias and rockets from every direction”. Bennett proceeded to lay out four conclusions from a review of Israel’s Iran policy, and, positing that “we are at a significant point in this battle – Israel vs Iran”, asserted: “even if there is a return to the JCPOA, Israel obviously is not a party to the agreement and is not obligated by it… We will maintain our freedom of action”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had launched “two missiles… targeting an empty building south of Damascus”, adding: “one of the hostile missiles was downed, and no losses were reported”.

On the sideline of a military drill in northern Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asserted that “we are surrounded by security challenges and the goal is to utilise periods of relative quiet to build up strength”, adding: “we are dealing with Iran and its proxies, in Lebanon and Syria. It does not matter what occurs between Iran and the major powers. We are concerned by the fact that there is not enough firmness in the face of the Iranian violations; Israel will defend itself, by itself”. Speaking alongside Bennett, Defence Minister Benny Gantz remarked that “the world needs to take action against Iran, and Israel needs to continue to do what it needs to on all fronts in general, and on the northern front in particular”.

The U.S. State Department underscored that “terrorist groups like ISIS in Syria directly threaten U.S. national security and the Syrian people. The U.S. remains committed to the military mission against ISIS. We will maintain our mission in Syria until the threat posed by the terrorist group is eliminated”.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz maintained that “on an operational level, we are acting extensively. We won’t allow Hizbollah and other Iranian proxies in the area to be equipped with weaponry that will harm Israel’s [military] superiority in the region”. Relatedly, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi, told Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that “the IDF will continue to act to remove threats and will respond forcefully to any violation of [Israeli] sovereignty, in Gaza or in the north”, adding: “[the army] is accelerating operational planning and preparedness to deal with Iran and the military nuclear threat”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had conducted airstrikes against “a number of posts in the [country’s] central and coastal” regions, injuring two. Unconfirmed accounts claim the targets were “Iranian-controlled weapons caches”. The Russian army later confirmed that “the Israeli air force… launched eight guided missiles at logistical and military support facilities of the Syrian armed forces in the Homs governorate. Syrian air defence units destroyed six of those missiles using Russian-made… air defence systems”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had “launched an aerial aggression with a number of missiles… targeting one of the posts in [the] Damascus countryside”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had “fired a salvo of surface-to-surface missiles from northern occupied Palestine targeting positions near Damascus”, injuring two. Unconfirmed accounts said the target had been a weapons convoy, and put the toll at five fatalities.

Iran’s UN envoy told the Security Council that “the occupation of parts of Syria by foreign forces must come to an end... all occupying and uninvited foreign forces must leave that country without any precondition or further delay”. He further urged the Council to “compel the Israeli regime to end the occupation of the Syrian Golan and also stop immediately its aggressions against Syria”. The official also denounced “in the strongest terms” the killing of a former Syrian lawmaker, which he attributed to Israel, “as well as all violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria by the Israeli regime”, noting “Syria’s inherent right to self-defence and to respond at a time and place of its choosing”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had conducted an “aggression on the southern region”, which unconfirmed reports speculated had been targeting Syrian military or allied facilities in Quneitra province. A Syrian foreign ministry source denounced the attack and underscored Damascus’s “right and ability to respond”.

Meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett indicated that the two would “discuss the situation in Syria and, of course, our efforts to halt the Iranian military nuclear program”. An Israeli minister accompanying the prime minister subsequently stated that Bennett had “presented his world view on ways to stop Iran’s nuclear drive and Iran’s entrenchment in Syria”, adding that “it was decided to keep policies vis-a-vis Russia in place [regarding airstrikes in Syrian territory]”. 

The Syrian government accused Israel of killing a former Syrian lawmaker who headed the cabinet’s Golan portfolio.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes near Palmyra, which according to an unnamed military source killed one soldier and injured three. Iran-linked forces in Syria confirmed “a number” of casualties and said that had “taken a decision to respond to this attack… and the response will be very cruel”.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken remarked that “keeping violence down; increasing humanitarian assistance and focusing our military efforts on any terrorist groups that pose a threat to us or to our partners, with the intent and capacity to do that… are going to be the critical areas of focus for us, and they’re also, I think, important to advancing a broader political settlement to the Syrian conflict consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2254”. He further noted that “what we have not done and what we do not intend to do is to express any support for efforts to normalise relations or rehabilitate Mr. Assad, or lifted a single sanction on Syria or changed our position to oppose the reconstruction of Syria until there is irreversible progress toward a political solution”.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asserted that “Iran, which has dispatched proxies and built armies to surround the State of Israel, aspires to build yet another army on the border of the Golan Heights. We will continue to act wherever and whenever necessary, at our initiative, and on a daily basis, in order to roll up the Iranian presence in Syria. They have nothing to look for there”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian visited Damascus and met with President Bashar al-Assad and other senior Syrian officials. During his trip, Amirabdollahian asserted that “our ties with Syria are strategic and we are trying to expand our cooperation with the country in all fields. Syria is on the path of development and progress, and on this path, Iran will strongly stand by Damascus, as it did during the war on terrorists”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes at the T-4 base near Homs, and cited an unnamed military source saying that “six soldiers were injured in the aggression which also caused material damages”.  

Iran’s UN ambassador told the Security Council that “occupation of parts of Syria by foreign forces must come to an end. Accordingly, all uninvited foreign forces must leave that country without any precondition or further delay”. He further maintained that “the Security Council must live up to its responsibility and compel the Israeli regime to put an immediate end to its acts of aggression against sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria”, adding: “such adventuristic practices, which we condemn in the strongest terms, constitute flagrant violations of international law, threatening regional and international peace and security”.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told the UN General Assembly that “Israel is, quite literally, surrounded by Hizbollah, Shiite militias, Islamic Jihad and Hamas... And they’re all backed by Iran. They get their funding from Iran, they get their training from Iran, and they get their weapons from Iran”. Bennett also said that “just this year, Iran made operational a new deadly terror unit — swarms of killer UAVs armed with lethal weapons that can attack any place any time… Iran plans to arm its proxies in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon with hundreds and then thousands of these deadly drones”.

Hizbollah reported that “the second ship delivering diesel oil from the Islamic Republic [of Iran] docked in [Syria’s] Banias Port”.

The Israeli military confirmed that one its drones had crashed “due to a technical malfunction” in the course of “routine operational activity” in Syria.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid contended that “there won’t be stability in Syria, or in the wider Middle East, while there is an Iranian presence… [Israel] will not sit quietly by while Iran builds terror bases on our northern border or while Iran supplies advanced weapons to terror organisations”.

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi maintained that “a significant chunk of the boost to the defence budget” related to “greatly accelerated” planning for operations targeting Iran’s nuclear program, adding: “It’s a very complicated job, with much more intelligence, much more operational capabilities, much more armaments. We’re working on all these things”. He also indicated that the Israeli military’s priority was “minimising Iranian presence in the Middle East, with an emphasis on Syria. But these operations take place throughout the Middle East. They’re also against Hamas, against Hizbollah”. “[Israeli strikes] greatly diminished Iran’s presence and weaponry in the northern arena, certainly in comparison to what they sought”, Kohavi asserted, also noting that the IDF had been “very active in disrupting the smuggling routes of Hizbollah, of Hamas, of Iran, in all regions”.

Syrian state media reported an Israeli airstrike targeting the vicinity of Damascus. The IDF subsequently indicated that debris from a Syrian surface-to-air missile had fallen in Israeli territory, and according to local media the Israeli Air Force targeted its Syrian point of origin.

Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian visited Syria and met with senior officials including President Bashar al-Assad. According to a Syrian readout, the two conferred on, inter alia, “steps… to enhance bilateral cooperation with the aim of reaching a higher level of partnerships at various levels, particularly in the economic and trade fields, in a way that enables the two peoples to continue facing the repercussions of the blockade and sanctions imposed on the two countries”.

Syria state media reported “an Israeli missile aggression on the surroundings of Damascus and Homs cities”.

Syria state media reported what it claimed were Israeli missile strikes around Quneitra.

The Israeli military reported that one of its drones suffered a “technical malfunction” and crashed while undertaking “routine activities” in Syrian territory.

The U.S. announced that it had “applied the measures authorised in Section 3 of the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act” against, inter alia, Kataeb Hizbollah, Asaeb Ahl al-Haq and Lebanese Hizbollah.

The Israeli military reported that “three rockets were… fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel. Two rockets landed in Israel”. In response, the IDF conducted artillery strikes against “targets along the Lebanese border”, and underscored that “the Lebanese government is responsible for all attacks from Lebanon”. Defence Minister Benny Gantz subsequently maintained that “our actions overnight were meant to send a clear message that we will not accept such attacks. I hope we are not forced into further action”. “Lebanon is in a state of chaos caused in a large extend by the Hizbollah terror group”, he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asserted: “regarding the ship and the Iranian issue in general: We are working on enlisting the world but at the same time, we also know how to act alone. Iran already knows the price that we exact when someone threatens our security. The Iranians need to understand that it is impossible to sit peacefully in Tehran and from there ignite the entire Middle East”. “Against Iran, speeches are not enough”, Bennett added.

The U.S. designated “eight Syrian prisons run by the Assad regime’s intelligence apparatus… and five senior security officials of regime entities that control these detention facilities”. It also blacklisted “Syrian armed group Ahrar al-Sharqiya… [and] two of the group’s leaders”.

A Russian military official reported that Syrian air defences had intercepted two Israeli strikes against targets in Damascus governate.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes near Homs.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes near Aleppo. The Israeli army subsequently confirmed that “two rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel”, which was followed by Israeli artillery fire into Lebanon. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned that “we will not allow harm to Israel’s sovereignty and security. Whoever tries to harm us will pay a painful price”. He further contended that “Lebanon is on the verge of collapse, like any country in which Iran bases itself… Its citizens were taken hostage by Khamenei and Nasrallah for the sake of Iranian interests”. “This is unfortunate, but we will not accept a spillover of the situation in Lebanon into Israel”, he added.

The foreign ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS issued a joint statement expressing their commitment “to strengthening cooperation across all Coalition lines of effort in order to ensure that Daesh/ISIS Core in Iraq and Syria”. On Iraq, they deplored “the continuing attacks against Coalition personnel and convoys, and diplomatic facilities, emphasising the importance of the Government of Iraq protecting Coalition assets”, while hailing “the incremental expansion of NATO’s non-combat advisory, training and capacity building mission”. Regarding Syria, the ministers backed “a lasting political settlement in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254”, while noting that “the Coalition continues to support inclusive local recovery and stabilisation in areas liberated from Daesh/ISIS and reconciliation and reintegration efforts to foster conditions conducive to a Syria-wide political resolution to the conflict under the parameters of UN Security Council Resolution 2254”.

The U.S. along with eighteen countries, the League of Arab States and the European Union jointly reiterated “strong support for UN-led efforts to implement all aspects of UN Security Council Resolution 2254, including continued support for an immediate nation-wide ceasefire, the unimpeded and safe delivery of aid, and the Constitutional Committee, as well as fighting against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”. Emphasising “the unity and territorial integrity of Syria”, they expressed commitments “to continue working actively to reach a credible, sustainable and inclusive political solution based on Resolution 2254”.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz asserted that “we wish for peace and calm, but we are willing to use our full capabilities should we be required on any front, including the Lebanese front. Attempts to sabotage the quiet on our borders have not gone unnoticed, and we are opening our eyes and acting routinely, and we are prepared for extensive activities even in an emergency”. President Rivlin, too, indicated that “we know the threat is still grave... We are aware of Hizbollah’s attempts to continue to grow stronger with Iranian support and arm itself with weapons whose only purpose is to harm the State of Israel’s Homefront”. He further reiterated that “Israel will not allow Iran to establish itself in Lebanon. The State of Israel will not allow Iran to send its satellite states here, to the Middle East”.

Media reports indicated that the Israeli military had “struck a Syrian outpost near the city of Quneitra” with tank fire.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had “launched an aerial aggression from the Lebanese airspace against some targets in the central and southern regions”.

An Israeli military spokesperson reported that the IDF had “destroyed a forward observation post of the Syrian army that was set up in an Israeli area west of the Alfa line in the Golan Heights”, asserting that Israel would not “tolerate any attempt to violate [its] sovereignty”.

Addressing the UN Security Council, Iran’s envoy called for preserving “the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Syria through ending the occupation of its territory including the occupied Syrian Golan, withdrawing of all uninvited foreign forces from that country, ceasing to support any separatist tendencies or illegitimate self-rule initiatives and preventing the violation of Syrian sovereignty particularly by acts of aggression of the Israeli regime”.

A Pentagon spokesperson underscored that “nothing’s changed about the [U.S.’s] mission in Syria, which is about counter-ISIS operations, in keeping with the work that the coalition has been doing since 2014. It is certainly a small presence, less than 1,000”. He also indicated that “we as a government would simply urge all actors act in such a way inside Syria so as to not contribute more to the instability, the insecurity and rather in fact contribute to a peaceful political outcome”.

The Israeli military indicated that “six rockets were… fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel, all of which fell inside Lebanon. In response, our artillery forces fired toward the sources of the launches”. An Israeli military spokesperson was cited as saying that “a small Palestinian faction… was responsible”. The following day, the IDF reported intercepting “a UAV [which had] approached the Israeli border near the Jordan Valley”.

The Israeli military reported that “IDF tanks fired warning shots toward a number of rioters who crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory. The suspects sabotaged the fence and set a fire in the area before returning to Lebanese territory”. Media reports noted one Lebanese fatality who was identified as a Hizbollah member, and President Aoun “strongly condemned the crime committed by Israeli forces”. Later in the day, the IDF indicated that “three rockets were... fired from Syria toward Israel, one of which fell in Syria”. 

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with his Syrian counterpart and discussed, inter alia, “Tehran’s support for the Syrian nation and government against the inauspicious phenomena of extremism and terrorism”; Zarif also posited that U.S. sanctions were “depriving the Iranian and Syrian people of [the] COVID-19 vaccine”. According to an Iranian readout, the Syrian official “appreciated Iran’s support for the people and government of Syria, and underlined the necessity of the two countries’ cooperation”. Zarif also met President Bashar al-Assad and noted the “role that can be played… by pioneering countries behind the Axis of Resistance” in supporting the Palestinian cause, and updated Assad regarding “the latest developments in the Vienna nuclear talks… as well as the regional movements of the Islamic Republic of Iran in relations with other countries in the region”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had conducted an air strike near Quneitra, injuring one person.

Syrian state media reported that a “technical fault” resulted in a fire aboard an oil tanker off the Syrian coast.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had conducted air strikes near Quneitra.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had “launched an aerial aggression… targeting some positions in the coastal region”, killing one person and injuring six.  

Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen maintained that “a bad deal [with Iran] will send the region spiraling into war… Anyone seeking short-term benefits should be mindful of the longer-term”. He further asserted that “Israel will not allow Iran to attain nuclear arms. Iran has no immunity anywhere. Our planes can reach everywhere in the Middle East - and certainly Iran”. Relatedly, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. underlined that “the freedom of action of Israel to prevent Iran from becoming an existential threat is a freedom of action that will be preserved… [and] the current [U.S.] government respects”. He also indicated that in bilateral discussions, Israel and the U.S. “agreed on the principle of transparency and not to surprise each other [regarding the Vienna talks] and I think we are both keeping to it”.

Discussing Iran-Israel tensions, CENTCOM Commander Kenneth McKenzie stressed that “it is not our desire to have a war with Iran. And we would hope it is not their desire to have a war with us… There is a low-level conflict that’s being fought out across the theater. But we do not intend to enter that conflict”.

U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley reported a “good discussion… with our GCC partners regarding the status of JCPOA talks and regional security” as nuclear negotiations resumed in Vienna. The same day, senior Israeli and U.S. national security officials convened for discussions in Washington, and per a White House readout “discussed their serious concerns about advancements in Iran’s nuclear program in recent years”; the two sides also “agreed on the significant threat posed by Iran’s aggressive behavior in the region”, with the U.S. side expressing “President Biden’s unwavering support for Israel’s right to defend itself”. They also formed “an inter-agency working group to focus particular attention on the growing threat of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Precision Guided Missiles produced by Iran and provided to its proxies”.

Syria’s oil ministry reported a fire aboard a tanker off its coast and said the cause was “believed to be an attack by a drone coming from the direction of Lebanese territorial waters”. However, Iranian media subsequently cited a Syrian military official indicating that the “accident occurred due to carelessness and lack of safety measures”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against sites near Damascus, injuring four, and added: “The army air defences intercepted the hostile missiles and downed most of them”. The Israel Defense Forces subsequently confirmed that “a surface-to-air missile was fired from Syria to Israel’s southern Negev. In response we struck the battery from which the missile was launched and additional surface-to-air batteries in Syria”. U.S. Central Command Commander Frank McKenzie assessed that the Syrians “were responding to Israeli strikes on targets in Syria… I do not believe it was an intentional attack, but just rather a lack of capability on the part of the Syrian air defenders”.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz affirmed that the IDF “is ideally prepared along the northern border and definitely on the Lebanese front”, adding: “We are aware of Hizbollah’s attempts to challenge us in new ways… We will deal with any threat. If Hizbollah challenges the IDF and the State of Israel, it will suffer very, very heavy consequences and I hope they don’t do that”.

The U.S. Intelligence Community’s 2021 Annual Threat Assessment indicated that “Iran is determined to maintain influence in Syria… [It] is pursuing a permanent military presence and economic deals in Syria as the conflict winds down there. Tehran almost certainly wants these things to build its regional influence, support Hizbollah and threaten Israel”. The report further assessed that “U.S. forces in eastern Syria will face threats from Iranian and Syrian-regime-aligned groups, mostly through deniable attacks”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu maintained that “the fight against Iran and its metastases and against Iranian armament is a huge task. The situation as it exists today is not necessarily how it will exist tomorrow”. In related comments, Israel’s military chief of staff remarked that “the Israel Defense Forces’ actions throughout the Middle East are not hidden from our enemies’ eyes. They are watching us, seeing our capabilities and carefully considering their next steps”.

The Syrian defence ministry reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted the vicinity of Damascus, injuring four and causing material damage.

The U.S. unveiled “more than $596 million in new humanitarian assistance to respond to the Syrian crisis”, with the U.S. UN ambassador underscoring the importance of “unhindered humanitarian access and aid to all Syrians in need through all avenues available, including through cross-border assistance”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli missile strikes on “some targets in the surroundings of Damascus”, which unconfirmed reports identified as “two ammunition depots belonging to Iranian militias”.

Marking the tenth anniversary of the Syrian war, the U.S., jointly with the E3 and Italy, issued a statement urging “the regime and its supporters [to] engage seriously in the political process” and reaffirming “the pursuit of a peaceful solution which protects the rights and future of all Syrians, based on UN Security Council Resolution 2254”. Relatedly, Iran UN envoy urged “the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces present in Syria without the permission of its Government, particularly U.S. forces”, adding: “We condemn the continued Israeli military attacks in Syria. They are unlawful, provocative, and destabilising. That regime must be compelled to put an end to such military adventurism”.

A U.S. diplomatic spokesperson reiterated that “we’ll use a variety of tools at our disposal to push for a sustainable end to the Syrian people’s suffering. We’ll continue to support the UN’s role in negotiating a political settlement in line with the relevant UN resolutions, including UNSCR 2254”. “If there is to be a sustainable end to this conflict, we recognise that the Syrian Government must change its behaviour”, the spokesperson asserted, adding: “Bashar al-Assad has not done anything that would restore his legitimacy… There is no question of the U.S. normalising relations with his government anytime soon. There is no question that we will stand, that we will seek to support the humanitarian plight of the Syrian people as we seek a political settlement”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes targeting “the vicinity of Damascus”.

The Pentagon confirmed that “at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces… conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilised by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria. These strikes were authorised in response to recent attacks against American and Coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel”. “This proportionate military response”, the statement added, “was conducted together with diplomatic measures, including consultation with Coalition partners”, while noting: “We have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq”. The Syrian government denounced the action as “a coward[ly] aggression”, while Iran’s foreign ministry referred to it as “illegal aggression” by the U.S.

Foreign minister Javad Zarif conferred with his Syrian counterpart on bilateral relations and the Syrian peace process.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz maintained that “we all need to make sure that if an agreement is signed with Iran, it will be one that ends its nuclear project, enables long-term effective oversight and inspection and puts a stop to Iranian entrenchment in Syria, Yemen and Iraq”. “In parallel”, Gantz added, “the IDF is currently working to build up our forces and is preparing itself for any scenario, including one in which we would need to take operative action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons”.

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif warned that “if Israel attacks Iran, this will amount to committing suicide”, while maintaining that “our goal in Syria is to combat terrorism, and Israel must realise that the policies of supporting terrorist groups will not go unanswered”. He further remarked that “the mistake of our neighbours is that they have allowed Israel to transfer the conflict to their lands, and it will rob them of security and will not defend them”.

Iran, Russia and Turkey convened a meeting of the “Astana Process” talks over Syria, jointly reaffirming “determination to combat terrorism in all forms and manifestations and stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as threatening the national security of neighbouring countries”. The three countries also “condemned continuing Israeli military attacks in Syria” and “reaffirmed their commitment to advance viable and lasting Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated political process in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254”. Relatedly, a senior Iranian diplomat met with the UN special envoy for Syria.

Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel that “if you attack our towns and civilians, we’ll attack yours. You are an army state, so there’s no distinction whatsoever between Israeli soldiers and civilians”. “We are not seeking a confrontation or war”, he added. “But should a confrontation take place, we will engage in it... even the game of ‘a few days of fighting’ will be a dangerous game for the Israelis and would lead them to undesirable consequences”. Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz subsequently remarked: “If we have to go to battle, Lebanon will tremble and Hizbollah will be fatally wounded”. “If there are days of fighting… they will be difficult for the Israeli home front, but it will be difficult and terrible first and foremost for our enemies”, he added. “This is especially true for Hizbollah and Hamas, which are building offensive capabilities from within civilian areas and committing war crimes”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had launched “waves of missiles… on a number of targets in the surroundings of Damascus”.

A senior Iranian diplomat asserted that Iran’s “presence in Syria is aimed at combating Daesh [ie, ISIS] and other terrorist groups, but if Israel wants to cross the ‘red lines’, it will face the toughest response, which will make it regret its actions”. “Iran’s presence in Syria will continue as long as the country’s government and people ask for it… those who have illegally come to Syria and occupied its territories are those who should leave the country”, he contended.

A senior Iranian diplomat visited Damascus and met with President Bashar al-Assad as well as the Syrian foreign minister. The Iranian official discussed with Assad “Iran’s viewpoints and stances regarding the Astana Process and the fifth meeting of Syria’s Constitutional Committee in Geneva”.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken remarked that “as a practical matter, the Golan is very important to Israel’s security. As long as Assad is in power in Syria, as long as Iran is present in Syria, militia groups backed by Iran, the Assad regime itself – all of these pose a significant security threat to Israel, and as a practical matter, the control of the Golan in that situation I think remains of real importance to Israel’s security”. He further noted that “legal questions are something else. And over time, if the situation were to change in Syria, that’s something we’d look at. But we are nowhere near as that”. Prime Minister Netanyahu subsequently said: “With an agreement, without an agreement, we are not coming down from the Golan. It will remain a sovereign part of the State of Israel”.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz asserted that “the IDF is operating and will keep operating on the border and beyond… we will not hesitate to uproot the Iranian entrenchment near our borders, and [Hizbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah knows well that his decision to build bunkers of ammunition and rockets and to strengthen Hizbollah’s capabilities is putting him in danger and putting the lives of Lebanese citizens in danger”. He also warned: “If a confrontation occurs on the northern front, the State of Lebanon will be the one that pays the heaviest price because [the ammunition and rockets] are in civilian areas”. 

