Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should ask Iran to remove its military units deployed on Syrian territory, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Friday (May 11).
Lieberman was speaking after Israel on Thursday (May 10) launched its heaviest barrage in Syria since the start in 2011 of its war, in which Iranians, allied Shi'ite Muslim militias and Russian troops have deployed in support of Assad.
Israel said Iranian rockets were fired at Israeli-held territory in the exchange of fire, adding that 20 Iranian Grad and Fajr rockets were shot down by its Iron Dome air defense system or did not reach targets in the occupied Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria in a 1967 war.
The Quds Force, an external arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, carried out the rocket salvo, Israel said.
Thursday's exchange followed US president Donald Trump announcement he was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
Lieberman spoke during a tour at the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights city of Katzrin.
REUTERS