Israel has not responded to allegations it was behind the attack
Both Russia and Syria accused Israel of carrying out deadly airstrike on an Iran-operated air base in Syria's central Homs province overnight Monday, charging that the attack was launched from Lebanese airspace.Russia's defense ministry said that two F-15 Israeli warplanes launched eight missiles at the Tayfur (or "T4") airbase from Lebanese airspace. It said that five of the eight missiles were shot down by air defense systems, but the remaining three struck "the Western part of the airbase.""Two F-15 planes of the Israeli army hit the airbase between 03:25 am and 03:53 am Moscow time (0025 GMT and 0053 GMT) with the help of eight missiles controlled remotely from Lebanese territory, without entering Syrian air space," the ministry was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.A Syrian military source cited by the state-run SANA news agency also accused Israel of launching the attack, saying that "the Israeli attack on the T-4 airport was carried out with F-15 aircraft that fired several missiles from above Lebanese territory."The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued no official response to allegations that it was behind the attack that reportedly killed 14 people, among them regime-allied Iranian forces.
SANA first reported the raid as a "suspected US attack," but later withdrew all reference to America as Washington and France both denied involvement.Several pro-Assad Syrian news outlets and Lebanese outlets later indicated that Israel was likely behind the strike.Lebanon's Al-Masdar news site cited a Syrian military source as saying jets entered Syrian airspace from Lebanon’s Beqa’a Valley, a route that foreign press reports say is typically used by Israel to launch strikes in Syria.The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen outlet, meanwhile, claimed that an Israeli surveillance aircraft was spotted over the base at the time of the strike.A military spokeswoman for Israel declined to comment on the strike which targeted the same airbase hit by Israel in February after an Iranian drone breached its airspace.After bombing Iranian units in Syria in retaliation, an Israel F-16 was shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft fire in one of the conflict's most notable escalations.
Israel then carried out what it called "large-scale" raids on Syrian air defense systems and Iranian targets, which reportedly included T-4.
A number of strikes on targets in Syria have been attributed to Israel, though it rarely confirms such raids.Israel has repeatedly warned that it will not accept its arch-foe Iran entrenching itself militarily in Syria.Construction Minister Yoav Galant, a former IDF major general and a member of Israel’s security cabinet, reiterated Israel's "red lines" in Syria though he declined to comment directly on Monday's strike.“In Syria many forces, from various bodies and coalitions, are operating. Each one says what it says and denies what it denies,” Galant told Israel Radio.“We have clear interests in Syria and we set red lines. We will not allow weapons to pass from Syria to Lebanon, and we will not allow the establishment of an Iranian base.”Monday's raid came as worldwide outrage mounted over a reported chemical weapons attack on a rebel-controlled town outside the Syrian capital.Aid groups in Douma, the last rebel-held town in the besieged Eastern Ghouta enclave near Damascus, said that patients showing signs of "respiratory distress, central cyanosis, excessive oral foaming, corneal burns, and the emission of chlorine-like odor" presented themselves after air raids on Saturday.At least 42 civilians were killed in the attack, which the United States, Turkey and the European Union said was likely carried out by the government of President Bashar Al-Assad, who is waging an 8-years-long battle to shore up his family's authoritarian rule.US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron vowed a "strong, joint response" to the reported use of toxic gas in the rebel-held town of Douma, but both countries denied launching the assault.