The Israeli military reported that “anti-aircraft missiles were… fired toward an IDF UAV during routine activity over Lebanon. The aircraft was not hit and we continued our mission as planned”.

Syria state media reported that Israel had launched "air-to-surface and surface-to-surface missiles against some targets in the southern region".

A U.S. diplomatic spokesperson remarked that “we will renew U.S. efforts to promote a political settlement to end Syria’s civil war in close consultations with our allies, our partners and the UN. A political settlement must address the underlying causes that led to nearly a decade of civil war”. He further stated that “we will use the tools at our disposal, including economic pressure, to push for meaningful reform and accountability, and we’ll continue to support the UN’s role in negotiating a political settlement in line with UNSCR 2254. We will also restore U.S. leadership in providing humanitarian aid”.

Hizbollah reported downing an Israeli drone that had entered Lebanese airspace. The Israeli military confirmed that “during operational activities by IDF troops on the Lebanese border, an IDF drone fell in Lebanese territory”.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz remarked that “when I tell you I know there are homes in Lebanon that have guest rooms and missile rooms, it’s not just a slogan. It’s the reality on the ground. Eventually, we will have to attack missiles that are being stored within civilian populations. This is verified intelligence, and we saw the repercussions of such reckless practice by Hizbollah in the port of Beirut”.

Unconfirmed media reports indicated that suspected Israeli strikes had “targeted sites belonging to pro-Iranian militias” in north-eastern Syria.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes against Hama in north-western Syria, which it said caused eight casualties.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes in eastern Syria. Unconfirmed estimates from monitoring groups suggested that “at least 57 fighters were killed and dozens wounded” in the operation, which an unnamed U.S. official said had been “carried out with intelligence provided by the U.S.” An Israeli minister, without confirming Israeli involvement in the incident, underscored that “the Iranians want permission from Assad to act freely in Syria, to transform it into the model of Hizbollah… this is all to deter us from acting against its nuclear program”. The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack and urged the UN “Security Council… [to] take immediate and decisive measures to prevent the repetition of those Israeli terrorist aggressions”. The IRGC subsequently denied any casualties among Iranian and Afghan forces in the strike, claiming that Israelis “do not dare to attack the Iranian and resistance groups’ centers and positions in Syria”.

The GCC Supreme Council denounced “the Iranian existence in the Syrian territories and Iran’s interference in the Syrian affairs, demanding to expel all Iranian forces, Hizbollah militias and all sectarian militias that Iran recruited to work in Syria”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had “carried out a missile aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan on some targets in the southern region”.

An IRGC commander indicated that “what you see in missile power existing in Palestine’s Gaza and Lebanon is supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran… Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and other Islamic countries enjoy pinpointing missiles to confront the Zionist regime”. “Iran will support anyone and/or any country that confronts the Zionist regime [ie, Israel]”, he underscored.

Syrian state media reported Israeli air strikes “targeting one of the Syrian air defences units” near Damascus, killing one soldier, injuring three and causing material damage. Other accounts suggested that a weapons depot was struck near the border with Lebanon.

The Israeli military reported sighting “a number of suspects approaching the security fence between Israel and Lebanon. One suspect crossed a few metres into Israeli territory before retreating”. “Our troops stopped the suspects and confirmed that there were no further infiltrations”, the IDF added.

Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was cited as saying that “his group now has twice as many precision-guided missiles as it had a year ago”, and “Israel’s efforts to prevent it from acquiring them have failed”. He further emphasised that “the last few weeks of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump are critical and must be treated with care”, while pledging revenge over the January 2020 killing of Iranian IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani as well as the 20 July death of a Hizbollah fighter in a suspected Israeli strike in Syria.

An Israeli military spokesperson was cited as asserting that “Israel has no intention of stopping its efforts of preventing Iran from taking hold of areas in Syria and Lebanon”, adding that “the extended array of anti-aircraft systems deployed in Syria is no obstacle for the IDF”. He further noted that “Israel knows about the current efforts being undertaken by Hizbollah and will know how to neutralise any weapon or technology of the terrorist group – by military means or otherwise”.

Syrian state media reported that the country’s air defences intercepted “an Israeli missile aggression” targeting Masyaf in the Hama governate. Unconfirmed reports indicated that “the strikes hit positions of Iran-backed militias and killed at least six foreign paramilitaries”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasised that “we will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons”, adding: “We do not take lightly the threats made against us, nor do we shy away from them. Our policy is clear and consistent: whoever tries to harm us will suffer a crushing blow”. He also underscored that Israel would “continue to act against attempts by Iran and its proxies to establish military bases in Syria”.

The U.S. Treasury Department designated “two individuals, nine business entities and the Central Bank of Syria… pursuant to Syria sanctions authorities”. In parallel, the State Department sanctioned six Syrians, including President Bashar al-Assad’s wife and the commander of Syria’s military intelligence.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, asked “why do you send Afghans to the Syrian war”, maintained that “we do not send anyone to Syria… nobody goes to war on behalf of a foreign country to a third country. Our brothers would go to [Syria] voluntarily”. Zarif further noted that the majority of Afghan soldiers “have rejoined normal life… as now the war is over in Syria”, estimating fewer than 2,000 remained in Syria. “As they went to Syria to join the anti-Daesh forces”, he added, “we, without any hesitation, supported all resistance forces against terrorism and extremism”, confirming: “We support the families of those who get martyred”.

Iran’s UN envoy told the Security Council that “Iran is fully committed to contributing to a political solution of the Syrian crisis” and asserted: “Sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria must be fully respected by all, separatist agendas and illegitimate self-rule initiatives must be rejected and all foreign forces whose presence is not permitted by the Syrian Government, particularly the U.S. forces who are following a hidden agenda, must leave Syria”. He further denounced “Israel’s continued aggression against Syria”, adding that “such provocative military adventurism must stop”.

Israel’s military chief of staff reported that “the Iranian entrenchment in Syria is in a clear slowdown as a result of IDF activity, but we still have a long way to go to complete our goals in this arena”. He also indicated that Israel had “struck over 500 targets this year, on all fronts, in addition to multiple clandestine missions”, further noting “many offensive [cyber] operations”.

The U.S. designated Hassan Irloo, whom it described as “an official in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and the Iranian regime’s envoy to the Huthi rebels in Yemen” on counterterrorism authorities. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo argued that “by dispatching Irloo to Yemen, the IRGC-QF is signaling its intent to increase support to the Huthis and further complicate international efforts to reach a negotiated settlement to the conflict”. The U.S. also sanctioned “Al-Mustafa International University for facilitating IRGC-QF recruitment efforts and one individual”. According to the Treasury Department, the university “is used as a recruitment platform by the IRGC-QF for intelligence collection and operations, including recruitment for the IRGC-QF-led foreign militias fighting on behalf of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria”. The following day, Iran blacklisted the U.S. ambassador to Yemen for having “a leading role in organising, financing and arming, directing and carrying out actions of aggressor coalition and formation of human tragedy in Yemen”.

Syrian Foreign Minister Feisal Meqdad visited Tehran and met with Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and other senior officials. Discussing the trip, Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson maintained that “political solutions are the only possible option to end the current crisis” in Syria and affirmed that “Iran stands beside the Syrian people and the government in the fight against terrorism”. The following day, President Rouhani called Syrian a “strategic ally” and asserted that Israel “must be confronted until the liberation of the occupied territories, including Golan Heights”. Iran’s Defence Minister, Amir Hatami, also voiced “the determination of Iran to continue cooperation with Syria in the reconstruction phase of this country”.

Israel’s military chief of staff affirmed that “we will continue to operate forcefully as needed against the Iranian entrenchment in Syria and we will continue to maintain full preparedness against any expression of violence against us”.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN wrote to the Security Council asserting that “the Syrian regime continues to allow Iran and its proxies to use its territory, including military facilities and infrastructure, to entrench its presence in Syria and undermine efforts to maintain stability in the region… These activities constitute a serious and blatant violation of the Disengagement Agreement (1974); carry the potential for serious escalation in the region; and pose a risk not only to the local civilian population, but also to the UN personnel on the ground”. The envoy further called for “a total rollback of Iran and its proxies from Syria and the removal of Iranian military infrastructure from Syrian territory”. The following day, Iran’s UN envoy told the council that Iran “strongly condemn[ed] Israel’s continued aggression against Syria’s sovereignty”.

Syrian state media reported what it said were Israeli airstrikes “from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan towards south Damascus, causing only material damage”. 

The Israeli military announced that it had “exposed a number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) near the Israeli side of the Alpha Line on the southern Golan Heights”, adding that “we hold the Syria regime responsible for all events in Syria and will not tolerate any violation of our sovereignty”. The IDF subsequently announced that its aircraft had in response “attacked military targets belonging to the Iranian Quds Force and the Syrian army… in Syria. The attack damaged warehouses, command posts and military complexes, and batteries of surface-to-air missiles”; Syrian state media reported three fatalities and one injured soldier. An IDF spokesperson asserted that “We are attacking against the host, and the visitor who is really not wanted”, while Prime Minister Netanyahu pledged that “we will not allow Iranian military entrenchment against us in Syria and we will not tolerate any attempt to attack us from Syrian territory. Whoever tries to attack us or attacks us will bear the consequences”. On 22 November, Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson asserted that “Iran’s presence in Syria is advisory and if anyone distorts this presence, he/she will receive a crushing response”. He further rejected any Iranian fatalities in the Israeli strike.

Secretary Pompeo announced that “the Department of State and the Department of the Treasury sanctioned nineteen individuals and entities under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 and other sanctions authorities”. “The Assad regime has a choice: take irreversible steps toward a peaceful resolution of this decade-long conflict or face further crippling sanctions”, Pompeo asserted.

On the sideline of a military drill along Israel’s northern border, Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that “even during the coronavirus, our enemies are not stagnant and neither are we… I have been impressed by the vast improvement in the IDF’s offensive capabilities. Hizbollah and the state of Lebanon should take this into account. Whoever attacks us will encounter firepower and a steel fist that will destroy any enemy”.

Syrian state media reported that an Israeli strike had targeted “a school in Quneitra… causing only material damage”; other reports suggested that the facility was “a base for pro-Iran militias”. Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz subsequently remarked that “I won’t go into who fired what... We won’t allow terrorist operatives from Hizbollah or Iran to set up on the Golan Heights border and we will do what is necessary to drive them out of there”. 

The U.S. ambassador to the UN told the Security Council that “the Assad regime continues to give Iran and its military proxies safe harbour to extend their terror campaign and project its military power deeper into the Middle East, threatening the lives of the Syrian people, but also the security of Israel”. She further asserted that “Iranian forces must withdraw from Syria for there to be lasting peace. Only the UN-facilitated political solution outlined in Resolution 2254 will pave the way for Syria at peace with its people and the region”.

Israeli media citing the Israeli military reported that in late September, “Israeli soldiers destroyed two Syrian military posts in the demilitarised zone… in a warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose forces are encroaching on the Golan Heights”. An Israeli commander noted that “we are familiar with the cooperation between the Syrian army and Hizbollah, and any military entrenchment by the [Syrian army] has the potential to be a dual entrenchment…We won’t allow the south of Syria to become the south of Lebanon”.

President Bashar al-Assad maintained that “we can only have normal relations with Israel when we have our land back. It’s very simple. So, it is possible when Israel is ready and Israel is not ready. It has never been ready”. He also asserted that “we don’t have Iranian troops [in Syria]… They support Syria, they send their military experts, they work with our troops on the ground, the exist with the Syrian army”. “The Iranian issue is a pretext for occupying Syrian land and supporting terrorists”, Assad insisted.

The U.S. unveiled “seventeen Syria sanctions designations as part of the Administration’s continuing campaign to achieve the goals of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 and hold Assad and his enablers accountable for their crimes”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu affirmed that “if Iran wants to base itself in the north, we are ready to fight them… We will do everything in order to protect the State of Israel; we are not ruling out a preliminary strike”.

Media reports indicated that a suspected Israeli strike hit “ammunition depots and vehicles of the Iranian-backed militias” in Deir al-Zour province, killing ten.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had carried out airstrikes near Aleppo. “The army air defences confronted the aggression and shot down the majority of the missiles”, the report added.

The Lebanese army reported that it had downed an Israeli drone that had entered Lebanese airspace. The Israeli military stated that an IDF drone fell in Lebanese territory during “operational activity”, noting that “there is no risk of breach of information”.

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes “from the side of al-Tanf into the direction of T-4 airport” near Homs, causing material damage but no casualties. Media reports indicated that additional suspected Israeli strikes targeted sites in Deir al-Zour province, purportedly killing “sixteen Iraqi paramilitary fighters loyal to Iran”.

Syria state media reported that “air defences confronted… an Israeli missile aggression that targeted the southern region”. Two soldiers were reportedly killed and seven injured.

The Israeli army reported that “during operational activity in northern Israel last night, shots were fired from Lebanon toward IDF troops. We responded with fire, and our aircraft struck Hizbollah observation posts near the border”. Defence Minister Benny Gantz asserted that “we will not allow [Hizbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah to harm our soldiers or our country. We will respond forcefully to any incidents on our border”. Prime Minister Netanyahu said “Israel views the gunfire against our troops by Hizbollah with great severity”, and urged “Hizbollah not to test the strike force of Israel. Hizbollah is again putting Lebanon at risk because of its aggressiveness”.

On the sidelines of a Syrian Constitutional Committee meeting in Geneva, Iran, Russia and Turkey “reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic”. They further voiced “their opposition to the illegal seizure and transfer of oil revenues that should belong to the Syrian Arab Republic”, and “condemned the continuing Israel’s [sic] military attacks in Syria”.

Hizbollah reported that it had intercepted an Israeli UAV in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military stated that “an IDF drone fell in Lebanese territory. There is no fear of classified information leaking”.

Referring to the 20 July death of a Hizbollah fighter in a suspected Israeli strike in Syria, Hizbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah asserted that “Hizbollah will respond, but the response will be studied and measured, only [a] serious, calculated action would be taken, not media stunts”.

The U.S. Special Representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, reiterated that “our goals [in Syria] remain as they have been for years: the enduring defeat of ISIS and al-Qaeda, an irreversible political solution to the Syrian conflict in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and the removal of all Iranian-commanded forces. We are maintaining our maximum political and economic pressure for these goals… Our policy isn’t regime change; our policy is a change in behavior of whoever is governing in Damascus”. He further commented on a deal between Delta Crescent Energy, a U.S. company, and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and maintained that “we are not involved in the commercial decisions of our local partners… The U.S. government doesn’t own, control or manage oil resources in Syria”.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz contended that “while [Hizbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah is our biggest enemy to the north, he is the biggest problem for Lebanon… We are fighting enemies that keep weapons and operate in civilian surroundings. If we don’t have a choice but to fight, it will have dire consequences”. He also remarked that “Iran is interested in opening a terror franchise in Syria, and we must prevent the opening of this franchise as much as possible. We are operating in Syria and in other places around the region all the time and with all kinds of methods, and we will continue to do so”. The following day, Prime Minister Netanyahu told the French president that “in order to prevent disasters like the one that occurred at Beirut port, the explosives and missiles that Hizbollah has hidden must be removed from all concentrations of civilian population in Lebanon”. “Hizbollah is sorely mistaken if thinks it can solve the crisis in Lebanon by creating a crisis with Israel”, he added.

The Israeli military announced that it had “identified, monitored and downed a drone which infiltrated into northern Israel along the Blue Line”.

The Israeli army announced that it had “thwarted an attempt by four terrorists to place explosives near the security fence between Israel and Syria. Our troops and aircraft fired toward the squad and a hit was identified”. Israel’s top military official on 7 August argued that the “squad was sent by Iran, which was part of the process of establishing a radical axis in Syria”. The IDF confirmed that it had responded to the incident by targeting Syrian “observation posts, intelligence collection systems, anti-aircraft artillery and command and control systems”. Syrian state media reported “material losses” from the attack. Prime Minister Netanyahu later maintained that “we hit a cell and now we hit the dispatchers. We will do what is necessary in order to defend ourselves. I suggest to all of them, including Hizbollah, to consider this”.

Senior defence officials convened the annual U.S.-Israel Defense Policy Advisory Group (DPAG). The Israeli readout noted that “throughout the sessions, both sides discussed strategic and regional security challenges, with emphasis on Iran and its malign regional activity, as well as its nuclear aspirations”.

The U.S. designated fourteen Syrian individuals and entities pursuant to the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act (Caesar Act). The same day, the U.S. special envoy for Syria, commenting on Iran’s “military cooperation agreement” with Damascus, asserted that “such military aid to the Assad regime, violates the Caesar Act… The Iranian regime’s pledge to export military equipment to Syria is in blatant defiance of the UN arms embargo under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, and it’s a further demonstration of why we in the U.S. think it’s an imperative that the Security Council must act to extend the arms embargo on Iran” beyond October. He further maintained that “the Iraqi militant groups that are sponsored by the Iranian regime, have been dealing with the Syrian regime in a way that would clearly violate… the spirit of the Caesar Act as well as UN Security Council resolutions”.

At a session of the Supreme Defence Council, Lebanese President Michel Aoun denounced “the Israeli aggressions on south Lebanon yesterday… and considered what happened as a threat on stability in southern Lebanon”.  Meanwhile, the IDF deployed further military and intelligence support to Israel’s northern border. The same day, Prime Minister Netanyahu met with top military officials at IDF Northern Command headquarters, assessing that “everything happening now is the result of the effort by Iran and its Lebanese proxies to entrench militarily in our region. [Hizbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah is serving this Iranian interest at Lebanon’s expense”. “We will continue to take action to thwart Iran’s military entrenchment in our region”, he added. Relatedly, Defence Minister Benny Gantz remarked that “I suggest that the countries of the region – near and far, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and anyone involved in terrorism – remember that the State of Israel has infinite capacity and we know how to use it”.

The Israeli army announced that it had “thwarted an infiltration attempt by a Hizbollah terror squad in northern Israel”. Addressing the Knesset, Prime Minister Netanyahu affirmed that Israel would “not allow Iran to entrench militarily on our border with Syria”, underscored that “Lebanon and Hizbollah will bear responsibility for any attack against us emanating from Lebanese territory” and indicated that “We are active in all arenas for the security of Israel – both close to our borders and far from them”. Hizbollah subsequently issued a statement maintaining it “did not engage in any clash, nor did it open fire during today’s incident… The scared and tense enemy unilaterally opened fire”. It further pledged an “inevitable” response to the 20 July death of a Hizbollah fighter in Syria and insisted that “today’s Israeli bombardment… will not remain unanswered”. Later in the day, Netanyahu asserted: “[Hizbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah is embroiling Lebanon because of Iran… we view the attempt to infiltrate our territory with great severity”. “Hizbollah needs to understand that it is playing with fire. Any attack against us will be met with great strength”, he added.

The Israeli army reported that “during an Israel Defense Forces operation on the Lebanese border, an IDF drone fell in Lebanese territory”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu told his cabinet that “we are acting according to our consistent policy of not allowing Iran to entrench militarily on our northern border. Lebanon and Syria bear the responsibility for any attack against Israel emanating from their territories”. The same day, Defence Minister Benny Gantz visited the northern border and listed “removing Iranian entrenchment in Syria, blocking the transfer of advanced [weapons] and preventing the development of precision [guided missiles] anywhere in the region – in Syria or in Lebanon” as Israel’s security interests. “We don’t want any unnecessary escalations, but anyone who tests us will be met by a very high capability to take action, and I hope we won’t need to use it”, he added, while further anticipating that “there can be [security] events on the border. We are prepared for all possibilities”.

The U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, visited Israel and met with senior officials. Israel’s top military official emphasised that “the Israel Defense Forces and the U.S. Armed Forces share a mutual interest to prevent Iran and its proxies from jeopardising the stability of the region”, and underscored that Israel “will act to the extent necessary to remove any threat that endangers the sovereignty of Israel or its citizens”. Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz stated that “we have no interest in escalation, but we will do everything necessary to protect Israeli citizens, by all means, and under all conditions. I do not suggest that our enemies test us”.

The Israeli army confirmed that “explosions were heard adjacent to the security fence from the Syrian side of Israel’s northern border. Damage to a civilian building and an Israeli vehicle was likely caused by fragments”. It subsequently also raised “readiness to defend Israel’s northern border from all enemy threats with changes to troop deployment and enhanced field intelligence activity in the area”, asserting: “we hold the Lebanese government responsible for all actions emanating from Lebanon”. Later on, the IDF announced that “earlier today, munitions were fired from Syria toward Israel. In response, our aircraft struck military targets in southern Syria belonging to the Syrian Armed Forces”, describing these as “SAF observation posts and intelligence collection systems located in SAF bases”; Syria media reported two casualties. “We hold the Syrian regime responsible and will respond to any violation of Israeli sovereignty”, the IDF warned.

The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, announced the arrest of ten Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine members who allegedly were “involved in planning attacks against Israeli targets”. The agency reported that interrogation of one of the suspects indicated that “the organisation conducted joint exercises with officials in Iran, as well as Hizbollah and the Syrian military, and they were also sources of funding for the organisation’s activities”.

Media reports indicated that a suspected Israeli strike “hit weapons depots and military positions belonging to Syrian regime forces and Iran-backed militia fighters south of Damascus”. Syrian state media reported injuries to “at least seven Syrian troops”, while Hizbollah confirmed one fatality from its ranks. On 23 July, the Israeli army announced that “in accordance with a recently-concluded situational assessment, we have decided to reinforce the Northern Command with select infantry forces”. Responding to suggestions that Israel may have sent a message to Hizbollah after the incident, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said: “we acted against the entrenchment of Iran in Syria. If someone involved in Iran’s activities in Syria – which we will continue to act against – this is liable to happen. We take that into account”.

Iran’s military chief of staff, Mohammad Baqeri, met with the Syrian Minister of Defence in Damascus and inked “a comprehensive military cooperation agreement”. Baqeri reportedly expressed Tehran’s commitment to “strengthen Syria’s air defence systems in line with the reinvigoration of military cooperation between the two countries”, and said the deal “will increase our determination for joint cooperation to confront the U.S. pressures”. The following day, Baqeri met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who remarked that “this agreement reflects the strategic level of relations between Iran and Syria”. A U.S. military spokesperson subsequently asserted that “the mission of U.S. forces in Syria today remains the same as it was when they first began operations in 2014… U.S. service members will continue to execute the Defeat ISIS mission in Syria, working in conjunction with vetted local forces in northeast Syria and around Al-Tanf Garrison”.

