Six people were killed yesterday in an Israel Air Force strike south of Damascus, the Syrian Human Rights Committee said today, Walla! News reports. An IDF spokesperson confirmed that the air force had attacked Islamic Jihad targets in the area in response to 30 rockets fired at Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip the same day. The air force also attacked Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip.
Following a quiet night in southern Israel and a status assessment, the IDF closed roads and areas on the Gaza Strip border today out of concern about sniper fire and anti-tank missiles in response to the killing of Islamic Jihad members in Syria in the air strike. In accordance with orders issued by the IDF Home Front Command, 55,000 students in the area around the Gaza Strip, Ashkelon, and Netivot stayed home from school today.
There were no casualties in yesterday's rocket barrage from the Gaza Strip aimed at communities in southern Israel, but a home in Sderot was lightly damaged.
An IDF spokesperson said yesterday that the Adliyah area on the outskirts of Damascus, where Islamic Jihad targets had been attacked by the Israel air force, was "an important anchor for the organization… Islamic Jihad conducts weapons research and development there, and adapts weapons for production in the Gaza Strip and to local production in Syria." The IDF spokesperson added, "In addition, tens of kilograms of AP, used as rocket fuel, are produced there every month. The terrorist organization's members from both the Gaza Strip and the northern front receive technical training there."
At the same time, underground infrastructure and sites used to store raw materials for rocket production in Rafah were attacked. The headquarters of Islamic Jihad's Khan Yunis division, where its members are trained to use anti-tank missiles and military equipment possessed by the terrorist organization's naval force, was also attacked. Another attack struck Islamic Jihad's military training site in Beit Lahia.
An IDF spokesperson stated, "The attacks were in response to the attempted terrorist attack at the border fence and the launching of rockets at Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. The IDF will respond firmly to terrorist actions by Islamic Jihad that endanger Israel's citizens and violate its sovereignty."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 24, 2020
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