Israeli raids inside Syria since 2013

Israeli Prime Minister has vowed not to let Iran entrench itself militarily in the war-torn country

BEIRUT (AFP) - Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in neighbouring Syria since 2013, targeting regime forces along with their allies Iran and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed not to let Iran -- which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- entrench itself militarily in the war-torn country.

Here is a recap of some of the major reported Israeli strikes, which the Jewish state does not always directly confirm.

First strikes 

In January 2013 Israeli planes hit a military complex near Damascus suspected of holding chemical agents, according to a US official.

Israel later implicitly confirms the strike, for the first time since the start of the Syrian war in 2011.

In May 2013, Israel strikes the Jamraya scientific research centre near Damascus, a weapons depot and an aircraft unit, according to a diplomat in Beirut.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor which relies on a network of sources inside the country, says 42 soldiers are killed.

Hezbollah hit 

In January 2015, a raid blamed on Israel on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights kills six Hezbollah personnel and a general from Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

Hezbollah commander Samir Kantar, who spent almost 30 years in Israeli prisons, dies in a raid blamed on Israel near Damascus in December 2015, according to Hezbollah.

In March 2017 Israel says it has targeted "sophisticated" weapons destined for Hezbollah near the central town of Palmyra.

In December 2017, Israeli planes again target the Jamraya research centre in Damascus, along with a weapons depot, according to the Observatory.

Iranians targeted 

In February 2018 Israeli raids hit Syrian and Iranian targets after an Israeli fighter jet crashes under Syrian fire.

In April, Syria and its ally Russia accuse Israel of a dawn bombing raid on a Syrian airbase that kills 14 fighters, including seven Iranians.

Later that month, at least 26 mostly Iranian fighters are killed in a raid Syria says bore the hallmarks of an Israeli operation.

In May 2018 an attack near Damascus, blamed on Israel, kills 15 pro-regime foreign fighters including eight Iranians.

Israel carries out dozens more raids that month on what it says are Iranian targets, as Iranian rocket fire hits the occupied Golan Heights.

At least 27 pro-regime fighters are killed, including 11 Iranians, the Observatory says.

In July, Syria accuses Israel of bombing a military position in Aleppo province. At least nine pro-regime fighters die, including three foreigners.

In September, Syrian air defences responding to an alleged Israeli strike accidentally down a Russian transport aircraft with a crew of 15, sparking tensions between Israel and regime backer Moscow.

Israeli bombs hit several positions near Damascus in November and December 2018. In both cases, the targets are Hezbollah or Iranian weapons depots, the Observatory says.

Israel ‘determined’ 

On January 12, 2019, Syrian air defences shoot down Israeli missiles targeting a transport ministry warehouse at the Damascus international airport, state news agency SANA reports.

Netanyahu confirms the strike and says Israel is "more determined than ever to act against Iran in Syria."

On January 15, he tells Iran to remove its forces from Syria "fast" or face continued attacks.

On January 20, Israel announces its Iron Dome aerial defence system has intercepted a rocket fired from Syria by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force.

In response, Israeli fights jets carry out further strikes inside Syria, targeting Iranian facilities and Syrian aerial defence batteries.

The Observatory says the next day that at least 11 fighters were killed in the raids.