Referring to a series of blasts in Iran including the 2 July incident at the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) that Iranian officials acknowledged caused “significant damage”, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz indicated that “everyone can be suspicious of us all the time… But not every event that happens in Iran is connected to us”. He further asserted that “a nuclear Iran is a threat to the world and the region, as well as a threat to Israel. And we will do everything to prevent that from happening. And we will do everything possible to prevent Iran from spreading terror and weapons, but I do not refer to any individual event”. Relatedly, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi maintained that “we have a long-term policy… not to allow Iran to have nuclear abilities. This regime with those abilities is an existential threat to Israel, and Israel cannot allow it to establish itself on our northern border”. “We take actions that are better left unsaid”, Ashkenazi asserted.

Meeting with Russian and Turkish counterparts under the “Astana Process” talks over Syria, President Rouhani asserted that U.S. sanctions against Syria were “economic terrorism” and pledged that Iran “will continue to support the people and the legitimate government of Syria with greater power. He went on to argue that “the illegitimate presence of the occupying forces of the U.S. regime on Syrian soil has become a destabilising factor for Syria and the entire region, and is plundering natural resources of the country by increasing its illegal military bases in Syria's oil-rich in the eastern Euphrates”. Rouhani further condemned “the increasing scope of the Zionist Regime's [ie, Israel’s] aggression on Syrian soil, and maintained that Israel’s “actions along with the occupation of the Golan Heights have been a factor in destabilising and threatening the peace and security of the region, and the occupying regime will face its consequences”. The meeting concluded with a joint statement emphasising that “there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that it could only be resolved through the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated political process in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254”. It further recognised “Israeli military attacks in Syria as destabilising and violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this country and intensifying the tension in the region”.

In a joint press conference with the U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, Prime Minister Netanyahu contended that Iran “continues its secret program to develop nuclear weapons. It continues its secret program to develop the means to delivering nuclear weapons”. He also affirmed that “we take repeated and forceful military action against Iran and its proxies in Syria and elsewhere if necessary… Israel will continue to take these actions”. Addressing Hook, Netanyahu said: “it is time to implement now snapback sanctions. I don't think we can afford to wait. We should not wait for Iran to start its breakout to a nuclear weapon because when that happens it will be too late for sanctions”. Hook also met with Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi during his visit to Jerusalem; Ashkenazi reiterated “concerns about Iran’s continued breach of the [UN] arms embargo” and underscored that “Iran continues to support and arm its proxies in the region, chief among them Hizbollah and Hamas”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu opined that “three main challenges are before us, and we are taking action without respite against them: First, we are taking constant action against the efforts of Iran and its proxies to entrench militarily in Syria. The Iranian military must leave Syria. Second, we are taking action against the efforts of our enemies to develop precision missiles in Syria, Lebanon and other areas. Third, and most importantly, we will not allow Iran to attain nuclear weapons”. “Iran is continuing to lie to the international community in its effort to achieve a bomb”, Netanyahu argued. “I have been claiming this for years and today the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, understands this”. He further affirmed that “we regard with utmost seriousness the threats of destruction against Israel by Iranian and pro-Iranian elements… Whoever tries to attack us places himself in very great danger”.

Syrian state media reported that “hostile air targets coming from east and northeast of Palmyra launched a number of missiles on some military sites” in eastern and southern Syria, causing two fatalities and four injuries. Hours later there were further reports that “the Israeli enemy launched a new aggression through which it targeted a number of the Syrian military sites” near Hama.

Israel’s top military official assessed that “Iran has become the most dangerous country in the Middle East… It has made considerable progress in its nuclear program, but the nuclear [threat] is no longer the only threat”. “Iran also holds conventional weapons”, he added. “It is supporting and financing our enemies in the first circle and chiefly Hizbollah, it influences and supports Hamas and the Islamic Jihad and it is behind attempts at terror actions against Israel in a variety of dimensions and arenas, near and far”.

The sanctions provisions of U.S. “Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019” (the Caesar Act) went into effect. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that “the Treasury Department and State Department are releasing 39 designations under the Caesar Act and Executive Order 13894 as the beginning of what will be a sustained campaign of economic and political pressure to deny the Assad regime revenue and support it uses to wage war and commit mass atrocities against the Syrian people”. Pompeo further asserted that “we anticipate many more sanctions and we will not stop until Assad and his regime stop their needless, brutal war against the Syrian people and the Syrian government agrees to a political solution to the conflict as called for by UNSCR 2254”. 

Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that “the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) determined that Iran had refused to allow IAEA inspectors to clandestine sites at which Iran had carried out secret military nuclear activity. Iran has systematically violated its commitments by hiding sites and enriching fissionable material, and has committed other violations”. “The reality certainly requires it in the light of these revelations, for the international community to join the U.S. and reimpose paralysing sanctions on Iran”, he added. Netanyahu went on to assert that “the coronavirus has not lessened by one iota our determination to act against Iran’s aggression… Israel will not allow Iran to achieve nuclear weapons and will continue to act methodically against Iran’s attempts to militarily entrench on our borders”.

Syrian state media reported that “Israeli warplanes targeted, from over the Lebanese airspace, one of the military sites… [near] Misyaf, and the army air defences immediately confronted the hostile missiles and shot down a number of them”. According to the report, the attack “caused material damage without human causalities”.

Media reports suggested that there had been an air strike against “three military vehicles belonging to Iran-backed paramilitary fighters near the Iraqi border”. There were separate reports of strikes targeting “Iran-backed militias in northern Syria”.

Hizbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah argued that “Israel is aware that any attack on Lebanon will not pass without a response”, adding that “the latest Israeli attack on a car that had members of Hizbollah in it in the Syrian territories without causing casualties was not an Israeli error… Israel intended not to hurt the men in that car because it was aware that the equation today is that there would be a response on any assassination”. He further noted that “America wants to humiliate Lebanon and impose its conditions on it”… the solution for the economic crisis is to abandon U.S. satisfaction and head east [ie, China]”. Nasrallah also “ruled out [the possibility of] any war between the U.S. and Iran or between Israel and Lebanon unless the U.S. or Israel decide to make a stupid act”.

Hizbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah argued that “Israel is aware that any attack on Lebanon will not pass without a response”, adding that “the latest Israeli attack on a car that had members of Hizbollah in it in the Syrian territories without causing casualties was not an Israeli error… Israel intended not to hurt the men in that car because it was aware that the equation today is that there would be a response on any assassination”. He further noted that “America wants to humiliate Lebanon and impose its conditions on it”… the solution for the economic crisis is to abandon U.S. satisfaction and head east [ie, China]”. Nasrallah also “ruled out [the possibility of] any war between the U.S. and Iran or between Israel and Lebanon unless the U.S. or Israel decide to make a stupid act”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu told the cabinet that “the security challenges have not stopped for a moment, neither have the threats. You certainly heard the ruler of Iran, Khamenei, threatening our destruction. Whoever threatens us with destruction will certainly not succeed, but places himself in great danger”. “Our policy is to oppose Iranian aggression in every place and to oppose Iran’s attempts to entrench in Syria”, Netanyahu added. “We are active constantly and… oppose Iran’s attempt to place or develop in Syria weapons to serve its proxies and forces that could endanger the State of Israel”. In related remarks, Defence Minister Benny Gantz indicated that “we are still keeping a close watch on the military fronts in Lebanon and Syria. The security problems that could happen in the north have not passed… We have to stretch our hand out to peace on every front – and have the military strength that can ensure we will reach peace and preserve it”.

The U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, indicated that “we have seen some tactical displacement of Iranian troops. We see both Russia and Syria recognising the incentives for Iranian troops and forces under Iranian command and control to leave Syria… That has been a condition of American and the international community providing reconstruction assistance”. Hook added that Iran “is an obstacle… to moving along toward a post-conflict political process. So we think that there are increasing incentives for Iran to leave Syria”. Relatedly, the Israeli military reported “a backward movement [of Iranian/Iranian-backed forces] from various locations to other locations that are further away and in reduced numbers”, assessing the shift to be “not massive, not underwhelming” yet “undeniable”.

Israel’s top military official asserted that “we will continue to use various military tools and specialised fighting techniques to harm the enemy”, adding that “dozens of attacks that were carried out, including recently, have already proven the superiority of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) intelligence and firepower”. “When the Israeli home front is threatened by thousands of missiles and rockets, we will not hesitate to attack forcefully in order to thwart those threats”, he added.

Outgoing Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett confirmed that “we have intensified the scope of the attacks against Iranian forces in Syria. We’ve made it clear by our actions that there’s no place protected from us. There’s no safe place for those who try to attack the State of Israel”. He further argued that “Iran has in fact started a process of withdrawing from Syria, but we’ve got to finish the job… We have to increase the diplomatic, economic, military and technological pressure, as well as operate in other realms”. The same day, Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson asserted that “we are in Syria to help them fight terrorism… our attendance in Syria does not concern the U.S. and the Zionist regime [ie, Israel] at all”.

Syrian state media reported an explosion in Aleppo. Later in the day, airstrikes were reported near the Iraq-Syria border.

Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah contended that the “Israeli defence minister… is talking about fake victories in Syria. The Israelis lose the war in Syria, and they have been targeting all what is related to missiles manufacturing in Syria, because they believe that missiles pose a high risk to Israel”. Nasrallah also argued that Israel had “set a fake goal for Syria” in seeking an Iranian withdrawal, on the grounds that “there have been no Iranian troops in Syria but rather there have been military advisers who train forces and coordinate Tehran’s support to Damascus”.

A senior U.S. diplomat assessed that “the Iranian threat… is actually severe and getting worse on some fronts, and the Iranians continue to make progress on the nuclear front, etc. So this is a growing concern of ours”. Asked about “incidents lately that kind of increase that urgency about the Iranian threat”, the official replied: “the most obvious thing is that you see things oftentimes blowing up in Syria… what appears to be increased Israeli operational tempo and broadening its target set”. The official went on to say that “the Iranians are still certainly provocative. Maybe in some places slow down operational tempo a little bit… There are [COVID-19] curfews so it is hard for their proxy militias to go out at night and try and kill Americans. But they still go, and the threat is still there, and they’re still planning and they’re still shooting. Their allies in Iraq continue to shoot rockets at U.S. facilities”.

The U.S. convened the UN “Security Council to meet under its 2231 Format to discuss Iran’s April 22 satellite launch”, which it called “yet another example of Iran’s relentless defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231”. According to the U.S. mission, its representatives “highlighted Iran’s ongoing violation of the UN arms embargo in Resolution 2231, reminding Council members that Iran continues to funnel weapons to proxy forces and terrorist groups in places like Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Bahrain”. The U.S. also argued that “Iran’s continued violations of the Security Council’s arms embargo demands greater pressure from the Security Council, not less, and the U.S. will work tirelessly with a coalition of concerned nations to ensure the embargo is extended”.

A senior U.S. diplomat indicated that “Iran has been persistent in its efforts to establish this beachhead basically on Israel’s border and to bring in advanced weaponry and assets targeting Israel and moving equipment… through Syria to Hizbollah with this sort of land bridge. We see repeatedly, oftentimes with no claims of responsibility, that these assets are being hit with great regularity, just pounded, and it would make sense at a certain point that Iran would want to cut its losses and downsize its presence there just because it’s increasingly costly to them in terms of life and property”. The official added that the Iranians “would be well advised to start using some of this investment in this military infrastructure in Syria and with Hizbollah to start spending some of that money on their own people who are suffering terribly from COVID”.

The U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement, James Jeffrey, confirmed that “we see some Iranian movement around Syria pulling back from areas where the Israelis have struck them. We’ve also seen a withdrawal of Iranian-backed militias – some Hizbollah, some from other countries. But this may be chalked up to a relative lull in the fighting”. He further noted that “what we have not seen… is any strategic Iranian commitment not to try to use Syria both as a second launching pad for long-range weapons against Israel and as a conduit – the famous Shiite Crescent – on to provide Hizbollah more lethal and more modern precision-guided missiles, again, to threaten Israel. That would be the big change”. Jeffrey added that “our policy right now is to restore the situation in 2011 before the conflict began, and that would eventually lead to all of the other military forces that have entered leaving. Ones were most interested in, of course, are the Iranians and the Iranian-commanded militias”.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicated that “we have been very clear to the Assad regime all along, and to the Russians in Syria: the Iranians need to leave. They need to leave not only the south west corner that has a direct and real impact on Israel and risks to the Golan, but more broadly throughout the country”. He further argued that “the very terror regime that we talk about in the Islamic Republic of Iran has got a campaign that supports what Assad has done that has brutalised and destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands, caused six or seven million people to have to flee Syria. The Iranian regime is responsible for that in the same way that the Syrian regime is”.

Amidst a series of suspected Israeli airstrikes in Syria, Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett asserted that “we are determined, more determined [than Iran], and I can tell you why — for Iran, Syria is an adventure happening 1,000km away from home. For us, it’s our lives”. He further warned that “Iranian soldiers who come to Syria and operate there… are putting their lives at risk, they are paying that price and will continue to do so. We will not give up and we will not allow the establishment of an Iranian forward operating base in Syria”. In related comments, an unnamed Israeli defence official assessed that “Syria is paying a growing price for the Iranian presence in its territory, for a war that isn’t [Syria’s]. Iran has turned from an asset to Syria into a burden”.

Syrian state media reported that the “air defences confronted… a missile aggression” near Aleppo that “targeted some military depots”. There was also reports of a separate strike in Deir al-Zour province.

Asked about reported Israeli strikes in Syria, the U.S. Special Representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, noted that “the U.S. supports Israel’s efforts to secure its self-defence. Israel is facing an existential threat from Iran, as they have said a thousand times that their mission is to destroy Israel. The Iranians are in Syria in large numbers, passing on long-range weapon systems to Hizbollah that threaten Israel”. “We give the support that is needed for effective Israeli actions to protect itself, and in protecting itself it is protecting all neighbors of Assad: Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon”, he added. Jeffry also maintained that “our policy is that all Iranian-commanded forces have to leave Syria, along with frankly all other military forces that entered after 2011. This includes the U.S., if all of the reports are correct about the Israeli Air Force that would include the Israelis, and it would include the Turks… The Russians entered before 2011, therefore they are exempt”.

Syrian state media reported that Israeli helicopters “launched an aggression… with a number of missiles, from over the occupied Syrian Golan, on sites in the southern region”. Later in the day, a Syrian “military source” was quoted as saying that “successive explosions were heard at a military position in the city of Homs”, attributed “to human error during the transportation of some ammunition”.

Syrian state media reported that the “air defences… repelled an Israeli missile aggression from over Lebanese airspace, towards Syrian territory”, causing three civilian deaths and three injuries in two sites near Damascus. The strike came one day after Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett indicated: “keep your ears open. We’ve gone from a policy of blocking [Iran] to pushing it out” from Syria. Bennett on 28 April reiterated that “we have moved from blocking Iran’s entrenchment in Syria to forcing it out of there, and we will not stop… we will continue to take the fight to the enemy’s territory”.

Syrian state media reported that “army air defences confronted an Israeli missile aggression over Palmyra, east of Homs, and shot down a number of the hostile missiles”.

Citing a Hizbollah official, media reports indicated that “two missiles from an Israeli drone targeted a four-wheel-drive vehicle carrying two members of Lebanon’s Hizbollah… near the Syria-Lebanon border, but neither person was hurt”.

The Israeli military released footage of what it said was a senior Syrian commander “visiting Hizbollah positions in Syria”, adding: “our message: we see you. Consider this a warning. We won’t allow Hizbollah to entrench itself militarily in Syria”.  

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo argued that “Hizbollah has fewer dollars today to engage in nefarious activity than they did when President Trump took office, and they will continue to have fewer dollars tomorrow until they fundamentally get the Iranian regime to change its model”. He further asserted that Iran used its resources “to take weaponry into Iraq, to underwrite Hizbollah and Lebanon and threaten Israel, all of the things that the Iranians have engaged in for so long, even in this [COVID-19] crisis the Iranian regime hasn’t ceased doing, that’s most unfortunate”. Pompeo added: “we hope that the people of Iran one day will get a regime with a change in outlook, a change which says, ‘no, we want to respect what the Iranian people truly want’”.

President Rivlin stressed that “while Iran is receiving the overseas humanitarian aid it needs from some members of the international community, it continues to sow terrorism in Lebanon and Syria and to accelerate its nuclear program. Israel will not permit this reality, even in the current circumstances”.

Syrian state media reported that “Israeli warplanes launched a number of missiles, from over Lebanon, into the direction of eastern Homs… Army air defences intercepted the hostile missiles and shot down a number of them”.

The U.S. designated Syrian “Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Ali Abdullah Ayoub for his deliberate actions since December 2019 to prevent a ceasefire from taking hold in northern Syria”. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remarked that “we stand on the side of the Syrian people. While the Assad regime and its Iranian and Russian enablers continue their illusory quest for a military solution in Syria, we are committed to a peaceful political solution in line with UNSCR 2254”. “We call on all parties to cease their destabilising activities, agree to a nationwide ceasefire and constructively participate in the political process”, Pompeo added. “If they do not, the alternative is clear: they will face increasing economic pressure and diplomatic isolation”.

An Israeli military spokesperson assessed that “there are enemy countries that have been hit much stronger than us by corona [ie, COVID-19] and therefore their activities have decreased”.

Testifying before the House Armed Service Committee, CENTCOM commander Kenneth McKenzie affirmed that “most of the U.S. intelligence community predicts that without sustained pressure levied against it, ISIS has the potential to reconstitute in Iraq and Syria in short order, beyond the current capabilities of the U.S. to neutralise it without a capable, partnered ground force”. On Syria, he recommended that “moving forward, we must continue our support to NATO ally Turkey and our D-ISIS partner force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), while maintaining deconfliction with Russia, which, along with the Assad regime, aggressively challenges the Coalition mission in various ways”. McKenzie further reiterated that “we remain in Iraq at the request of the Government of Iraq for one reason: the defeat of ISIS”, adding that “hindering our ability to work with the Iraqi Security Forces toward this objective [of defeating ISIS] are rogue elements of the Popular Mobilisation Forces more beholden to Iran’s regime than the government of Iraq. Some of these militias smuggle advanced weapons into Iraq from Iran, not to defend the country from ISIS, but to undermine existing security and threaten U.S. and Coalition forces”. McKenzie also indicated that “we are in the process of bringing air defence systems, ballistic missile defence systems into Iraq – particularly to protect ourselves against another potential Iranian attack”.

Iranian media reported the death of a senior IRGC member south of Damascus.

Syrian state media reported that “the army air defences observed an Israeli warplane… launching, from over the Lebanese airspaces, a number of missiles towards the central region”. According to the report, “the air defences confronted the hostile missiles successfully”.

The U.S. “announced $108 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of Syria in response to the ongoing crisis caused by Assad regime, Russian, and Iranian forces”. “We join the UN in calling for an immediate ceasefire and halt to the brutal violence in northwest Syria by Assad regime, Russian and Iranian forces”, said the State Department, while expressing U.S. “commitment to a credible and inclusive UN-facilitated political solution pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 2254”.

The Israeli military reported that it had “identified an attempted sniper attack from Syria toward the Golan Heights in northern Israel. In response, our soldiers just targeted the vehicle involved in the attempted attack”.

In an interview, Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett asserted that “I have placed a goal that within twelve months Iran will leave Syria... Iran has nothing to look for in Syria. They aren't neighbours, they have no reason to settle next to Israel and we will remove Iran from Syria in the near future”. Bennett also indicated that “if in the past the majority of the targets were against lone convoys that entered Syria from Iran via Iraq and then to the Golan Heights or Lebanon, the targets are now completely different”. 

Syrian state media reported one fatality “in an Israeli drone attack” in Quneitra province. Later in the day, Syrian state media reported that “Israeli helicopters launched [a] rocket attack... against the Syrian army posts in Quneitra”, wounding three. 

The Israeli military announced it had “struck Islamic Jihad terror targets in both Syria and Gaza in response to rockets fired at Israeli civilians”; Islamic Jihad confirmed two fatalities. Syrian state media reported that “army air defences intercepted… Israeli missiles that targeted the surroundings of Damascus”.

Israeli Minister of Defence Naftali Bennett indicated that “we are seeing the initial indications of Iran weakening and considering a new tack in Syria”. He added that “[Iranians] are sending forces in order to establish a presence there to exhaust us, but we are turning this disadvantage into an advantage. We have intelligence and operational superiority, and we are telling the Iranians clearly: Get out of Syria… we are moving from a defensive position to an offensive position – to weaken, to exhaust, to tire and wear out the head of the octopus [ie, Iran] in order to weaken its arms”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu contended that “the greatest threat to the security of the countries of the Middle East and countries in the world, is the attempt by Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons. Israel will never let Iran acquire nuclear weapons”. Netanyahu went on to say that “we do not let Iran entrench itself militarily right in our backyard, in Syria. We resist that mightily. We take every action that is necessary to prevent that. And I believe we're succeeding. We have taken up arms against a foe that openly calls for Israel's liquidation. Obviously, we're not going to wait”.

Syrian state media reported that “the army observed hostile missiles coming from over the occupied Syrian Golan… the army air defences intercepted and downed a number of them before they reach[ed] their targets”. The following day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked: “I don’t [know] what happened last night… maybe it was the Belgian air force”.

Responding to statements by senior Israeli officials about countering Iran in Syria, Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson asserted that “Iran will not compromise and hesitate for a moment to defend its presence in Syria and also defend its national security and regional interests. Consequently, Iran will give a decisive and crushing response to any aggression or stupid act by the Zionist regime [ie, Israel]”.

Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett assessed that “for years on end, we have fought against the Iranian tentacles in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip, but we have not focused enough on weakening Iran itself. Now we are changing the paradigm, we are now engaged in a continued effort to weaken the Iranian octopus through economic, diplomatic and intelligence measures, as well as with military means and various other approaches”. Bennett further addressed Iran and stated: “you have no business being in Syria, and so long as you continue to build terrorist bases there, we will continue to hurt you even further”.

Referring to Iran’s failed attempt to launch a satellite earlier in the day, Prime Minister Netanyahu said: “I’ll tell you what else they’re failing at: in transferring weapons to Syria and Lebanon, because we are operating there all the time, including at this time”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with the UN Special Envoy for Syria, describing a “political solution as the only way out of the crisis” and underscoring “Tehran's full preparedness for any cooperation within the framework of respecting the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria”.

Israel Defence Minister Naftali Bennett stated that “we are in a process of switching to hurting the head of the octopus – Iran’s power”. “I am not necessarily talking about a full-blown war with Iran tomorrow; it is more similar to the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the U.S., with the two regional powers Israel and Iran”. Bennett also posited that “we have intelligence superiority and aerial superiority” in Syria, and warned that “it is a bad place for Iran to be. Anything they bring there we will immediately strike... we will do more and more so that Syria becomes their Vietnam”. Bennett also indicated that in consultations with his U.S. counterpart “we sorted out the coordination exactly – they’re taking Iraq, and we’re taking Syria”. “We have significantly intensified, including this week, with very strong attacks against Iran, against the Iranian presence, against Iranian bases, against Iranian surface-to-air missiles, against Iranian fighters… in Syria”, he added. “It’s like a contiguous puzzle – Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon. Imagine a water pipe, only the water is rockets and terrorism. If you take out a piece of the pipe, then you’ve broken up the contiguity and it dries up”.

Syrian state media reported that the country’s “air defences… responded to an Israeli missile attack that targeted the vicinity of Damascus and the southern region, shooting down most of the missiles before reaching their targets”. A Russian military spokesperson subsequently argued that “the Israeli General Staff’s military air operations using passenger jets for cover or [for] blocking of retaliatory fire by Syria missile systems is becoming a typical trait of the Israel Air Force”, and indicated that an “Airbus-320 was escorted out of the danger zone”. Russia’s ambassador to Syria noted that “the Israeli raids are, of course, provocative and very dangerous for the situation in Syria... in addition to the clear violation of Syrian sovereignty and the real threat to the lives of innocent people, all of this increases the possibility of conflict over Syria and runs counter to efforts to achieve stability and a political settlement”.

The U.S. Special Representative for Syria, James Jeffery, affirmed that “we’re not asking for regime change [in Syria] per se”, and indicated that “we believe that Russia could adopt different policies that would meet our minimum requirements… that is, the execution of UN Resolution 2254; joint cooperation to get terrorists, beginning with Daesh [ie, ISIS], enduringly defeated in Syria; and thirdly, Iranian-commanded forces out”.  Jeffrey went on to assert that “if there’s a resolution to the [Syrian] civil conflict, then there’s no need for an – Iranian-commanded militias and the thousands or tens of thousands who will be floating around Syria. In particular, with long-range missile systems that you don’t use against the opposition, you use against countries like Israel or countries like Saudi Arabia, or Jordan”. “So those are our requirements; they’re not unreasonable. They don’t require the overthrow of Assad. They require a change in that government’s behaviour”, Jeffrey said.

In a meeting with the Syrian prime minister, Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani emphasised that “as long as terrorist forces of the U.S. stay in the west Asia region, this region will experience no stability, peace or sustainable security… expulsion of the wicked U.S. is possible through unity of regional nations and governments”.

The head of the IRGC's Qods force, Qasem Soleimani, was killed in a U.S. strike in Baghdad. The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that "at the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani”, adding that "Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region". Iran confirmed Soleimani’s death, and the IRGC said that four other Qods force members along with five Iraqis, notably including a senior Hashd official, were also killed in the operation. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei subsequently asserted that "enemies should bear in mind that the Islamic Republic of Iran will take tough revenge on criminals over the martyrdom of General Soleimani".

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with the Russian president about “Iran and the situation in Syria”, according to Netanyahu’s office.

Israel’s military chief of staff assessed that “there is a possibility that we will face a limited confrontation with Iran and we are preparing for it”. He went on to assert that “we will not allow Iran to entrench itself in Syria, or in Iraq… Iraq is undergoing a civil war, when the Qods force is operating there on a daily basis, when the country itself has turned into an ungoverned area. Advanced weapons are being smuggled by the Qods force in Iraq on a monthly basis and we can’t allow that”.

Syrian state media reported that “army air defences intercepted hostile missiles coming from the occupied lands [ie, Israel]… one of the hostile targets fell in Aqraba region in Damascus countryside”. The Lebanese defence minister subsequently asserted that “this blatant attack is condemned, and I call on the international community to intervene to prevent these repeated attacks on Lebanon’s sovereignty”. A senior advisor to Iran’s supreme leader warned that “Israeli airstrikes against Syria will not go unanswered, and Tel Aviv will regret having committed these crimes… Sooner or later, Israel will receive a response for its aerial attacks on and crimes in Syria”.

President Trump signed the “Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019” (the Caesar Act). In a statement, Secretary of State Pompeo indicated that the act “provides the U.S. tools to help end the horrific and ongoing conflict in Syria by promoting accountability for the Assad regime. It also holds accountable those responsible for the widespread death of civilians and for numerous atrocities including the use of chemical weapons and other barbaric weapons”. Pompeo added that “the law provides for sanctions and travel restrictions on those who provide support to members of the Assad regime, in addition to Syrian and international enablers who have been responsible for, or complicit in serious human rights abuses in Syria”.

Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett contended that “the ayatollahs in Iran send us their tentacles in an effort to terrorise the citizens of Israel. The more Iran tries to establish itself on Syrian soil, the deeper it will sink in the Syrian sands. Syria is increasingly becoming Iran's Vietnam”. He went on to assert that “we will increase the pressure, Iran has nothing to look for on Syrian soil. We will continue to protect the country's borders”.

Israel’s military chief of staff noted that “the IDF is fighting and operating daily and nightly on numerous fronts, which have grown in number recently, and the number of enemies is greater than the number of fronts. In Syria, for example, the [Iranian] Qods force and Hizbollah are operating, and in Lebanon, Iran's terrorist tentacles are solidifying their grip. He added that “any organisation, and especially the IDF, cannot be satisfied with maintaining and preserving the status quo. The IDF must change and innovate to beat its enemies to the punch and develop a significant advantage”.

Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah asserted that “the Americans assumed that the Lebanese protests are against Hizbollah and Iran, knowing that they did not propose anything like that. Their slogans were economic and righteous ones”. He added that “Hizbollah is a great threat. A threat on U.S. agendas and interests not on the Lebanese interests”. Nasrallah further maintained that “some think that if Iran was attacked it will refer to its allies to defend it, and let me correct this misconception and assure that Iran will defend itself by itself, it will not stay silent and will not accept to be defended by anyone… If its allies wanted to take action, that would be their own decision”. Prime Minister Netanyahu subsequently said: “I would like to make it clear that if Nasrallah dares to attack Israel, the organisation and the Lebanese state that enable aggression from its territory against us will pay a very heavy price”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated that “we are leading a relentless effort for sanctions on Iran, pressure on Iran, opposition to Iran and active and military opposition to its attempts to entrench on our border”.

Israel’s defence minister remarked that “we are telling the Iranians: Syria will become your Vietnam… If you don’t leave, you will become entrenched and you will bleed because we will work without hesitation to remove aggressive forces from Syria”. In related remarks, the Israeli foreign minister asserted that “dialogue with Bashar Assad cannot be resumed as long as Syria allows Iran to use its territory against Israel and moderate Arab states”.

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, indicated that “we will not allow Iran to produce or obtain nuclear weapons. If the only option left to us is the military option, we’ll act militarily”. He went on to assert that “the actions against Saudi Arabia [on September 14] and the oil tankers make us understand that Iran still feels strong. Our intelligence information tells us that it intends to hit the Gulf countries again. The threat of sanctions is not enough. The only deterrent is a military threat directed against the regime”. “U.S. pressure and sanctions are effective”, Katz added. “We expect Iran’s attempts to procure nuclear weapons and support terrorist groups to decline, but this will be easier if there is support from European countries. As long as the Iranians delude themselves that they have the support of Europe, it will be more difficult for them to bend”. Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson subsequently reacted by stating that “we regard the threats made by the Israeli regime as a sign for its weakness and its effort to conceal the crisis its leaders are facing presently”.

Speaking alongside U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that “we have been fortunate that President Trump has led a consistent policy of pressure against Iran. Iran is increasing its aggression as we speak even today in the region. They’re trying to have staging grounds against us and the region from Iran itself, from Iraq, from Syria, from Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen, and we are actively engaged in countering that aggression”. Netanyahu further maintained that “Iran’s aggression is growing, but its empire is tottering. And I say let’s make it totter even further”. Secretary Pompeo, citing unrest in Iraq, Lebanon and Iran, stated that “some of these are people that are seeking freedom and a reasonable way to live, and they recognise the threat that is posed by the kleptocrats that are running the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

Discussing Iran’s presence in Syria, the Israeli defence minister asserted that “if we do not act today and take advantage of the window of opportunity, in the more distant future, the risk will be greater, and they will paralyse us because of the military capability that is going to develop. More offensive military action alongside increased U.S. economic sanctions and political pressure, these are the things that could get Iran out of Syria”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that “Iran’s aggression in our region, and against us, continues. We are taking all necessary actions to prevent Iran from entrenching here in our region. This includes the activity necessary to thwart the transfer of lethal weaponry from Iran to Syria, whether by air or overland”. “We will also take action to thwart Iran's effort to turn Iraq and Yemen into bases for launching rockets and missiles against the State of Israel”, he added. Citing remarks by a senior U.S. defence official who had indicated that “it is very possible they [the Iranians] will attack again”, Netanyahu stated that “I can confirm that and I can also confirm to you that we are continuing our plans to thwart this aggression by various means”.

The Israeli military announced that it had "carried out wide-scale strikes of Iranian Qods force and Syrian Armed Forces targets in Syria in response to the rockets fired at Israel by an Iranian force in Syria", adding that "we will continue operating firmly and for as long as necessary against the Iranian entrenchment in Syria". Commenting on the action, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that "I have made clear that whoever hurts us - we will hurt him... we will continue to vigorously maintain the security of Israel". Israel's defence minister, Naftali Bennett, declared that "our message to the leaders of Iran is simple: You are not immune anymore. Wherever you send your octopus tentacles, we will hack them off".

The IDF reported that “four launches were identified from Syria toward northern Israel… all four were intercepted in the sky by Israeli air defence systems”. Israel's foreign minister subsequently contended that “this incident is an Iranian operation against the State of Israel… The State of Israel will continue to act according to its policy. The policy was and remains to prevent Iran from establishing itself in the area”. He further assessed that “the Iranian threat exists, but is less than what it used to be… Iran is suffering greatly from the American sanctions”.

Discussing “Operation Black Belt” in Gaza, Israel’s military spokesperson indicated that “we are at a high readiness and preparedness on all fronts, not only in Gaza. We are facing a significant challenge against Iranian activity in a variety of arenas and not only in Syria”. He also noted that “this operation in Gaza was a window of opportunity and the IDF must now concentrate on the northern border”.

Syria media reported that Israeli aircraft had “fired three missiles towards Damascus city”, purportedly targeting a Palestinian Islamic Jihad official. Prime Minister Netanyahu also confirmed that the Israeli military had “targeted senior Islamic Jihad commander Baha Abu al-Ata”, whom Netanyahu described as “a ticking bomb”, in Gaza. He added that “whoever thinks that it is possible to hurt our citizens and evade our long arm is mistaken. We have proven that we can attack with surgical precision anywhere terrorists hide. Whoever hurts us – we will hurt them”.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin contended that “Iran continues to spread terror throughout the region. It continues to build military bases and plan attacks from Syria, and other parts of the region, Lebanon and even Yemen”. “Our enemies”, he added, “must know the state of Israel will do everything needed to defend its citizens”. 

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that “Iran expands its aggression. It seeks to envelop Israel. It seeks to threaten Israel. It seeks to destroy Israel. We fight back”. He further asserted that “given Iran’s efforts to expand its nuclear weapons program, expand its enrichment of uranium for making atomic bombs, I repeat… we will never let Iran develop nuclear weapons. This is not only for our security and our future, it’s for the future of the Middle East and the world”.

A senior IDF official remarked that “there are Iranian Qods forces in the Golan Heights, and that’s not fear-mongering, they’re there”. He added that “all signs indicate that… 2020 has the potential to be an unfavourable year from a security perspective”. Referring to the 14 September attack against Saudi oil facilities, he opined that “it was a sophisticated attack that managed to evade both U.S. and Saudi defences… whoever says that it can’t happen to us isn’t a professional”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasised that “the most important thing is to make sure that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons and that its march towards empire and conquest is stopped. I think that President Trump’s policy of putting maximum economic pressure on Iran is the right one, and I’m glad to see that it’s been increased recently, more sanctions”. “I know that it’s having a telling effect on Iran’s ability to fund its aggression”, Netanyahu added. He went on to say that “we are committed to preventing Iran from entrenching itself militarily in our borders, especially in Syria. And we take the necessary action to prevent that… because if Iran has its way, then the Middle East will collapse”. He went on to argue that “if Israel wasn’t here in the heart of the Middle East, then Iran would have won. And by [the] way, would have already had nuclear weapons”.

The U.S. State Department in its Country Reports on Terrorism 2018 evaluated that “Hizbollah remained Iran’s most powerful terrorist partner and the most capable terrorist organisation in Lebanon, controlling areas across the country”. It went on to assess that “Iran’s annual financial backing to Hizbollah, an estimated $700 million per year, accounts for the overwhelming majority of the group’s annual budget. Hizbollah’s presence in Lebanon and Syria continued to pose a threat to Israel”. “Israeli security officials and politicians”, the report noted, “expressed concerns that Iran was supplying Hizbollah with advanced weapons systems and technologies, as well as assisting the group in creating infrastructure that would permit it to indigenously produce rockets and missiles to threaten Israel from Lebanon and Syria”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that “the area around us is stormy and restive. Threats lurk in every corner – in Syria, in Lebanon, in the Gaza Strip, as well as in Iraq, Yemen and directly in Iran. Where not? Iranian and pro-Iranian forces are relentlessly arming themselves”. He went on to assert that “we are prepared for the threats and will not hesitate to strike harshly at anyone who tries to attack us. Iran’s threshold of daring in the region is rising and it grows even more in the absence of a response. However, Israel will not turn the other cheek. Whoever is bent on aggression – will meet with a vigorous response, and will pay a heavy price”.

A senior Israeli defence official assessed that “the security challenge is becoming more complex. In addition to the missiles and rockets, there are also attack drones and cruise missiles now”. He added that “as we speak, Arrow, Patriot, David's Sling, and Iron Dome batteries are ready for battle”.

Speaking alongside U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, Prime Minister Netanyahu argued that “Iran is seeking to develop now precision-guided munitions, missiles that can hit any target in the Middle East with a circumference of five to ten metres. They are developing this in Iran. They want to place them in Iraq and in Syria, and to convert Lebanon’s arsenal of 130,000 statistical rockets to precision-guided munitions. They seek also to develop that, and have already begun to put that in Yemen, with the goal of reaching Israel from there, too”. He further asserted that “Iran is the single greatest threat to stability and peace in the Middle East”, and urged Mnuchin “to put even more” sanctions on Iran.

Prime Minister Netanyahu contended that “Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons. It’s transgressing on its agreement and commitment. Iran wants to develop precision guided missiles that can hit any target in Israel within five to ten meters. It’s doing that. Iran wants to use Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen as bases to attack Israel with statistical missiles and precision-guided missiles.” He went on to assert that “to ward off this danger… you have to be strong militarily. And to be strong militarily, we have to shift now money from the civilian areas to the military areas”.

U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo met with Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem and discussed “all the efforts we’ve made to push back against the threat not only to Israel, but to the region and the world, from the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that “the current focus of aggression in the Middle East is the Iranian regime in Tehran. Iran is striving to tighten its grip in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Gaza Strip”. “It is relentlessly arming itself”, Netanyahu continued. “It is equipping its proxies with dangerous weaponry. It is attacking freedom of navigation in international shipping lanes. It downed a large American UAV. It mounted a crude and unprecedented attack on Saudi oil fields. It has repeatedly crossed its threshold of brazenness… it has tried to attack us repeatedly; therefore, we must stand ready to defend ourselves against danger”. He further asserted that the Israeli military “is prepared to pre-empt any threat, defensively and offensively, with crushing strength, in weaponry and in spirit”.

Secretary of State Pompeo stated that “oil from the Adrian Darya 1 has been offloaded in Syria, proving that Iran lied to the UK and Gibraltar. This terrorist oil will fund Assad’s war and Iran’s sectarian violence”. He further asserted that “EU members should condemn this action, uphold the rule of law and hold Iran accountable”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that “we face a huge security challenge, which is growing week to week and strengthening in the last month to two months... Anyone with eyes in their head sees that Iran is increasingly arming itself, Iran is growing stronger. Its boldness, its audacity are on the rise”. He went on to assert that Iran “says in the clearest way, that is what their generals said, including two days ago, ‘Israel will disappear. This is not a theory. Israel will disappear’... They believe this. They are striving for this, and we need to take them seriously”. Netanyahu added that “this reality obligates us to become stronger. It obligates us to arm ourselves, our fighters and our soldiers, with defensive and offensive weapons on a scale, at an intensity and quality we have not had until now”.

Secretary of State Pompeo asserted that "despite Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's promise to the UK that the Adrian Darya 1 would not deliver oil to Syria, it is now transferring oil off the Syrian coast". He went on to ask: "Will the world hold Iran accountable if this oil is delivered to Syria?"

Secretary of State Pompeo stated that “the U.S. supports UN efforts to end military violence in Syria. Ongoing violence - fuelled by Iran and Russia - is exacerbating Syria’s dire humanitarian situation and must cease for a political solution to take root”.

The U.S. Department of Treasury issued sanctions against “one entity, three individuals and five vessels participating in a sanctions evasion scheme to facilitate the delivery of jet fuel to Russian forces operating in Syria”. In related comments, Secretary of State Pompeo stated that “the U.S. has concluded that the Assad regime used chlorine as a chemical weapon on May 19th in an attack at Latakia province, Syria… the U.S. will not allow these attacks to go unchallenged, nor will we tolerate those who choose to conceal these atrocities”.

President Rouhani posited that “we are not looking for war and killing others, but it is Israel that has repeatedly violated the sovereignty of its neighbours and, according to their own Prime Minister, they have carried out acts of aggression against Syria more than 200 times”. He added that “these acts are very dangerous and according to the UN Charter, the people of the region have the right to self-defence”.

Referring to the 14 September attacks against Saudi energy facilities, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that “very simply: Iran did it. A to Z”.  He added that “Israel will know to defend itself against this type of aggression. And we call on all members of the international community to join President Trump's effort to increase the pressure on Iran. That's the only way to stop Iran's aggression”.

Iran’s President Rouhani remarked that “it is strange that the enemies of the region have not yet understood the power of the regional nations’ resistance… instead of admitting that Lebanon’s Hizbollah has high capabilities and power both in scientific and military knowledge and bravery in the field, or that a part of brave young people of Iraq have liberated different cities across the country from the hands of terrorists, and instead of admitting to the growth and greatness of nations like Syria and Yemen, they are seeking to accuse others”.

President Rouhani remarked that “there is only a political solution to the Syrian crisis, and this can only be achieved through constructive interaction and participation by all Syrian people”. He further argued that “U.S. troops must leave the area as soon as possible and that the Syrian government's control must expand in the east and north of the Euphrates, as in the rest of Syria”.

President Rouhani stated that Israel “has increased the number of its acts of aggression on the Syrian soil in recent months, and its officials have claimed responsibility for the aggressions and have extended their attacks to Iraq and Lebanon”. He further asserted that “these attacks are a clear example of provocative and illegal hostile acts that can cause widespread tension and conflict in the region”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated that he and President Trump had “agreed to advance a historic defensive alliance between the U.S. and Israel at our upcoming meeting at the UN General Assembly”. “This is historic”, Netanyahu explained, “because it adds a powerful component of deterrence against our enemies, alongside maintaining the ability to act, and freedom of action, of our forces”.  

En route to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that “at this time, we are operating on several fronts, 360 degrees, in order to ensure the security of Israel in the face of the attempts of Iran and its proxies to attack us, and we are working against them. The Syrian arena is the main one… it is important that we continue to maintain freedom of action for the IDF, including the air force, against Iranian, Hizbollah and other terrorist targets”. Netanyahu added that “this trip is designed to continue this important cooperation, which prevents collisions between us and the Russian forces, and to continue to advance the common goal that we agree on, which has yet to be achieved and which is far from being achieved, and that is the withdrawal of Iran from Syria”.

The U.S. State Department's spokesperson, Morgan Ortagus, stated that “we have seen reports that the Iranian vessel Adrian Darya, formally Grace 1, remains anchored off the shores of Syria, which we’ve been saying was its intended destination all along. Now we’ve seen firsthand the Iranian regime renege on its assurances to the EU that the vessel would not transport oil to the murderous Assad regime”. Ortagus added that “this fits into the web of lies perpetrated by the Iranian regime for 40 years”, further noting that “despite the revolutionary promises of a better society, the thugs in Tehran have consistently repressed women, minorities and human rights advocates”.

Following a meeting with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that “the first issue is security, and this is maintaining freedom of action for the IDF, including the air force, in the face of Iran’s attempts to military entrench in our region against us. We are operating constantly and is important to prevent unnecessary collisions”. Netanyahu subsequently met with President Putin, remarking that “security coordination between us is always important but it is especially important at this time because last month saw a very serious upsurge in the number of attempts by Iran to attack Israel from Syrian territory, and also to place precision missiles there against us”. “From our point-of-view”, Netanyahu continued, “this is an intolerable threat and we are taking action; therefore, we must also ensure that the coordination between us prevents friction”.

National Security Advisor John Bolton asserted that “now that we’re two weeks from the UN General Assembly, you can be sure Iran is working overtime on deception. Let’s review the greatest hits, starting with the most recent. Iran denied the Adrian Darya 1 was headed to Syria, then confirmed today its oil was offloaded there”.

The Israeli military announced that “a number of rockets were fired from Syria toward Israel overnight, all failing to hit Israeli territory”. It further asserted that “the rockets were launched by Shiite militias operating under the command of the Iranian Quds force. We hold the Syrian regime responsible for events taking place in Syria”.

Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson announced that “the Adrian Darya oil tanker finally docked on the Mediterranean coast and unloaded its cargo despite acts of sabotage by the U.S.”. He further underscored that “we had already announced that we would sell our oil in any way and that acts of sabotage would not affect our plans”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that “I had an important meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defence Esper. We discussed the entire region from Iran, to Syria, Lebanon, Hizbollah and the various challenges and attacks against us, actions we took to thwart them, coordination we are called upon to make especially regarding Syria”.

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton tweeted imagery showing the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya-1 off the Syrian coast and stated that “anyone who said the Adrian Darya 1 wasn’t headed to Syria is in denial. Tehran thinks it’s more important to fund the murderous Assad regime than provide for its own people”. He contended that “we can talk, but Iran’s not getting any sanctions relief until it stops lying and spreading terror!”

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that “this morning we were informed of another violation, more defiance, by Iran, this time in its striving to attain nuclear weapons. This joins Iran’s aggressive acts against international shipping and against countries in the region, as well as its efforts to carry out murderous attacks against the State of Israel, efforts that have not ceased”. He further asserted that “this is not the time to hold talks with Iran; this is the time to increase the pressure on Iran”.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned “a large shipping network that is directed by and financially supports the IRGC Qods force and its terrorist proxy Hizbollah”. Secretary of State Pompeo commented that “maximum pressure continues… the Iranian regime funds the murderous Assad and terrorist proxies like Hizballah through its illicit oil sales. We’ll continue to deny Iran the resources it needs to destabilise the Middle East”.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu commended “remarks by the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the UAE against Hizbollah’s aggression”, and praised the U.S. for imposing sanctions against “the bank that provides Hizbollah with most of its funds”. He further remarked that “I defined three main goals for the IDF and the security arms in the following order: First of all, to stop and prevent the Iranian nuclear project. Second, to prevent Iran from supplying our enemies and its proxies, such as Hizbollah and others, with precision weapons that endanger us. And third, to prevent Iran and its proxies from entrenching on our borders”. Netanyahu added that “in effect, we are acting vis-à-vis all of these goals, in part openly and a considerable part covertly. We are determined to maintain the security of Israel”.

One day after the Israeli military and Hizbollah exchanged fire, Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that “we acted yesterday with determination and responsibility. We maintained the security of our citizens and the safety of our soldiers. The man in the bunker in Beirut [i.e. Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah] knows exactly why he is in a bunker”. Netanyahu added that “we will continue to do everything necessary in order to maintain the security of Israel – on land and sea, and in the air, and we will continue to act against the threat of precision-guided missiles”. In remarks the same day, Nasrallah contended that “we’ve punished the enemy” and suggested “the start of a new stage of the situation at the border”. He went on to say that “we have a new target, which is the Israeli drones… we will confront these drones in the Lebanese skies”. Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson condemned what he described as Israel’s “blatant breach” of Lebanese sovereignty.

President Rouhani spoke by phone with his French counterpart and asserted that “if Europe cannot put its commitments into operation, Iran will take the third step in reducing its JCPOA commitments, which of course will be reversible”. He additionally underscored “that the continuation of negotiations for settling problems is the right decision and we need to continue along this path until we reach a desired point”. Rouhani also told Macron that “the leaders of the Zionist regime [i.e. Israel] have made countless miscalculations towards other countries like Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, and they are announcing their acts of aggression proudly instead of apologising”.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned “Adrian Darya 1, an oil tanker transporting 2.1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil ultimately benefitting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force”, as well as its captain.  Secretary of State Pompeo advised that “any who would consider supporting the IRGC should heed this warning”, adding that “non-U.S. persons who knowingly provide significant goods, services, or support to the individuals and entities designated today may themselves face sanctions consequences”. Pompeo also indicated that “the U.S. will continue to increase pressure on the Iranian regime until it changes its behaviour”. National Security Advisor John Bolton commented that “sanctions are serious, and so is captaining a vessel engaged in illicit activity. Let this be a lesson to anyone tempted to support moving Iranian oil destined for Assad’s murderous regime”. On 31 August Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif contended that the “U.S. engages in piracy and threats to prevent Iran from selling oil to traditional customers”. “Stop nagging Secretary Pompeo”, Zarif added. “We will sell oil to any and all buyers”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu told French President Macron that “Israel would defend itself against aggression against it and prevent its enemies who seek its destruction from arming themselves with lethal weaponry”. He further noted that “those who provide shelter for aggression and arming will not be immune. Netanyahu also advised Macron that “the present – when Iran is stepping up its aggression in the region – is precisely the wrong time to talk with Iran”.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that “I heard [Hizbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah’s remarks. I suggest that Nasrallah relax. He knows very well that the State of Israel knows how to defend itself and how to pay back its enemies”. Netanyahu continued by saying that “I want to tell him and the Lebanese state, which is sheltering this organisation that aspires to destroy us, and I also say this to [Qods force commander] Qassem Soleimani: Be careful with your words and be even more careful with your actions”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that “Iran is operating on a broad front to carry out murderous terrorist attacks against the State of Israel. Israel will continue to defend its security however that may be necessary”. He also urged “the international community to act immediately so that Iran halts these attacks”.

Lebanese media claimed that Israel “last night executed three air raids that targeted the anti-Lebanon region… in central Bekaa, where military outposts for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine under the command of Ahmed Jebril are located”.

U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu discussed Israel’s 24 August strikes in Syria, with Pompeo extending “support for Israel’s right to defend itself from threats posed by the IRGC and to take action to prevent imminent attacks against Israeli assets in the region”. The two also “discussed how Iran is leveraging its foothold in Syria to threaten Israel and its neighbours”, while Netanyahu “noted that Israel would strike IRGC targets threatening Israel, wherever they are located”.

The Israeli military announced that it had “prevented a pending, large-scale attack of multiple killer drones on Israel by striking Iranian Quds force operatives and Shiite militia targets in Syria”. Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that “Iran’s Quds force dispatched a special unit of Shiite militants to Syria in order to kill Israelis on the Golan Heights with explosives-laden UAVs… this was an initiative of Iran, under the command of Iran, at the behest of Iran”. He went on indicate that “henceforth we will expose any attempt by Iran to attack us and any Iranian effort to hide behind this or that excuse”. “I would like to stress that we will not tolerate aggression against Israel from any country in the region”, Netanyahu added. “any country that allows its territory to be used to aggression against Israel will face the consequences”.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated that “I don’t grant Iran immunity anywhere. Iran is a state, a power, that has sworn to annihilate Israel. It’s trying to establish bases against us everywhere. In Iran itself, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen”. Netanyahu went on to say that “we’re acting not only if necessary, we’re acting in very many theatres against a state that seeks to annihilate us. Obviously I’ve given the security forces the order and the operation freedom to do what is necessary in order to disrupt these plots by Iran”.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated that “Iran has no immunity, anywhere… we will act – and currently are acting – against them, wherever it is necessary”.

Syrian state media reported that “Syrian air defences intercepted a hostile target coming from [the] north of Lebanon, and destroyed it before reaching its target” in Hama province.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had “launched an assault with a rocket… in the western countryside of Quneitra province, causing material damage only”. Relatedly, Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that “on the northern front we are acting against Iran and Hizbollah and you are hearing about this these days as well. This is the iron wall”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel had launched strikes in south-western Syria; no casualties was reported.

Prime Minister Netahyahu contended that “without Israel, without the things that we do and the things that we stand for and the things that we protect, I think the entire Middle East would collapse to the forces of Islamic radicalism, whether Shiite led by Iran or Sunni radicalism led by ISIS”.

At a meeting with U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Prime Minster Netanyahu asserted that U.S. “sanctions have begun to work, and it’s important that they continue to work”. “It’s important to keep up the pressure”, Netanyahu added. “If I had to say what are the three things that we have to do in the face of Iranian aggression, it is pressure, pressure and more pressure to force Iran to abandon its nuclear and regional ambitions”. He went on to state that “we cannot allow Iran to disrupt the flow of oil in international waters, and again, I think the first requirement is the application of still greater pressure on Iran. I would not show any hesitation. I’m a leader who’s shown judicious use of force, and I think in this case, the judicious use of pressure is what is required”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that “In Operation Northern Shield, we neutralised the terrorist tunnels that Hizbollah had dug into our territory over the years. I do not want to expand here on the other actions that we are taking. The surprise will come in its time. We do not rejoice in war, but if it is forced on us we will strike the enemy decisively”. Netanyahu added that “we are working without respite to thwart Iran’s efforts to channel funds and weapons to Hizbollah…without the Iranian oxygen pipeline, Hizbollah could not exist for very long.”. He went on to say that “if we have to stand alone against Iran and its proxies – we will do so. Thus we have acted in Syria in order to prevent Iranian forces from entrenching themselves there. We will not allow a second Lebanon in Syria”. “The principle that has guided my government is simple”, Netanyahu asserted. “Whoever rises up to kill you, prevent him from arming himself, especially with advanced, equilibrium-changing weapons”.

Foreign Minister Zarif told UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt that “the UK government must immediately make the necessary arrangements to end the illegal confiscation of the Iranian oil tanker” detained off the coast of Gibraltar on 4 July. He went on to say “Iran will keep exporting oil under any circumstances”. Hunt stated that “our concern has always been destination, not origin of the oil” adding that the tanker could be released “if we received sufficient guarantees that it would not be going to Syria”.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri described recent U.S. sanctions against Hizbollah political and security figures as indicating a “new course”, but added that “this will not affect parliament or the work that we do both in parliament and in the Council of Ministers”. He went to say that “it is important that we preserve the banking sector and the Lebanese economy and God willing, this crisis will pass sooner or later”.

The U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, posited that “the oil sanctions alone are going to deny the Iranian regime $50 billion in revenue annually… pressure is going to continue. This is not sustainable for the Iranian regime”. Hook went on to say that “we think a final deal needs to address the entire range of threats that Iran presents to peace and security. Not only in the Middle East but in most continents of the world where they've conducted terrorist attacks either directly or through Hizbollah”. He also asserted that “right now, there are no back-channel talks between the U.S. and Iran”.

Speaking against the backdrop of an F-35 during a visit to a military base, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that “recently, Iran has been threatening the destruction of Israel. It would do well to remember that these planes can reach anywhere in the Middle East, including Iran and certainly Syria”. Speaking a few days later, Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami warned that "enemies’ aggression against Iran’s territorial integrity, at any level, will receive a severe response”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke by phone with his Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing “Iran, Syria and bilateral relations”.

A tanker bearing Iranian crude was seized off Gibraltar, purportedly after the U.S. had called for its detention. A Gibraltarian official stated that “this action arose from information giving the Gibraltar government reasonable grounds to believe that the vessel, the Grace 1, was acting in breach of EU sanctions against Syria”. National Security Advisor John Bolton described the detention as “excellent news”, adding that the U.S. “and our allies will continue to prevent regimes in Tehran and Damascus from profiting off this illicit trade”. A senior Iranian official subsequently warned that “if Britain does not release the Iranian oil tanker, it is the authorities’ duty to seize a British oil tanker”; Tehran also insisted that the vessel was not bound for Syria.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz remarked that “Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, even if has to act alone on that.” He added warned that “mistakes [by Iran] in the grey area will lead it to the red zone – a war in which it will be hit hard”. Katz also contended that “feeding the Iranian tiger will not help; only an aggressive policy and sanctions and support for the U.S. policy will quickly show that it is a paper tiger”.

Syrian state media reported that Israel struck military targets in Homs and near Damascus, killing four and injuring 21.

The head of Israel’s foreign intelligence service declared that “we can’t agree to Syria becoming a staging ground for Iranian forces or forces operated by it against us. We can’t agree to Syria becoming a logistics base for transferring weapons to Hizbollah and Lebanon. Israel has taken action in the past four years, overtly and covertly, about which only a small amount has been published, in order to block the entrenchment and the production lines of precision-guided munitions”. The Mossad chief added that “thanks to this effort, I believe the Iranians will reach the conclusion that it’s not worth it for them”. He also indicated that “Iran and Hizbollah are asking to move their bases to northern Syria, an area that they mistakenly believe will be difficult for us to reach. In addition, they are establishing bases and precision missile facilities in Iraq… and Lebanon”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that “the Iranian regime is suffering. It's trying to use its proxies to 'pin prick' in the Persian Gulf, and escalate the situation in Syria. We have to resist”. He went on to say that “we know something about this region. Iran single greatest threat on the horizon, they must not be allowed to get nuclear weapons. Going back to the JCPOA means giving Iran nuclear weapons. I will not let that happen”.

At a trilateral meeting of U.S., Russian and Israeli National Security advisers, Prime Minister Netanyahu, remarked that “Israel has acted hundreds of times to prevent Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria, while it actively and openly calls and works for our destruction. We have acted hundreds of times to prevent Iran from delivering increasingly sophisticated weaponry to Hizbollah, or to form a second front in the north against us from the Golan Heights”. He added that “Israel will continue to prevent Iran from using neighbouring territory as platforms to attack us, and Israel will respond forcefully to any such attacks”. U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton stated that “it is not a question about a disagreement about the outcome, but a mutual effort to find a way to make it happen”.

Prime Minister Netanyahu reaffirmed that “Israel will not allow Iran, which calls for our destruction, to entrench on our border; we will do everything to prevent it from attaining nuclear weapons”.

In Israel, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton stated that "neither Iran nor any other hostile actor should mistake U.S. prudence and discretion for weakness". He also indicated that in meetings with senior Israel officials “we reaffirmed our shared priority of confronting Iranian aggression throughout the region by continuing maximum economic pressure and increasing the cost of Iran’s malign activity”. Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that “thanks to crippling American sanctions, Iran is facing unprecedented economic pressure as a result of its aggression”, adding that “I was pleased to hear President Trump make clear yesterday that pressure will continue and that pressure will increase”.

At a military exercise, Prime Minister Netanyahu warned that “I hear our neighbours from the north, south and east threatening our destruction. I say to our enemies: The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has very great destructive power. Don’t test us.”

Syria state media reported that the military "confronted an Israeli missile aggression" near the Golan Heights. Later in the day, Prime Minister Netanyahu contended that "the chain of tests that we are dealing with is unending. We respond vigorously and with force to all attacks against us; however, we do not take action only after the fact. We deny the enemy's capabilities before the fact". Netanyahu added that "we are acting methodically and consistently to prevent our enemies from establishing offensive bases against us in our vicinity". 

A senior Israeli military official maintained that "Hizbollah's loyalty was and remains to the Supreme Leader of Iran, not to the citizens of Lebanon. As a direct result of this, the nation of Lebanon will pay a heavy price in the next campaign for cooperating with Shiite terror". He went to pledge that "Israel will not allow [Hizbollah] to fulfill its plans and the destructive ambitions that it and its patron Iran have... we will continue to thwart Hizbollah's efforts to threaten our security both overtly and covertly, as necessary. And if a war is forced upon [us], we will exact a heavy price from this organisation and from those who provide it cover - wherever is necessary".

The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against "sixteen individuals and entities associated with an international network benefiting the Assad regime", including a pair of companies based in Lebanon that "facilitated shipments of Iranian-origin petroleum to Syria".

Responding to comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who earlier in the day contended that Prime Minister "Netanyahu has said that they will destroy Iran", Netanyahu riposted that "Zarif is lying - again. Iran is the one that openly threatens, every day, to destroy the State of Israel. Iran continues to entrench itself militarily in Syria. And today, the IAEA reports that Iran is accelerating its nuclear program". "I repeat", Netanyahu added, "Israel will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons that threaten our existence and endanger the entire world". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that "Iran transfers $700 million to Hizbollah per annum", part of which "is transferred under diplomatic cover, by seemingly innocent means, to Lebanon and from there to Hizbollah". "These enormous amounts fuel the relentless aggression by Iran and its proxies in the region", Netanyahu continued. He added that "while we do not make light of Iran's threats, neither are we deterred by them because anyone who tries to hurt us will be hurt far worse... we proved it just last night". 

Syrian media reported "an Israeli aggression on the T-4 airport" that led to three casualties as well as "damage to an ammo depot and material damage to some structures and equipment". 

The U.S.’ diplomatic spokesperson asserted that “our maximum pressure campaign on Iran is designed to deny the Iranian regime, the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, the means to conduct its destructive foreign policy. Our campaign is working”. She elaborated that “the campaign is starving Iran’s proxies of the funds they rely on to operate on behalf of the regime”, citing examples including Hizbollah, Hamas, the Syrian government and Shiite militias in Iraq. She went on to affirm that “we will continue to apply maximum pressure on the Iranian regime to deny it the means to conduct its destructive foreign policy and compel the regime to negotiate a comprehensive new deal that addresses the full scope of its malign behaviour”, while also indicating that “there is a path forward and we will talk tomorrow if they would like to see the bright future that we believe is there for the Iranian people”. The spokesperson further indicated that “we do not want a war with Iran. We want to de-escalate with Iran. In fact, what we seek is to end economic sanctions, to end the maximum pressure campaign”.

Syrian state media claimed that Israel had targeted a military site in Quneitra, adding that the “aggression claimed the life of one soldier and injured another one”.

In remarks at the celebration of Israel’s 71st Independence Day, Secretary Pompeo noted that the U.S. had supported Israel’s security "by applying maximum pressure against the single greatest threat to stability and security in the Middle East, and indeed, stability and security in Israel – the Islamic Republic of Iran". The Israeli envoy in Washington, Ron Dermer, argued that the U.S. exit from the JCPOA in May 2018 constituted “the most important decision affecting Israel’s future that the Trump administration made this past year”. “A year ago, an Iranian regime that vows and works to destroy Israel felt the wind at their backs and believed history was on their side”, Dermer remarked. “Today, that same evil regime faces hurricane force headwinds and fear falling into history’s dustbin”. He went on to thank the U.S. government “for rejecting the path of appeasement, standing up to Iran’s aggression and terror, and confronting the most anti-Semitic regime on the planet”. 

The U.S. special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that “the [Trump] administration is pursuing three mutually reinforcing whole-of-government strategic objectives in Syria – the enduring defeat of ISIS, the removal of all Iranian-led forces from Syria and the resolution of the Syrian crisis through a political solution in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254”. “The Iranian regime’s malign activity has left us no choice but to pursue the withdrawal of all Iranian-commanded forces from the entirety of Syria”, Jeffrey elaborated. “Iran’s reckless behaviour makes the situation in Syria more dangerous… Iranian-backed forces use bases inside Syria to participate in violence again[st] the Syrian people and launch attacks against Israel”. He added that “Iran and its proxies threaten U.S. national security by sowing instability in the region that exacerbates tensions between communities and provides space for terrorist groups to thrive”.

Syrian state media reported that the military's "aerial defences intercepted unidentified objects" inbound from Israel. 

Syrian state media reported that the military had "intercepted hostile targets coming from the direction of Quneitra." 

U.S. Central Command indicated that remarks by a senior military official in the U.S.-led counter-ISIS campaign, who had stated that "there's been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria", "ran counter to the identified credible threats". CENTCOM's statement added that "OIR [Operation Inherent Resolve] is now at a high level of alert as we continue to closely monitor credible and possibly imminent threats to U.S. forces in Iraq". 

In an article on the March 2019 U.S. decision to recognise Israel's sovereignty in the Golan Heights, Secretary Pompeo argued that Syria "is a client of Iran and one of the most brutal regimes on earth", adding that "if Israel doesn't maintain control of the Golan, Iran, the world's largest state sponsor of terror, or one of its proxies, will gain the strategic high ground". 

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz posited that "things are undoubtedly heating up, and Iran - over the last few weeks - has come under 'atomic' pressure. The economic sanctions are breaking the neck of the Iranian economy and there is now an additional, even more powerful wave of American sanctions. We are starting to see the Iranians lose their balance". Steinitz also assessed that "if there is some sort of conflagration between Iran and the U.S., between Iran and its neighbours, I'm not ruling out that they will activate Hizbollah and Islamic Jihad from Gaza, or even that they will try to fire missiles from Iran at the State of Israel". 

The leader of an Iraqi militia sanctioned by the U.S. reportedly revealed "the creation of a special brigade to liberate the Golan Heights", adding that "we want to inform the Zionist regime [i.e Israel] that we will not allow their puppet Takrifi groups to shed Muslims' blood with the Zionists' support". 

In a speech on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that "in the face of Iran, our policy is clear: in the military field - an aggressive containment of Iran's attempts to establish itself militarily near our borders. And in the political arena - pressure, pressure and more pressure". "In the face of threats of annihilation", Netanyahu continued, "Israel will not extend its neck to slaughter... we are capable and determined to defend ourselves, by ourselves". 

Iran's envoy to the UN reiterated the position that "the Golan is and will remain an integral part of Syria". 

A senior U.S. military official asserted that "we're going to continue to reach out to our partners and friends in the region to ensure that we make common cause against the threat of Iran... I believe we'll have the resources necessary to deter Iran from taking actions that will be dangerous". He went on to indicate that "over the long term, we're going to reduce our forces in Syria, we recognise that, that's the guidance in which we're operating... that will be something that we will look at very carefully as we go forward". The U.S., he added, would maintain "a long-term presence in Iraq, focussed on the counter-terror mission". 

A senior Israeli military official assessed that "Hizbollah still has plans to invade the Galilee", and predicted that "we will thwart those plans". He also indicated that "in the area referred to as 'southern Syria', our operations have been very effective, and they have actually pushed the Iranians out... in those places, Iran's presence is so weak it's almost nonexistent".  

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif traveled to Damascus for meetings with President Assad and other senior Syrian officials. 

A senior IRGC official indicated that "today, in the area of [Iran's] regional achievements, there are tens of thousands of Lebanese Hizbollah forces around the borders of the Zionist regime [i.e Israel], and this is something the Americans cannot stomach". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that "we are determined to defend our land - even in the face of our greatest and bitterest of foes, who inscribe our destruction on their banners". "We will continue to act on all fronts", he added, "including in the north, because we are not prepared to allow anybody to entrench in strength and endanger the State of Israel". 

Citing military sources, Syrian state media reported that "warplanes of the Israeli enemy conducted an airstrike from Lebanese airspace on one of the military positions" in Hama province. The report acknowledged three casualties as well as "the destruction of some buildings". 

A senior Syrian official asserted that "Syria will liberate the occupied Golan by all means and all choices are on the table". He also argued that "the U.S. administration lies with regard to pulling out its troops, which are illegitimately deployed in Syria, and it isn't our duty to teach them to be honest". 

Commenting on the floods in Iran, whose scope he described as "unprecedented in the history of Iran", President Rouhani asserted that "those who did not let Iranian residing outside the country send aid to their own people should be ashamed". He also stressed that "neither the holy Quds [i.e Jerusalem] will be a base for occupiers, nor will the Golan Heights be separated from dear Syria". 

King Salman affirmed Saudi Arabia's "total rejection of any measures that would infringe on Syrian sovereignty over the Golan". He also urged "the international community to compel Iran-backed Huthi militias to stop their aggressive practices that have caused the sufferings of the Yemeni people and threatened the security and stability of the region".  

Upon the conclusion of an Arab League summit, Iran's diplomatic spokesperson indicated that "the Islamic Republic considers the atmosphere of the recent summit as positive compared with its previous meetings", and described the positions taken on the U.S. recognition of the Golan Heights as "positive and promising". However, he also stressed that "we strongly reject and condemn wrong and baseless claims on our country's interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries as well as claims on Iran's three islands". 

Saudi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf asserted that "we reject President Trump's declaration on the occupied Golan, which is a Syrian Arab land". Al-Assaf also opined that "Iran's ballistic missiles pose a threat to regional and international security", adding that the Kingdom considered "Iran fully responsible for what is happening in Yemen". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that "we are operating on several fronts simultaneously. Not far from here are the Golan Heights, our sovereignty over which was recognised by President Trump three days ago... beyond the Golan Heights is Syria, and also Iran. Iran is constantly trying to bring precision long-range missiles, which are very advanced and very lethal, into Syria". "We are not prepared to accept this", Netanyahu continued, "and our activity against Iran's attempt to entrench militarily in Syria, to bring in advanced weaponry, is continuing all the time". 

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif described the U.S. decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights as a "lawless announcement", and advised "our Arab and Muslim brethren" that the "U.S. and Israel will offer you handshakes, but no matter how much you kowtow, they will still steal your lands".

Syrian state media reported "an Israeli air aggression" in Aleppo, claiming that "army air defences... downed a number of the hostile missiles". 

Following President Trump's decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, President Rouhani opined that "nobody would ever imagine that someday somebody would take office in America and grant a land to a usurper, against international rules and regulations". 

Secretary Pompeo indicated that he was "saddened... but not surprised" by regional and international responses against President Trump's decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. He also countered the suggestion that the move set a precedent, arguing that "this is an incredibly unique situation. Israel was fighting a defensive battle to save its nation, and it cannot be the case that a UN resolution is a suicide pact". 

Following President Trump's decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Saudi Arabia announced "its firm rejection and condemnation of the declaration" and "affirmed its firm and principled position on the Golan Heights that it is an occupied Syrian Arab land". The government further predicted that the move would "have great negative effects on the peace process in the Middle East, [and the] security and stability of the region". 

Following President Trump's decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the Iraqi government asserted that it "strongly opposes the legitimisation of the occupation of the Syria Golan".

In remarks to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Prime Minister Netanyahu praised President Trump's recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, asserting that Trump "made history" while underscoring that the Golan "is indispensable for our defence". Netanyahu went on to declare that "I have a message to all the anti-Semites out there - whether they live in modern Persia, in the palaces of Tehran or the bunkers of Beirut... the Jewish people do not bow down. We stand up. We fight. And we win". 

Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah responded to Secretary of State Pompeo's criticisms of Hizbollah during his visit to Beirut. "We feel happy when an official from the world's most powerful state is concerned over our role," Nasrallah asserted. "We feel happy when the administration of the Great Satan [i.e the U.S.] is annoyed by Hizbollah... [Pompeo's statements] made us more faithful that we are in the right position". 

In a call with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, President Rouhani emphasised that "Iran is fully ready to implement all agreements made" in his visit to Iraq earlier in the month, adding that "cooperation and negotiation between the officials of the two countries, especially in the southern areas should be promoted". Rouhani also criticised the U.S. move to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, stating that "the worrying talk about violating the rights of the Palestinian and Syrian people, especially on the Golan Heights, are extremely dangerous for the security of the region". 

Meeting with President Trump at the White House, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that "I have a simple message to Israel's enemies: We will do whatever we must do to defend our people and defend our state". Netanyahu also hailed President Trump's decision to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, stating that the "proclamation comes at a time when the Golan is more important than ever for our security, when Iran is trying to establish bases in Syria to strike at Israel. From across the border in Syria, Iran has launched drones into our airspace, missiles into our territory". 

The U.S. added "dozens of new vessels involved in illicit oil shipments" from Iran to Syria in an update to a November 2018 advisory. A senior Treasury Department official noted that "the U.S. has made it clear to the maritime shipping community that we will not tolerate the use of petroleum as a mechanism to finance rogue regimes in Iran and Syria", adding that "as Iran and Syria attempt to adapt their illicit tactics and shift to new vessels, we will continue to provide these updates to the shipping community". 

Following President Trump's announcement that "it is time for the U.S. to fully recognise Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights", Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that "the continued disregard by the Trump administration for the rights of Muslims and Arabs has reached the abhorrent level of giving what is not their, be [it] al-Quds al-Sharif [i.e Jerusalem] or the occupied Golan to the aggressive Zionist entity". An Iranian diplomatic spokesperson indicated that "Iran will closely monitor all future developments and will adopt appropriate policies in cooperation and consultation with the Syrian government and other countries". Meanwhile, the Syrian government insisted that "the Golan is Syria, and it will return to the motherland sooner or later, no matter how long it takes". 

The U.S. special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, noted that "we know historically that Iran has given Hizbollah an average of $700 million a year... we have seen evidence of the impact [of U.S. sanctions] when the leader of Hizbollah makes a public appeal for charity. It speaks for itself. This is the kind of impact that we want". He added that "we know that we have denied the [Iranian] regime even in the short amount of time [since sanctions came into effect] many billions of dollars in revenue", and underscored that the U.S. held "talks with any government where we see sanctions violations or even potential sanctions violations". Hook went on to underscore that "we are... committed to ensuring that troops under Iranian command are out of Syria", and suggested Iran had a "vastly-under reported role in Yemen" despite having "no legitimate interest" in the country. "Giving [Iran] a foothold in Yemen", Hook argued, "allows them to threaten two straits of international commerce". 

Meeting with Secretary of State Pompeo in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Netanyahu praised President Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA and the imposition of U.S. sanctions against Iran. "What we see is that this pressure is working", Netanyahu remarked. "We need to increase it. We need to expand it. And together, the U.S. and Israel are working in close coordination to roll back Iranian aggression in the region and around the world". "I think there are ways that will intensify the pressure even more", he added. Netanyahu went on to indicate that "we will continue to take action as needed against the attempts of Iran to entrench itself militarily with dangerous weapons in Syria. There is no limitation to our freedom of action, and we appreciate very much the fact that the U.S. backs up our actions as we do them". "You can imagine what would have happened if Israel were not in the Golan", he continued. "We would have Iran on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It's time that the international community recognises Israel's stay in the Golan, the fact that the Golan will always remain part of the State of Israel". 

In an encounter with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Secretary of State Pompeo posited that "the ayatollahs have spent four decades spewing hatred, supporting terrorist violence and pursuing nuclear weapons for a war against a neighbour that wishes nothing more than to live in peace. The ayatollah [i.e Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] has declared that the annihilation and destruction of Israel is his primary goal". "With such threats, a daily reality of Israeli life", Pompeo continued, "we maintain our unparalleled commitment to Israel's security and firmly support your right to defend yourself". 

Iran's military chief of staff met with his opposite numbers from Syria and Iraq, pledging that "measures taken by the three countries will continue until terrorists are fully defeated". He also met with the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus. 

Ahead of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo to Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated that "I will discuss with him our efforts to thwart the military entrenchment of Iran in Syria and - above all - we will discuss the efforts to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons". 

During a trip to Syria, Iran's military chief of staff argued that "all foreign troops who are present in Syria without coordinating with the Syrian government will have to leave the country sooner or later". 

In comments about the Golan Heights, Secretary Pompeo assessed that "there is a real risk. The proxies that are in the region, in southern Syria and in the vicinity of the Golan Heights, are presenting risk to the Israelis, and we're made clear the Israelis have a right to defend themselves". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated that "we are continuing to take vigorous action against Iran's attempts to entrench militarily in Syria".

On a visit to the Golan Heights, Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "the Golan is part of Israel; the Golan must stay part of Israel forever. I think it's very important that the international community recognise this fact and accept it, and most especially our great friend the U.S." Responding to subsequent comments from Senator Lindsey Graham, who pledged to "start an effort to recognise the Golan as part of the State of Israel", Netanyahu stated that "you heard very strong words here from Senator Graham that express American policy, President Trump's policy, of support for Israel. They are taking this to a very concrete step - to keep the Golan part of Israel. Otherwise our border will be with Iran on the shores of the Kinneret - and we are not prepared to accept that". 

CENTCOM commander Joseph Votel posited that "the U.S. withdrawal from Syria represents the most dynamic shift in the environment since ISIS lost its ability to govern major population centres and fight as a conventional force and could trigger a renewed race for influence, control, and for some, survival". He further stated that "Israel's legitimate concerns about Iran's increasingly provocative actions in Syria, particularly the transshipment of advanced weapons systems into and through Syria, are driving increasingly forward-leaning Israeli military actions". 

President Trump replied to a 22 February letter from members of Congress calling for "a small American stabilising force in Syria" by bracketing a paragraph about ensuring "that ISIS never returns, that Iran is not emboldened" and noting "I agree 100 per cent - all is being done". 

Briefing the cabinet about his 27 February meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "the focus of our discussions was the Iranian issue. I made it unequivocally clear that Israel will not allow the military entrenchment of Iran in Syria, and I also made it unequivocally clear that we would continue to take military action against it". "We agreed on the continuation of the security coordination mechanism between the Russia military and the IDF", Netanyahu continued, adding that "President Putin and I also agreed on a common goal - the withdrawal of foreign forces that arrived in Syria after the outbreak of the civil war. We agreed to establish a joint team to advance this goal, together with other elements".  

Syria state media reported that Israel "fired a shell on the area to the west of Hadar town in [the] Quneitra countryside". 

President Trump assessed that "as of probably today or tomorrow, we will actually have 100 per cent of the [ISIS] caliphate in Syria... And we'll leave a small group of guys and gals. But we want to bring our people back home". 

En route to Moscow for talks with President Putin, Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated that "from our point of view, the focus of the talks will be preventing Iran from entrenching in Syria, the entrenchment of a country which explicitly says that its goal is to wipe us out. You know that when I say we are acting against this, these are no empty words". "I will go into details with President Putin... to ensure that the Russian military and the IDF coordinate in such a manner as to prevent friction and clashes between us", Netanyahu added. "This has succeeded up to now and it is important that is also succeed in the future". 

In Moscow, Prime Minister Netanyahu told President Putin that "the greatest threat to stability and security in the region comes from Iran and its proxies. We are determined to continue our vigorous action against the attempts by Iran, which calls for our destruction, including its attempts to entrench militarily in Syria". 

Qods force commander Soleimani described Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's 25 February trip to Tehran as a "celebration of victory", adding that "you saw how Assad hugged the [Supreme] Leader with love, like a son who has been departed from his father. This is not a minor thing". Soleimani also assessed that "the most secure borders of our country is the common border with Iraq, and our friends are ruling the country". 

Previewing a trip to Moscow, Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated that "the focus of our talks will be the Iranian entrenchment in Syria. We are taking action against it; we are attacking their bases. We will continue to take action against it. This is what I will discuss with the [Russian] President [Vladimir Putin]". Netanyahu added that "we will continue to act until we get the Iranians to leave Syria because Iran is threatening to destroy Israel and we will not allow it a base close to our border". 

President Rouhani maintained that "we have achieved good victories in the political and international stages, and we have done great things in the region, parts of which were on the shoulders of the IRGC, the foreign ministry and the economic sectors". He added that the 25 February visit of President Bashar al-Assad "indicates that if we stand by each other, we will be successful". 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad traveled to Tehran for meetings with senior Iranian officials. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei asserted that "Syria... managed to stand strong against a big coalition of the U.S., Europe and their allies in the region and victoriously come out of it". He also warned that "the question of a buffer zone in Syria that the Americans are trying to create is one of their dangerous plots that must be firmly rejected and opposed". "Iran and Syria", Khamenei added, "are strategic allies and the identity and power of Resistance depends on their continuous and strategic alliance, because of which the enemies will not be able to put their plans into action". President Rouhani pledged that "Iran will stand by the Syria government and people like before". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "yesterday, we heard a senior Iranian official say 'Iran has achieved 90 per cent of its goals in Syria'. This is incorrect. It is correct that they are trying and it is correct that we are blocking them. Last month another Iranian official said that they are only 'advising' Syria. The world hears very many Iranian lies". "I have a clear message to the Iranian regime that wants to destroy Israel", Netanyahu continued. "Israel will continue to act as necessary in order to block Iranian military entrenchment in Syria". 

Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary, Ali Shamkhani, maintained that "we will stay in Syria and fight against terrorism as long as the legitimate Syrian government would make such requests". Addressing Israel's airstrikes, Shamkhani posited that "Israel is clearly taking steps to serve the interests of terrorists and to counter the Syrian government and army". "We severely responded to the [Israeli] attack on T4 and dealt a heavy blow to them", Shamkhani remarked. "We have made arrangements to protect our red line in the area of human casualties caused by any act of aggression and invasion". He also predicted that "we will soon witness a major upheaval in upgrading the deterrent power of resistance in Syria. I believe that the Zionist regime's officials, particularly their military and intelligence officials, are well aware of this issue. The method for tackling their Zionist regime's attacks on Syria and the axis of resistance in 2019 will be significantly different from the combat methods in the past". "We have accomplished more than 90 per cent of our objectives [in Syria]", Shamkhani maintained. "Thus, the Israeli punitive strikes have had no strategic impact and the resistance has pressed ahead with its activities".  

The White House announced that following the withdrawal of U.S. forces, "a small peacekeeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for a period of time". However, the following day media reports clarified that the figure may actually be 400. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, referring to Israeli airstrikes in Syria, opined that "there is adventurism on Israel's side, and adventurism is always dangerous". Zarif also assessed that a direct clash with Israel was not likely, but added that "we cannot exclude the possibility". 

President Rouhani met with his Turkish and Russian counterparts for discussions on Syria. In a press conference, he suggested that "if the U.S. retreats its forces from Syria, based on our intelligence we know that they will continue to meddle in Syria". Rouhani also posited that "illegal interference in Syria by the Zionist regime [i.e. Israel] is a source of concern for the people of this country and other nations in the region. [The] Israelis bomb anywhere in the region and fly on Lebanese and Syrian soil whenever they wish, and unfortunately, the UN and global authorities are silent about these continued acts of aggression in Syria". 

In an interview with Voice of America's Persian service, Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated that "my concern is not that Iran violates the [nuclear] deal. My concern is that Iran keeps the deal... because I think it paves the way to the nuclear arsenal". "The deal produced megabucks, enormous, a cornucopia of riches", he added. "Where is it? Where's the money? Why are the people of Iran suffering? Because this regime is squandering that money on foreign aggression". Asked about the impact of sanction on Iran's support for regional allies, Netanyahu asserted that "the money is drying out... the deprivation of the money means that they have to cut back both for Hizbollah, the Huthis and Hamas - the 'three H's" - but also in Syria they're cutting back because they don't have it". On Israel's campaign against Iran inside Syria, Netanyahu assessed that it had "by and large" succeeded, but "not completely... they're still there, but they would have been in a much greater presence if we hadn't done it. And in fact, the presence has shrunken somewhat". 

In Warsaw for the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East, Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "what is important about this meeting - and it is not in secret, because there are many of those - is that this is an open meeting with representatives of leading Arab countries, that are sitting down together with Israel in order to advance the common interest of combating Iran". Initial translations of those comments referred to "war with Iran", rather than "combating Iran", which Foreign Minister Zarif quickly seized on as reflecting "Netanyahu's illusions". 

Secretary Pompeo, in Warsaw for the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East, described the proceedings as "absolutely historic... the first time in a quarter of a century that you had the prime minister of Israel in the same room talking about threats in the Middle East with senior Arab leaders from all across the Middle East". "This gathering is certainly about Middle East peace and stability," he explained. "You can't talk about that without talking about the threat from the Islamic Republic of Iran, whether it's Hizbollah, Hamas, the Houthis - I call them the three H's - whether it's their work against the Iraqi government... whether it's what they're doing in Syria today". Pompeo also remarked that "we don't expect the Iranian people to support the U.S. We expect them to take care of their own country... we want the Iranian people to have the opportunity to live in a prosperous, peaceful society and one that is controlled by their desires, their wishes. And if we can get that, I am very confident that these behaviours that we see in Iran will change dramatically". On Yemen, Pompeo stressed that "we have two problems - three problems really. The first problem is al-Qaeda... the second problem is Iran continuing to fund the Huthis... it provides missiles to the Huthis that they launch into airports in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates". 

During a visit to an Israeli naval facility, Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "it is impossible to show everything but the missiles that you see behind me can go very far, against any enemy, including Iran's proxies in our region". "We are constantly working according to our understanding and the need to prevent Iran and its proxies from entrenching on our northern border and in our region in general", Netanyahu added. "We are doing everything necessary". 

En route to Warsaw for the Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East, Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "we operate very many means and very many elements against the Iranian aggression, against their attempts to arm themselves with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Time and again we have exposed their terrorist actions in Europe. Time and again we have blocked their attempts to entrench in Syria, day after day". "Our relations with countries in the region, except Syria, are all very good... the reality is that these relations are becoming tighter", Netanyahu added, going on to opine that "the holding of this conference in which Israel, the U.S., various countries around the world and from the region sit down in one place, in one hall and discuss one topic which, in my opinion, is the most important for our national security, is a very important achievement". 

Syrian state media claimed that Israel had shelled and fired missiles at sites in and around Quneitra. 

In remarks to a ministerial meeting of the counter-ISIS coalition, Secretary Pompeo maintained that "the drawdown of [U.S.] troops [from Syria] is essentially a tactical change - it is not a change in the mission. It does not change the structure, design or authorities on which the campaign has been based". Pompeo added that "in addition to this coalition's laser-like focus on defeating ISIS, we're committed to the following series of things. First, a political solution in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254. The removal of all Iranian-led forces from Syria". 

In remarks to a ministerial meeting of the counter-ISIS coalition, President Trump indicated that "the U.S. military, our Coalition partners and the Syrian Democratic Forces have liberated virtually all of the territory previously held by ISIS in Syria and Iraq. It should be formally announced sometime probably next week that we will have 100 per cent of the caliphate". He went on to state that "as countries in the region and across our Coalition step up their commitments, as we continue to destroy the remnants - that's all they have, remnants. But remnants can be very dangerous". 

Iranian SNSC Secretary Ali Shamkhani warned that Israel's "continued aggression against Syria, its actions against the army and the resistance forces and violation of the country's territorial integrity is unacceptable... in case of continued acts, the measures foreseen for deterrence and for a crushing and proportional response will be activated to give a lesson to the liar and criminal Israeli rulers". 

Previewing a 21 February trip to Moscow, Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated that "it's very important that we continue to prevent Iran from entrenching in Syria. In many ways we've blocked that advance and we're committed to continue blocking it, preventing Iran from creating another war front against us, right here opposite the Golan Heights. This is the main subject I will be discussing with President Putin". 

Ahead of a ministerial meeting of the counter-ISIS coalition, a senior U.S. official noted that "we're entering a very critical phase in which we need to expand the diplomatic cooperation to assist the populations in Iraq and north-eastern Syria recover from ISIS' rule but also maintaining significant pressure on ISIS as it increasingly turns to insurgent tactics to destabilise both north-eastern Syria and Iraq". Another official further indicated that "our three top priorities [in Syria]... continue to be to secure an enduring defeat of ISIS, to see the exit of all Iranian-commanded forces from the entirety of Syria and to reach a political settlement of the conflicts under UN Security Council Resolution 2254". A third diplomat asserted that "we can't turn a blind eye towards the malign activities of Iran throughout the region", adding that "we expect Iran to fully respect the sovereignty of Iraq and other regional states, to cease their destabilising activities and to refrain from actions that enflame sectarian tensions". 

Prime Minister told his cabinet that "in Iran today they are marking 40 years since the Islamic revolution and are trying to boast about the new missile. Iran openly declares its intention to destroy the State of Israel. I have a clear message to the tyrants of Tehran: we know what you are doing and where you are doing it. We will continue to take action against Iran with all the tools at our disposal in order to ensure the security and future of Israel". Netanyahu also met with a delegation of UN ambassadors, and asserted to them that "a great shift has taken place in the Middle East. That shift is the rise of the aggressive theocracy of Iran that seeks to conquer the Middle East, eliminate Israel and dominate many other parts of the world". "Iran has proxies", Netanyahu continued. "One of them is Hizbollah... they actually control the government of Lebanon. It means that Iran controls the government of Lebanon. It's important to send this very powerful message just as we stop the terror tunnels coming into Israel, we will stop all the aggression; from Lebanon or from Syria or from Iran itself". 

The U.S. intelligence community found that "Iran seeks to avoid a major armed conflict with Israel. However, Israeli strikes that result in Iranian casualties increase the likelihood of Iranian conventional retaliation against Israel". 

Following discussions between Prime Minister Netanyahu and senior Russian officials, his office reported that "among the issues discussed were Iran and the situation in Syria, and strengthening the security coordination mechanism between the militaries in order to prevent friction". 

A senior IRGC official warned that "our strategy is to wipe Israel off the world's political geography, and Israel seems to be approaching this reality by its evil actions". "If Israel does anything that leads to a new war", he added, "certainly it will be the kind of war that will result in their elimination, and the occupied territories will be retaken".  

Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that "the main enemy that we face is Iran. Iran declares its intention to destroy us with nuclear weapons, which we are committed to thwarting. But Iran is also building forces around us. It wants to squeeze us". Citing three Iranian "bases" - in Lebanon, in Gaza, and in Syria - Netanyahu maintained that "we are committed to fighting all of these... we are facing Iran and its proxies on these three fronts".

Prime Minister Netanyahu warned that "our enemies who seek to destroy us should know that Israel's clenched fist will reach all those who seek our ill and we will settle accounts with them". 

Syria's UN envoy asked the Security Council whether "drawing the attention of the war-makers in this Council require[s] us to exercise our legitimate right to self-defence and respond to Israeli aggression on Damascus International Airport by responding the same way on Tel Aviv Airport?" 

Prime Minister Netanyahu affirmed that "last night the air force strongly attacked Iranian targets in Syria after Iran launched a missile from there at our territory". "We will not ignore such acts of aggression as Iran attempts to entrench itself militarily in Syria and given explicit statements by Iran that it intends to destroy Israel", Netanyahu continued, adding that "whoever tries to hurt us - we hurt them. Whoever threatens to destroy us will bear the full responsibility". 

A senior Iranian military official maintained that "our current and future generations [in the Iranian air force] are impatient and fully ready to confront the Zionist regime and eliminate it from the earth", going on to say that "our future generations are learning required know-how for the promised day to destroy Israel". 

The Israeli military held discussions with Russian counterparts on "advancing and improving the de-confliction mechanism between the two countries in the northern arena and the IDF's activities against Iranian entrenchment and the Hizbollah organisation's rearmament efforts in Syria". 

The IRGC's commander warned Israel to "fear the day when Iranian precision missiles hit you and take revenge of all the blood of oppressed Muslims which you have shed". "Iran will keep in Syria all the military and revolutionary advisors, and equipment and weapons which aim to train and empower Islamic resistance forces and support oppressed people of the country", he pledged, adding that "we do not take into account your ridiculous threats. You know that if we have chosen to wait against your hostile measures, some considerations lie behind it". In related comments, Iran's diplomatic spokesperson advised Prime Minister Netanyahu to "know your limits". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that "the most important thing that happened in the last year in our region is the decision by President Trump to move out of the [Iran nuclear] agreement. This has caused a tailspin in Iran's economy. What the nuclear deal did was fuel Iran's coffers, and from these coffers, they put it right into Syria, right into Hizbollah, right into Hamas". "The second most dramatic thing that happened", Netanyahu continued, "is our military activity in Syria to deprive Iran from basing itself militarily against us in Syria". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "there is one central threat: Iran and its terror proxies. We have acted carefully and responsibly to thwart efforts by those who wish to annihilate us to become stronger. We did this by blocking the nuclear deal with Iran and reimposing sanctions. We had to penetrate through Iranian lies, as Iran lies all the time. They lied about the nuclear deal, and we exposed that by uncovering the secret nuclear archive from Tehran. They are lying now, saying that they are launching an ostensibly innocent satellite into space, but in fact, they are aiming to accomplish the first stage for an inter-continental missile in defiance of all international agreements. We fully support the U.S.' unwavering objection to this aggressive act". "Another step we have taken to protect Israel", he continued, "is disrupting Hizbollah's attempts to acquire precision-guided munitions, destroying Hizbollah's tunnels in the north and those of Hamas in the south, and above all, preventing the Iranian military entrenchment in Syria". Citing an Iranian official's recent remarks about Iran's advisory role in Syria, Netanyahu said: "I advise them to get out of there fast, because we will continue with our resolute policy, as we have promised and as we are doing, fearlessly and relentlessly".  

A senior Iranian military official indicated that "as far as terrorists are in Syria and the country asks help from Tehran, Iran will continue its advisory presence in Syria". 

Secretary Pompeo affirmed that "the roughly 2,000 uniformed soldiers that are in Syria today are going to be withdrawn. That activity is underway. We’re going to do so in an orderly, deliberate way, a way that protects America’s national security, a way that allows us to continue the important mission that they were on. The counter-terrorism mission, the effort to make sure that the destruction of ISIS is not only complete but that their resurgence is not possible, our efforts to counter the threat from terrorism stemming from the Islamic Republic of Iran – those are all real missions. The tactical change we’ve made in the withdrawal of those 2,000 troops is just that, a tactical change. The mission remains the same". 

Confirming Israeli strikes against what he described as "an Iranian weapons warehouse at the international airport in Damascus", Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that "if necessary, we will step up these attacks". He also indicated that operation "Northern Shield", along the Lebanon border, had come "to a successful close". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "we worked with impressive success to block Iran's military entrenchment in Syria. In this framework, the IDF attacked Iranian and Hizbollah targets hundreds of times. We worked together against the manufacture of precision weapons in Lebanon. We worked to dismantle Hizbollah's tunnels weapon in Lebanon, in Operation 'Northern Shield'". "Just in the last 36 hours", Netanyahu revealed, "the air force attacked Iranian warehouses with Iranian weapons at the international airport in Damascus. The accumulation of recent attacks proves that we are determined more than ever to take action against Iran in Syria, just as we promised". 

Via Twitter, President Trump indicated the U.S. was "starting the long overdue pullout from Syria while hitting the little remaining ISIS territorial caliphate hard, and from many directions. [We] will attack again from existing nearby base if it reforms. Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds. Create 20-mile safe zone..." He went on to add that "[we] do not want the Kurds to provoke Turkey. Russia, Iran and Syria have been the biggest beneficiaries of the long-term U.S. policy of destroying ISIS in Syria - natural enemies". 

In letters to the UN, the Syrian government posited that on 11 January Israel "targeted a number of sites in the vicinity of Damascus and its countryside with missiles launched by Israeli warplanes". 

Secretary Pompeo acknowledged that the U.S. goal of removing "every Iranian boot on the ground [in Syria] is an ambitious objective... but it's ours. It is our mission". Withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria, Pompeo explained, "is a tactical change. It doesn't materially alter our capacity to continue to perform the military actions that we need to perform. But even more broadly than that, the campaign to create a better world, to allow the Iranian people to have opportunity and democracy, has lots of pieces to it - economic, financial, diplomatic for sure". He went on to suggest that "the nuclear proliferation risks from Iran are incredibly real... our mission set is certainly to stop the terror regime, to stop the fighting of Hizbollah and Shiite militias and the Huthis... but it has a nuclear component". 

Israel's outgoing military chief of staff reflected that "we operated under a certain threshold until two-and-a-half years ago. And then we noticed a significant change in Iran's strategy. Their vision was to have significant influence in Syria by building a force of up to 100,000 Shiite fighters... they built intelligence bases and an air force base within each Syria air base". Referring to IRGC Qods force commander Qasem Soleimani, Gadi Eisenkot assessed that "his error was choosing a playground where he is relatively weak... we have strong deterrence and we have justification to act". "The force we faced over the last two years was a determined force", Eisenkot continued, "but not very impressive in its capabilities". He went on to add that "as we push [the Iranians] in Syria, they transfer their efforts to Iraq". 

Secretary Pompeo pledged that "in Syria, the U.S. will use diplomacy and work with our partners to expel every last Iranian boot". "There will be no U.S. reconstruction assistance for areas of Syria held by Assad", he added, "until Iran and its proxy forces withdraw and until we see irreversible progress towards a political resolution". 

Secretary Pompeo underscored that "we strongly support Israel's efforts to stop Tehran from turning Syria into the next Lebanon" going on to say that "the U.S. fully supports Israel's right to defend itself against the Iranian regime's aggressive adventurism". "We will continue to ensure that Israel has the military capacity to do so decisively", he added.

Secretary Pompeo remarked that President Trump has "made a commitment. We're going to withdraw our uniformed personnel, uniformed guys, 2000 roughly folks on the ground. We're going to withdraw them from Syria". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu told National Security Advisor John Bolton that "President [Trump] walked away from the dangerous Iran deal and re-imposed sanctions... that's important to America, to Israel, to the world, and everyone who wants to stop Iranian aggression respects that deeply". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding "developments in Syria, including in light of the U.S.' plans to withdraw its troops... the parties reaffirmed their mutual determination to strengthen coordination through military and diplomatic channels". 

A senior U.S. diplomat explained that "concerning Syria, we have no timeline for our military forces to withdraw... the President has made the decision that we will withdraw our military forces from Syria, but that it will be done in a deliberate, heavily coordinated way with our allies and partners". The diplomat went on to assert that "our military posture in Syria may be changing, but our overall goals in Syria remain the same, and key among those is... to see the withdrawal from Syria of all Iranian-commanded forces". 

Prime Minister asserted that "we are acting decisively to thwart all those who seek to endanger us. This is now happening in Syria, against Iran's attempts to entrench itself militarily... it is also happening on the Lebanese border". Netanyahu went on to argue that "the greatest threat from Iran is that of nuclear weapons in the hands of a power which declares that we need to be wiped off the face of the earth... I insisted on the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran and President Trump indeed made the brave decision to re-impose them. President Trump is acting against Iran in the economic sphere and here in Israel we are acting against Iran in the military sphere". 

Secretary Pompeo remarked that "the President is not ambiguous with respect to Syria. Our troops are coming out. The President also made very clear that we needed to continue the counter-ISIS campaign, and we needed to continue to ensure that we did the things to create stability throughout the Middle East. The counter-Iran campaign continues. We'll do all of those things......we will simply do it at a time when the American forces have departed Syria". Pompeo also discussed U.S. sanctions against Iran, stating that while "a well-supplied crude oil market" was a consideration for issuing sanctions waivers, "we want to ensure that we're complying with the requirements that the sanctions on Iran have the ultimate goal which we're trying to achieve: creating an outcome where the Iranian people... can have better lives than they have today under this tyrannical regime". 

President Trump asserted that "Iran is no longer the same country. Iran is pulling people out of Syria. They can do what they want there, frankly. But they're pulling people out. They're pulling people out of Yemen". "When we do all of the things that we've done monetarily to Iran", he added, "Iran is in trouble. And you know what? I'd love to negotiate with Iran. They're not ready yet, I don't think. But they will be. But Iran is a much different country right now... than it was when I took over". Asked about a timetable for pulling U.S. forces out of Syria, Trump responded that it would occur "over a period of time. I never said I'm getting out tomorrow. I said we're pulling our soldiers out, and they will be pulled back in Syria, and we're getting out of Syria... but we're getting out very powerfully". 

President Trump asserted that "ISIS is mostly gone", adding that "we're slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants". 

Iran's military chief of staff posited that "the U.S. pullout from Syria is a humiliating withdrawal", adding that "wherever Americans have been present, they caused insecurity... the [U.S.] exit from Syria and other parts of the region will lead to enhanced security and calm in the region". 

The State Department issued a statement underscoring that "the U.S. fully support Israel's right to defend itself against Iranian regional actions that endanger Israeli national security and the safety of the Israeli people. Iranian support of and supply to terrorist groups in Syria and across the region that have the clear intent and capability to strike Israel are unacceptable". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "we are not prepared to accept the Iranian military entrenchment in Syria which is directed against us. We will act against it vigorously and continuously... we will not be deterred from doing what is necessary". He added that "President Trump's decision to withdraw the American soldiers from Syria will not change our policy. We are standing steadfast on our red lines in Syria and everywhere else". Netanyahu also indicated that "we are eliminating Hizbollah's terrorist tunnels one after the other", referring to operation "Northern Shield" along the Lebanon border. 

During a visit to Iraq, President Trump asserted that "there will be a strong, deliberate and orderly withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria... while maintaining the U.S. presence in Iraq to prevent an ISIS resurgence and to protect U.S. interests, and also to always watch very closely over any potential reformation of ISIS and also to watch over Iran. We'll be watching". The trip drew criticism from Iraqi parliamentarians as well as PMU officials. 

The Syria government filed letters of complaint to the UN regarding 25 December Israeli airstrikes. 

Syrian state media reported that "Syrian air defences confronted hostile missiles launched by Israel warplanes", adding that "the damages of the aggression were limited to a munition warehouse and the injury of three soldiers"; the Israeli military indicated the activation of "an IDF aerial defence system... in response to an anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria". 

U.S. defence officials indicated that overnight Israeli strikes in Syria targeted Iranian arms depots as well as members of Hizbollah, while a Russian military spokesperson argued that "provocative acts by the Israeli Air Force endangered two passenger jets". 

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif opined that "the U.S. has not fought against ISIS at all, and its presence in Syria is not in line with the interests of the Syria nation or agreed by the [country's] government". He went on to state that, following President Trump's decision to pull U.S. forces out of the country, "we do not have sufficient information on the U.S. plans in Syria to adopt a clear-cut stance". 

President Trump announced that "Saudi Arabia has now agreed to spend the necessary money needed to help rebuild Syria". 

Prime Minister told his cabinet that Washington's "decision to withdraw 2000 U.S. troops from Syria will not change our consistent policy: we will continue to act against Iran's attempts to entrench itself militarily in Syria, and to the extent necessary, we will even expand our actions there". He went on to say that "cooperation with the U.S. will continue in full", and assessed that Israel's ongoing Operation "Northern Shield" along the Lebanon border was "meeting its timetable and its objectives".  

Israel's army chief opined that "the American decision to withdraw troops from Syria is a significant event, but there's no need to overstate it... the IDF has been working independently this whole time, including during the period of American and Russian presence". He went on to assess that "the Iranian vision for Syria for the day after [the war]... was to build a force of 100,000 ground troops", adding that "the desire is to build a combined ground, aerial, naval and intelligence capability, really to construct a line of military positions along the Golan".

The Israeli military announced that "our troops spotted armed suspects crossing the Alpha Line into Israel near the Syrian border fence in the Golan Heights. In response, our troops fired towards them". 

President Trump indicated that the U.S. military withdrawal from Syria would be "slow and highly coordinated". 

Reacting to President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria, Iran's Foreign Ministry opined that "in principle, the deployment and presence of U.S. forces in the region from the outset was a wrong, irrational and provocative move that created tensions". A senior Iranian military official also weighed in saying that "the Americans have come to the conclusion that they can exercise power neither in Iraq and Syria nor in the entire region". 

President Trump asserted that "on Syria, we were originally going to be there for three months, and that was seven years ago - we never left... now ISIS is largely defeated and other local countries, including Turkey, should be able to easily take care of whatever remains". 

Elaborating on his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria, President Trump asserted that "getting out of Syria was no surprise... Russia, Iran, Syria and others are the local enemy of ISIS. We were doing there [sic] work. Time to come home and rebuild". He went on to state that "Russia, Iran, Syria and many others are not happy about the U.S. leaving... because now they will have to fight ISIS and others, who they hate, without us." 

Explaining the U.S. decision to withdraw from Syria, Secretary Pompeo stressed that "the primary mission was to go take down the ISIS caliphate. That is at the very tail end of completion. And we have ISIS remnants in lots of pockets around the world". He added that the U.S. "intends to continue that counter-terrorism campaign, continue the fight against ISIS, whether it stems from Syria or other places". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated that Israel was "continuing our efforts to neutralise the terror tunnels [along the Lebanon border]", and added that "we will continue to take very strong action against Iran's attempts to entrench itself in Syria. In neither of these sectors do we intend to lessen our efforts; we will intensify them, and I know that we do so with the full support and backing of the U.S."

President Trump announced that "we have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump presidency", while a White House statement indicated that "we have started returning U.S. troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that "we are committed to fighting the [Iran] nuclear agreement also with operations and actions and diplomatic moves... we are striking Iran and Syria and of course the U.S. is striking Iran economically. We are working to shrink this body which is responsible for almost all of the security problems that the State of Israel has". He added that "we are fighting the arms of Iran and Hizbollah... they [i.e. Hizbollah] planned to have thousands of precision missiles and they have a few dozen at best". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu revealed that in conversations with President Trump and Secretary Pompeo, "the American administration told me that it is the president's intention to withdraw their forces from Syria. They made it clear that they have other ways of expressing their influence in the area". Netanyahu went on to say that "this is, of course, an American decision. We will study its timetable, how it will be implemented, and - of course - its implications for us. In any case we will take care to maintain the security of Israel and to defend ourselves in this area". 

An Israeli military delegation met with Russian counterparts in Moscow to update them on operation "Northern Shield" and consult about "the improvement of the two militaries' deconfliction system in the norther region". The IDF indicated that it would "continue operating to prevent Iranian entrenchment and the arming of Hizbollah in Syria". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated that "our red line is survival. We do what is necessary to protect the State of Israel against the Iranian regime that openly calls for the annihilation of the Jewish state". Netanyahu added that "I'm not ruling out doing anything that we need to do to defend ourselves. For the moment Israel's military is the only military... that is directly engaging the Iranian forces. We're doing that in Syria and pulling them back". He went on to say that "we're going to stop things... when they're small. So we meet Iran head-on in Syria and if we need to we'll do whatever else we need to do to protect ourselves". 

A senior IDF official reportedly assessed that "Iran is reducing its activities in Syria in response to its unpopularity at home". 

Prime Minister told Israel's diplomatic corps that "the exposure of Hizbollah's terrorist tunnels on the northern border is part of an effort, which is not just military, to block the tunnels threat. But it is also a public diplomacy, economic and diplomatic effort to impose increased sanctions Hizbollah, to designate all subdivisions of Hizbollah as one organisation". "It is also necessary", Netanyahu continued, "to increase sanctions on Iran, which is behind this organisation and is also behind Hamas' similar attempts". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu told his cabinet that "we will continue the operation [Northern Shield] until... the tunnel threat in the north is neutralised. At the same time we are working in the intelligence sphere in order to denounce Hizbollah and Iran and to increase sanctions against both of them". Netanyahu also detailed his earlier conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating that "I told President Putin that we are continuing our policy: we will not allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria. We will continue to take action against the precision weapons in Lebanon, and we will complete the operation to foil the tunnels threat". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated that "we've been effectively fighting [against Iranian entrenchment in Syria], and I have to say that as a result of our efforts there's been a reduction of dozens of per cents... at least 24 per cent in the Iranian forces in Syria, and as a result of American sanctions there's also been a similar reduction in the budgets that go there". 

The Israeli military stated that "during a Syrian surface-to-air missile launching, one launch was identified towards an open area in the Golan Heights". The IDF subsequently "found remnants of what seems to be a Syrian anti-aircraft missile fired during last night's incident". 

Citing military sources, Syrian media reported that "air defences intercepted hostile targets over the al-Kiswah region [south of Damascus] and downed them". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu identified three key security arenas for Israel: Gaza, the West Bank, and the northern arena including Syria and Lebanon. "We are continuing to take action to thwart the establishment of an Iranian military presence in Syria", Netanyahu noted, "and Hizbollah's precision weapons project in Lebanon". 

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot assessed that "the fact that their abilities [in Syria] are far from what Iran and terror groups desired is the result of high-quality, ongoing operational activity" by Israel. He also pledged that "the IDF will continue to thwart these efforts [by Iran and Hizbollah], while preserving the security situation in the north in the long-term". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that "from the information we have, the amount of Iranian weapons transfers to Hizbollah through Syria has significantly dropped since the downing of the Russian plane" in September. 

Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the U.S. vote against a draft UN resolution critical of Israel's presence in the Golan Heights, asserting that "Israel will always remain on the Golan Heights, and the Golan Heights will always remain in our hands". 

A senior Israeli defence official indicated that the Golan Heights "sector still poses many complex challenges... we are well aware of Iran's increasing attempts to establish itself militarily in many areas of Syria. We see how the Iranians are trying to transfer weapons to Hizbollah in Lebanon through Syria. We know that Hizbollah is trying to establish terrorist infrastructures on the Syrian Golan Heights, near our border". "The IDF", he added, "will not allow this to happen". 

The U.S. special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, laid out U.S. objectives in Syria as "the enduring defeat of ISIS, a re-invigorated and irreversible political process... and de-escalation of the conflict that will include all Iranian-commanded forces departing from the entirety of Syria". Jeffrey elaborated that "on getting Iran out, that is basically part of a process. It's not a military goal of the U.S., it's not a mission of U.S. military forces... you will not have a lasting peace in Syria if Iran is doing the kind of power projection policies out of Syria that it has done through Hizbollah in southern Lebanon and done through the Huthis in northern Yemen". 

Asked about Iranian withdrawals near the Golan Heights, Foreign Minister Zarif asserted that "There were no Iranian forces in southern Syria to begin with", adding that "this applies to Lebanese Hizbollah as well... their presence was temporary and meant to fight terrorism". 

Russia's ambassador to Israel described the notion of ending Iran's military presence in Syria as "an unrealistic request", adding that "as far as we know, the Iranian government does not plan to attack Israel first". He went on to offer that "if there are concerns on the Israeli side, we are ready to listen. And if there are grounds for these concerns, we could take measures in contacts with our Iranian and Syrian partners". 

Commenting on the prospect of Israeli strikes following the delivery of Russian S-300 missiles to Syria, a senior Syrian military official assessed that while "we cannot say that this probability has been reduced to zero... the probability of this aggression achieving its goals has been minimised". 

The U.S. special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, indicated that "in the past, Russia has been permissive in consultations with the Israelis about Israeli strikes against Iranian targets inside Syria. We certainly hope that permissive approach will continue". 

The U.S. special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, opined that the "Iranians are part of the problem not part of the solution" in Syria, and noted that the U.S. was "contesting more actively Iran's activities particularly in Iraq, Syria and Yemen". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu met with the U.S. special representative for Syria engagement, James Jeffrey, and "discussed developments in Syria and efforts against Iranian aggression". 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov remarked that "military operations can't resolve Israeli security concerns but will only help increase regional tensions". 

A senior Russian defence official asserted that "it is advisable for 'hot heads' to adequately assess the current situation in the region and refrain from provocative actions on the territory of Syria". 

A senior Israeli official revealed that "the IDF have attacked in Syria, including after the [17 September] downing of the Russian plane". 

In remarks alongside U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, Prime Minister Netanyahu posited that Iranian aggression was manifest "in every part of the Middle East. We see it... in our norther border in their attempts to entrench militarily in Syria, their attempts to bring deadliest weapons to Lebanon, to launch aggression through their proxies in Gaza and elsewhere". "Pressure is the only thing that arrests the forward movement of the Iranian nuclear program", Netanyahu argued, "and pressure is the only thing that rolls back Iran's aggression in the region". 

A senior U.S. diplomat asserted that "we want to see the Iranians leave Syria... and frankly, even the Russians tell us that's their goal. So there seems to be some consensus that the Iranians and their forces inside Syria should leave Syria". 

The Quneitra border crossing was reopened.  

Secretary Pompeo asserted that Iran's goals in Syria "have included expanding the reach of its Revolutionary Guard, gaining an entrenched position near the Golan Heights and, ultimately, establishing a second front from which proxies like Hizbollah can terrorise the Israeli people". Pompeo went on to say that "defeating ISIS, which was once our primary focus, continues to be a top priority, but it will now be joined by two other mutually reinforcing objectives. These include a peaceful and political resolution to the Syrian conflict and the removal of all Iranian and Iranian-backed forces from Syria". "If Syria doesn't ensure the total withdrawal of Iranian-backed troops", he added" it will... not receive one single dollar from the U.S. for reconstruction". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "today we see what is happening over the border - Iran's attempts to establish a military presence and the aggression of terrorist fanatics. We will continue to stand strong and determined against all of these... as long as it depends on me the Golan Heights will always remain under Israeli sovereignty because otherwise we would have Iran and Hizbollah on the shores of the Kinneret". Netanyahu went on to say that Israel "will continue to act with determination against Iran's attempts to open an additional front against us on the Golan Heights, and in Syria we will act against all attempts to transfer lethal weapons to Hizbollah in Lebanon". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated that he and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, "agreed to meet soon in order to continue the important inter-military security cooperation" between Israel and Russia. "Israel will act at all times to prevent Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria and to thwart the transfer of lethal weapons to Hizbollah in Lebanon", he added. 

Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated his argument "that all nations must join together to press the Iranian regime to fully dismantle its nuclear weapons program. They're still trying to hide... they're trying to get there through the back door". Netanyahu went on to assert that Iran should "stop using Syria as a base for attacks against Israel. Syria and Lebanon. And ultimately they have to get out of Syria altogether". "We will continue to block Iran's efforts to use Syria and Lebanon as forward bases for attacking Israel", he added. 

Russian officials confirmed the transfer of S-300 missile systems to Syria. The delivery "included 49 pieces of equipment, including radars, control vehicles and four launchers". Secretary Pompeo subsequently labeled the move "a very serious escalation". 

Commenting on Israeli strikes against Iranian and Iran-linked targets in Syria, Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, stated that "Iran is in Syria to fight terrorism and extremism and help stabilise the situation. That we are not there to fight others, but we've said all the time that we defend ourselves. And we believe that people should avoid provoking". 

Iran's SNSC secretary, Ali Shamkhani, remarked that Israel "is seeking to consolidate the crisis in Syria and has taken actions in direct support of terrorist groups by targeting the Syrian army and counter-terrorism forces, but if it continues [its attacks] it will face regrettable reactions". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu warned Iran that Israel "will continue to act against you in Syria", where he maintained "Iran is trying to establish permanent military bases against us and has already launched missiles and drones into our territory". 

The U.S. special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, assessed that Iran's involvement in Syria reflects "capabilities that we would associate with power projection over the region. Very similar to what we've seen in southern Lebanon, very similar to what we have seen in northern Yemen". He went on to suggest that "a military presence long term, including power projection - which the Iranian seem to be aiming for - is a little bit more than their minimum goals and seems to be frosting on the cake. What we're trying to suggest is let's put pressure on them to leave". "We're not going to force the Iranians out of Syria", Jeffrey added. "This is all about political pressure". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu met with President Trump in New York, where they "discussed their continued close coordination on countering the malign influence of Iran". Netanyahu underscored that "everybody should understand that Israel will continue to do what is necessary and defend ourselves against Iranian aggression in Syria, in Lebanon, anywhere else". 

In a statement, Israel's security cabinet indicated that it had "instructed the IDF to continue to take action against attempts by Iran to establish a military presence in Syria while continuing the security coordination with Russia". 

In remarks en route to the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Netanyahu assessed that "in the past three years Israel has been very successful in preventing both the establishment of an Iranian military presence in Syria and the attempt to transfer lethal weapons to Hizbollah in Lebanon". He went on to indicate that Israel "will continue to take action to prevent the establishment of an Iranian military presence in Syria and we will continue the security coordination between the IDF and the Russian military". 

Russia's defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, announced that "a modern S-300 air defence missile system will be supplied to the Syrian armed forces within two weeks". The U.S. national security advisor, John Bolton, characterised the plan as a "significant escalation", and stressed that U.S. forces would remain in Syria "as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders".    

The Israeli military pledged that it "will continue to operate in accordance with the directives of the Israeli government against Iran's incessant attempts to establish itself in Syria and to arm the terrorist organisation Hizbollah with lethal and accurate weapons". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu advised Hizbollah's leader to "think not twice but twenty times because if he confronts us he will receive a crushing blow that he cannot even imagine". 

In a call with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Netanyahu underscored Israel's determination "to prevent Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria as well as the attempts by Iran... to transfer to Hizbollah lethal weapons for use against Israel". 

In a statement on the 17 September downing of a Russian plane in Syria, Secretary Pompeo indicated that the "unfortunate incident" highlighted the need "to end Iran's provocative transit of dangerous weapons through Syria". 

Israel conducted airstrikes against a Syrian military facility where the IDF claimed "systems to manufacture accurate and lethal weapons were about to be transferred on behalf of Iran to Hizbollah in Lebanon". Syria shot down a Russian aircraft during the incident, killing fifteen. In a subsequent statement, Russia's defence ministry claimed that "the Israeli pilots used the Russian plane as cover and set it up to be targeted by the Syrian air defence forces", while the IDF pointed the finger at "the Assad regime... Iran and the Hizbollah terror organisation" for what it characterised as an "unfortunate incident". 

Recalling Israel's experience in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "the political leadership [at the time] made a grievous mistake by not allowing a preemptive strike. We will never repeat this mistake". Netanyahu went on to assert that "Israel is constantly working to prevent our enemies from arming themselves with advanced weaponry. Our red lines are as sharp as ever and our determination to enforce them is stronger than ever".  

Syrian media reported "an Israeli missile attack on Damascus International Airport". 

In remarks at the trilateral summit on Syria, President Rouhani urged that "the presence and illegal interference of the U.S. in Syria, which has led to the continuation of insecurity in that country, must be ended immediately". 

The U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, remarked that he "can't imagine a circumstance where the Golan Heights will be returned to Syria. I cannot frankly imagine a circumstance where the Golan Heights is not part of Israel forever.... I think you'd put Israel at a great security disadvantage by giving up the high ground of the Golan Heights". Friedman added that "it is completely unacceptable to the U.S. that Iran remain in Syria. We're working on lots of different pathways to hopefully achieve that goal". 

A senior U.S. official indicated that "the new policy [in Syria] is we're no longer pulling out by the end of the year". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu affirmed that "Israel is determined to prevent Iran and its proxies from establishing a military presence in Syria. We are taking strong action against these attempts and against the attempts to produce precision weaponry in all sectors, near and far. We will continue to take such action on behalf of the security of Israel". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that Israel "will not allow Iran to establish a presence in Syria. We will take action to thwart its intention of arming its proxies and its forces with deadly weapons to be aimed at us. The terror and aggression of Iran on Syrian territory, or anywhere else, will be met with the iron first of the IDF". 

During an encounter with a senior Russian military official, Iran's defence minister, Amir Hatami, estimated that "victories [against terrorists in Syria] are only halfway, and operations need to continue in full coordination, and the military achievements need to be protected in all other arenas". 

Syria accused Israel of being behind airstrikes "targeting a number of military sites in Tartous and Hama". 

The Israeli military revealed that it had "struck more than 200 targets in Syria and fired 800 missiles and mortar shells" since early 2017, primarily against Iran-related targets. Pegging Iran's Syrian expenditures at $17 billion, a senior IDF official also assessed that Iran had "slowed the process" of its presence since mid-year.

The Israeli defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, indicated that Israel is "monitoring everything that is happening in Syria and, regarding Iranian threats, we are not limiting ourselves just to Syrian territory. This also needs to be clear". In response to a question regarding Iraq, Lieberman added that "we will contend with any Iranian threat, and it doesn't matter from where it comes... Israel's freedom is total. We retain this freedom of action". 

Israel's defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, assessed that "the Iranians have reduced the scale of their activity in Syria", but cautioned that "they are continuing to negotiate with the Assad government on the creation of garrison outposts in Syria". Lieberman went on to opine that "there is heavy economic pressure on [the Iranians]. The budget for Iranian forces in the Middle East was $2 billion, and even today less money is going to Syria and Hizbollah". 

ImageSat International published satellite imagery purportedly showing "that Iran is building various infrastructures which are related to... surface-to-surface missiles development and production" in Syria. 

In remarks delivered at the Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that "our enemies know very well what Israel is capable of doing. They are familiar with our policy. Whoever tries to hurt us - we hurt them". Netanyahu went on to assert that Israel "will continue to apply pressure on the dangerous, extremist regime in Iran", adding that the Israeli military "will continue to take strong and determined action against Iran's attempts to station forces and advanced weapons systems in Syria". Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, retorted that "Iran, a country without nuclear weapons, is threatened with atomic annihilation by a warmonger standing next to an actual nuclear weapons factory. Beyond shameless in the gall". 

Israel's intelligence minister, Yisrael Katz, described the 26 August cooperation agreement between Syria and Iran as "a test for Israel", adding that "our response will be loud and clear". Katz went on to warn that Israel "will react in Syria with all our might against any Iranian target that threatens Israel, and if the Syrian army's air defence intervenes against us, it will pay the price". 

Elaborating on the 26 August cooperation deal between Iran and Syria, a senior Iranian military official revealed that "the continuation of presence of Iranian [military] advisors in Syria was one of the points of the defence and technical agreement". 

Iran and Syria signed a military cooperation agreement which Iran's defence minister, Amir Hatami, declared would "define the areas of presence, contribution and cooperation between Tehran and Damascus". Hatami also indicated that "Iran's private sector has high enough to capacities to help the Syrian people and government in the reconstruction process", and suggested that Iran "can help Syria to develop military equipment". 

A senior Russian diplomat asserted that "we treat Iran's steps to furnish its own security and activities with great respect, specifically in Syria at the invitation of this country's legitimate government. However, this does not mean that there are no prospects or room for further efforts in this sphere". 

The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, suggested that "all foreign forces staying [in Syria] without an invitation from the Syrian government must be eventually withdrawn". 

The U.S. national security advisor, John Bolton, asserted that "our interests in Syria are to finish the destruction of the ISIS territorial caliphate and deal with the continuing threat of ISIS terrorism and to worry about the presence of Iranian militias and regular forces". Bolton added that "we're going to see what we and others can agree in terms of resolving the conflict in Syria. But the one prerequisite there is the withdrawal of all Iranian forces back in Iran". 

Syrian media reported that the country's "air defences... destroyed a hostile target west of Damascus". 

The Israeli military announced that it had carried out an airstrike against seven suspected ISIS members after "their movements were tracked in the southern Golan Heights near the area of the triangle of Israel, Jordan and the DMZ of Syria". The military added that it "holds the Syrian regime responsible for everything that takes place within Syria and all violent acts or threats aimed at Israel from Syria".  

A senior Russian diplomat revealed that "Iranian forces have actually been withdrawn from [the southern de-escalation zone in Syria] in order not to irritate the Israeli administration", and asserted that "there are no units of heavy equipment and weapons that could pose a threat to Israel at a distance of 85km from the line of demarcation". 

Russia's ambassador in Israel remarked that Iran is "playing a very, very important role in our common and joint effort to eliminate terrorists in Syria. That is why, for this period of time, we see as non-realistic any demands to expel any foreign troops from the entirety of the Syrian Arab Republic". The ambassador also acknowledged that "it is not up to Russia to give Israel freedom to do anything, or to prohibit Israel to do anything". 

An Iranian official opined that following "liberation of Quneitra" by the Syrian regime, "the liberation of the occupied Golan Heights is possible with Syrians' efforts". 

The Israeli military announced that "two Patriot missiles were launched at a Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet that infiltrated about one mile into Israeli airspace". Syrian media maintained that the plane was "striking terrorists' hideouts... in Syrian airspace" when intercepted.

As a high-level Russian diplomatic and military delegation arrived for talks in Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu asserted that "Israel insists that [the 1974] Separation of Forces Agreement between it and Syria be honoured", and affirmed that "Israel will continue to act against any attempt by Iran and its proxies to establish a military presence in Syria".

During a high-level diplomatic and political visit to Israel, Russian officials reportedly proposed a 100-kilometre buffer between the Golan ceasefire line and Iranian forces, which Israel turned down.

As Israel facilitated the evacuation of Syrian White Helmets from south west Syria, Prime Minister Netanyahu underscored that "we will not stop taking action in Syria against Iran's attempts to establish a military presence there".

Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, "that Israel would continue to act against the establishment of an Iranian military presence in Syria".

Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, asserted that "we have good communication and coordination with Russia and with the Syrian government and we will continue to do so. Our objective here is very clear, that is our objectives and the objective of the Russian Federation and that is to fight terrorism and extremism". 

An Iranian official opined that "neither Russians nor Europeans are in a position to decide on the withdrawal of Iranian military advisors from Syria". 

Syrian media reported that Israel "launched a missile attack on one of the Syrian army military positions north of Al-Nairab Airport" near Aleppo. 

The U.S. national security advisor, John Bolton, opined that "the president has made it clear that we are [in Syria] until the ISIS territorial caliphate is removed and as long as the Iranian menace continues throughout the Middle East". 

A senior Iranian official remarked that "Iran's presence in Syria and Iraq is advisory and if their respective governments want it, we will leave immediately". He went on to suggest that "the U.S. is seeking to divide Iraq into three parts and Syria to five". 

The Israeli military announced that "the Patriot aerial defence system launched a missile towards a Syria UAV flying over the demilitarised zone. The UAV was most likely intercepted". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that Israel had "a clear policy that we do not intervene and we have not intervened [in Syria]. This has not changed. What has troubled us is ISIS and Hizbollah and this has not changed. The heart of the matter is preserving our freedom of action against anyone who acts against us. Second, the removal of the Iranians from Syrian territory". 

A senior Iranian official opined that "the current situation is very critical and the world is under the hegemony of a wayward person: the U.S. president who defies international regulations. Therefore it is necessary that the cooperation [between Iran and Russia] be increased". 

Israel intercepted a Syrian drone that breached Israeli airspace.

Russia's defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, remarked that "one can't help thinking that the U.S.' chief objective in Syria is to prevent the situation from stabilising, prolong the conflict, and undermine the country's territorial integrity by creating enclaves not controlled by the government in Syria's remote regions". 

The Israeli military "targeted three military posts in Syria in response to the infiltration of the Syrian UAV into Israel that was intercepted by the IDF earlier [in the day]". Syrian media reported that the targets of the airstrikes were in Quneitra governorate. 

Israel's defence minister, Avigdor Liberman, revealed that "we are seeing efforts by figures associated with the [Iran-led] axis, with permission from the regime, to establish terror infrastructure...in the Syrian Golan Heights". Liberman added that "this is unacceptable, and we will act forcefully against all terrorist infrastructure that we see and identify in the area".

The secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, asserted that "the Iranian presence in Syria is not appropriate and will not be tolerated... we are going to undertake along with our partners a comprehensive program to diminish that activity".

Syrian media claimed that "the army air defence... confronted an Israeli aggression on T4 airport". 

The IDF confirmed that it had "targeted a Syrian military post from which a shell was launched and fell in the buffer zone, adjacent to and east of the security fence". 

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, assessed that the notion of an Iranian pullout from Syria "is absolutely unrealistic", adding that "it will not be possible to solve regional problems without participation of its key countries". 

The Israeli military tapped Major General Nitzan Alon to serve as the IDF's inaugural "project director for Iran issues". 

UNHCR estimated that 270,000 Syrian had been displaced in south-western Syria since mid-June. 

Prime Minister Netanyahu remarked that "at a time when the U.S. is economically striking at the Iranian regime, we are working to prevent Iranian forces and those of its proxies from establishing a military presence anywhere in Syria, and we will continue to do so".

The Israeli military revealed that "following a situation assessment in the Northern Command, it was decided to reinforce the 210th Division in the Golan Heights with additional armour and artillery troops".

The U.S. national security advisor, John Bolton, remarked that "there are possibilities for doing a larger negotiation [between Russia and the U.S.] on helping to get Iranian forces out of Syria and back into Iran". Bolton added that "I don't think Assad is the strategic issue. I think Iran is the strategic issue". 

The IDF chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot, met with his U.S. counterpart to discuss "several issues of mutual concern including Iran's malign activities in the region and the broader regional security situation". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu pledged that Israel "will continue to take strong action against Iran's plan to turn Syria into a deadly missile base against us". He went on to assert that "we will continue to operate at close and longer ranges, both openly and in secret, against those who seek our lives". 

The Israeli military revealed that it had distributed humanitarian aid to Syrian civilians near the border.   

In a Persian-language Twitter post, Israel's secretary of defence, Avigdor Liberman, asked Iranians "do you know where your money goes?" He went on to suggest that Iran had committed $2.5 billion to local allies in 2018, and expended $14 billion in Syria. 

Syrian media claimed that "two Israeli missiles fell in the vicinity of Damascus international airport". 

The UN estimated that over 45,000 Syrians had been displaced as a consequence of fighting between the regime and rebels in Syria's south-western Daraa governorate.

Israel launched a surface-to-air missile at a drone approaching its airspace from Syria; the Patriot did not hit the drone, which subsequently withdrew. 

The U.S. reportedly advised southern rebels that although "we are still advising the Russians and the Syrian regime not to take any military action that violates the de-escalation zone in Syria's south west... you should not base your decision on the assumption or expectation of military intervention by us". 

An Israeli reconnaissance drone crashed in Hader.

A U.S. official revealed that Israel was behind the 17 June strike near Al-Bukamal which reportedly caused 60 casualties from the Syrian military and Iraqi PMUs. 

Prime Minister Netanyahu warned that "we will take action - and are already taking action - against efforts to establish a military presence by Iran and its proxies in Syria, both close to the border and deep inside Syria. We will act against these efforts anywhere in Syria".

Bashar Assad asserted that Iran had advisers but no bases in Syria, adding that "there's nothing that prevents the existence of such bases as long as Iran is an ally as is Russia". He also stated that no decision had been taken on Syrian forces moving south.

The State Department stated "that any Syrian government military actions against the south west de-escalation zone risk broadening the conflict", adding that Washington "will take firm and appropriate measures in response to Syrian government violations in this area". 

A senior Israeli military official assessed that the Iranians "are trying to increase their efforts and capabilities to launch rockets and establish terror cells that can penetrate into Israel and harm communities in the Golan Heights". 

Syria reportedly strengthened its air defences, including with Pantsir S1 surface-to-air missiles, close to the Golan Heights. 

Israel's defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, estimated that the Hizbollah presence in southern Syria was "a few dozen... who serve as advisers or goaders". 

A senior IRGC official claimed that after Syria fired rockets against Israel in early May, "a message was sent to [Israel] that if they responded, we would raze to the ground the heart of Tel Aviv and they were forced to shut up and haven't done a damn thing since then". 

Prime Minister Netanyahu estimated that "the Iranian military presence right now in Syria includes about 18,000 Shiite militia... Iran wants to increase the number of such militia to 80,000 and to basically conduct a religious campaign in largely Sunni Syria". 

Prime Minister Neyanahu began trip to Europe to discuss Iran's nuclear program and "blocking Iran's aggression in the region, especially its attempts to establish a military presence against us in Syria and attack us from there".

A senior Syrian official cautioned against accepting "statements on an agreement about the south of Syria unless the U.S. withdraws its forces from the al-Tanf area". 

Iran's national security advisor asserted that Syria's firing of missiles against Israel in May, which Israel claimed was carried out by Iran, indicated "that the era of 'hit-and-run' has ended and the [Israeli] regime should be responsible for its behaviour". 

Bashar Assad maintained that "we do not have Iranian troops [in Syria]. We never had... we have Iranian officers who work with the Syrian army as help". Assad also claimed that there had been "not a single Iranian" casualty in Israeli strikes. 

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared that "we are acting against an Iranian military presence anywhere on Syrian territory. An Iranian departure from southern Syria alone will not suffice". 

Iran rejected claims that it was conducting indirect diplomacy with Israel over developments in the Golan Heights. 

Israel reportedly informed Russia that its "red lines" regarding the presence of Iran and pro-Iranian forces in southern Syria had been expanded to the entire country. 

The U.S. warned that it "will take firm and appropriate measures in response to Assad regime violations" of the de-escalation zone in south-western Syria.  

Syrian media reported missile strikes in the vicinity of an airport outside Homs. 

A senior Syrian diplomat asserted that "whether Iranian forces or Hizbollah withdraw or stay in Syria is not up for discussion". 

An Israeli minister suggested that "the most painful response you can give the Iranians is to recognise Israel's Golan sovereignty - with an American statement, a presidential proclamation, enshrined (in law)". 

The Israeli defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, remarked that "we have no interests in a conflict on Syrian soil" but added that "if we see a continuation of [Iran's] attempts to entrench itself, we will act again". 

An Israeli military official, revisiting the events of 10 May, asserted that "the Iranians fired 32 rockets". He added that "we are continuing with our operational mission against the arming of Hizbollah and Iranian moves to establish themselves in Syria". 

A senior Iranian official argued that "what happened in the Golan Heights inflicted very heavy damages on the Zionist regime". 

A Syrian diplomat maintained that "Israel's claim that it had targeted Iranian assets in Syria [on 10 May] has no substance". 

Iran's Foreign Ministry lambasted Israeli strikes in Syria as "a blatant violation of Syria's sovereignty and an aggressive move". 

Israel claimed that it had "identified approximately 20 rockets that the Iranian Quds forces launched at IDF forward posts on the Golan Heights".

Israel took credit for the 9 April airstrike against T4 and other actions in Syria as part of "Operation Chess". 

Israel's defence minister advised Assad to "get rid of the Iranians, get rid of Qasem Suleimani, and the Quds Force... their presence will only cause problems and damages".

Israel, responding to what it claimed were rocket launches by Iran's Quds Force, carried out a wave of airstrikes in Syria. Iranian officials disavowed involvement in the rocket launches.

Israel reportedly fired two missiles at targets on the outskirts of Damascus. 

The Israeli military reported "irregular Iranian activity in Syria", and warned that "any aggression against Israel will be met with a severe response".

An Israeli minister warned that "if Syria President Bashar Assad continues allowing the Iranians to operate out of Syria, it would be the end of him, the end of his regime". 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained that Israel is "determined to block Iran's aggression against us, even if this means a (military) conflict. Better now than later". 

Iranian media rejected reports of significant Iranian casualties following 29 April missile strikes in Hama and Aleppo. 

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, maintained that "Iran is trying to gobble up one country after the other. Iran must be stopped. Its quest for nuclear bombs must be stopped. Its aggression must be stopped

Israel's UN ambassador estimated that "there are over 80,000 extremists from all over the Middle East who are members of Shiite militias in Syria under Iranian control".

Israel's defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, pledged that "every outpost in which we see Iran positioning militarily in Syria, we will destroy, and we will not allow this no matter what the price". 

An Iranian official warned Israel that following the 9 April airstrikes, "the punishment of the aggressor is certain but...Iran would decide on the time, place and way of giving a response to this 'act of evil'". 

Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, asserted that he does "not believe that we are headed towards regional war but... Israel has continued its violations with international law, hoping to be able to do it with impunity because of the U.S. support". 

The war of words between Israel and Iran continued to heat up. In Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Netanyahu warned that "we hear the threats from Iran. IDF fighters and the security branches are ready for any development. We will fight anyone who tries to harm us". Netanyahu added that "we will not be deterred by the cost and we will exact a price from those who seek our lives". Meanwhile in Tehran, the IRGC deputy commander, Hossein Salami, declared that "hands are on the trigger and missiles are ready and will be launched at any moment that the enemy tries to carry out its sinister plots against our lands". 

The Israeli military released imagery of purported Iranian military bases in Syria.

Iran's foreign ministry warned that Israel "will sooner or later receive the necessary responses which will make them regret their deeds. They cannot do something and escape punishment". 

Responding to the recent U.S.-led strikes in Syria, the leader of Hizbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, argued that the U.S. "knows well that going towards a wide confrontation against the regime and the army and the allied forces in Syria could not end... any such confrontation would inflame the entire region". 

Responding to the U.S.-led strikes in Syria, Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanhyahu, stated that "it should be clear to President Assad that his reckless efforts to acquire and use weapons of mass destruction, his wanton disregard for international law and his provision of a forward base for Iran and its proxies endanger Syria". 

Responding to the suspected chemical weapons attack in Douma on 7 April, the U.S., the United Kingdom and France struck targets in Damascus and Homs that the Pentagon characterized as "Syrian chemical weapons infrastructure". According to President Trump, "the purpose of our actions...is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons".

According to the Israeli military, "the Iranian UAV that entered our territory on February 10... carried explosive material and its mission was to carry out a destructive operation". 

A senior Hizbollah official downplayed the possibility that potential U.S. retaliation following the suspected chemical attack in Douma on 7 April might escalate "into a direct American-Russian clash or a wide state of war". He added that "if the assault on Syria has a very limited scope, then it's expected that reactions from the concerned sides in Syria will be tied to the Syrian arena". 

The leader of Hizbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, blamed Israel for the 9 April airstrikes against the T4 airbase in Syria and called it "a historic mistake... which brings [Israel] into direct confrontation with Iran". 

Commenting on the possibility of U.S. strikes in Syria, Russia's envoy to the UN asserted that "the danger of escalation is higher than simply Syria because our military are there... so the situation is very dangerous". 

Following the 9 April airstrikes against the T4 airbase, the Israeli defence minister, Avigdor Lieberman, remarked that "I don't know who attacked in Syria... but I know one thing for certain: We will not allow Iran to set up shop in Syria, regardless of the cost". 

Russia accused Israel of being behind missile strikes against the T4 airbase east of Homs; there were seven Iranian fatalities. A senior Iranian official warned that the incident "will not remain unanswered". 

A U.S. military official indicated that in the event of Iranian missile strikes against Israel, "we will have fighting forces moving within 72 hours". 

An Israeli newspaper reported that "at least seven Sunni rebel organizations in the Syrian Golan are now getting arms and ammunition from Israel, along with money to buy additional armaments". 

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned that Israel "will act if necessary not just against Iran's proxies but against Iran itself".   

The Israeli government raised concerns that a Syrian government deployment of chemical weapons near the border could carry into their territory.      

Israel downed what it maintained was an Iranian drone, declaring the breach of its airspace a "severe violation of Israeli sovereignty" by Iran. Israel responded with airstrikes into Syria targeting the launch facility, reportedly losing one F-16 in the operation. It subsequently launched an additional series of airstrikes, including against "4 Iranian military targets" in Syria. Iran's foreign ministry dismissed suggestions of its involvement as "ridiculous", insisting that the country "has basically an advisory presence in Syria". 

Crisis Group published a major report on the tensions playing out between Israel, Hezbollah and Iran in Syria. 

Israel reportedly carried out airstrikes against a Hizbollah weapons depot in Syria.

 In testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a top state department official, David Satterfield, asserted that the U.S. "seek[s] to not only diminish Iranian foreign influence in Syria generally, but to protect our allies from the very real threat Hizbollah poses in southwest Syria to our allies".

The Syrian military claimed that Israel carried out missile strikes and fired rockets against Syrian targets, including a suspected Hezbollah weapons facility. Israeli media previously reported that the government had held "extremely significant discussions" regarding developments on its northern front. 

Israel reportedly struck a Syrian military facility in the Damascus suburb of Jamraya.

Israel reportedly struck a purported “Iranian military base” in Al-Qiswah, Syria.

Prime Minister Netanyahu warned that Israel “will not allow [Iran] to entrench itself militarily in Syria as it seeks to do for the express purpose of eradicating our state”. 

Israeli defence officials announced that “the Syrian Armed Forces violated the 1974 ceasefire by strengthening a military post in the demilitarised zone between Syria and Israel. In response, an Israeli tank fired a warning shot towards the area”. This followed a similar incident on 18 November in Hader, located in the demilitarised zone between Syria and Israel.

Israel shot down a drone in the demilitarised zone between Syria-Israel.

The U.S., Russia and Jordan reached a Memorandum of Principles regarding the ceasefire.

Israeli aircraft struck an alleged Hizbollah rocket factory near Homs in Western Syria.

Israel publicly disclosed the name of Munir Ali Naim Shaiti, the man it alleged was responsible for Hizbollah operations in the Golan area; local press speculated that the announcement was meant as a warning that Israel may target Shaiti.

Israeli defence officials held Hizbollah responsible for rocket attacks into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights two days earlier. Israel carried out airstrikes on targets in Syria as a response. 

Israel downed a reconnaissance drone, possibly made by Iran, in the Golan Heights demilitarised zone between Israel and Syria.

Russian military police took up positions in south-western Syria subsequent to the U.S.-Russian-Jordanian ceasefire agreement reached in July.