The Israeli newspaper "Jerusalem Post" revealed that the Israeli Air Force carried out more than a thousand air strikes on targets in Syria during the past five years, in order to prevent Iran from expanding and sending advanced weapons to the Lebanese Hezbollah.
"Under the leadership of outgoing Air Force Commander Amikam Norkin, 1,200 targets have been hit with more than 5,500 bombs during 408 missions over the past five years," the newspaper said in a report on Wednesday.
The report indicated that in 2021 alone, dozens of air operations were carried out using 586 bombs against 174 targets.
In contrast, 239 missiles were fired at Israeli planes during the operations, but the vast majority of these anti-aircraft missiles missed their targets, according to the report.
The newspaper added that the aim of the attacks was to "prevent Iran from establishing itself on Israel's northern border, and smuggling advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon."
Israel had established a coordination mechanism with Russia to prevent the interception of Israeli aircraft while carrying out its attacks in Syria.
And in the middle of last month, the Syrian regime acknowledged that Israel launched a strike with several surface-to-surface missiles from the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting points south of Damascus, days after Israeli air and ground bombardments on the outskirts of the Syrian capital killed a Syrian soldier and wounded 5 others.
Israel rarely confirms the implementation of its strikes in Syria, but it constantly reiterates that it will continue to confront what it describes as Iran's attempts to consolidate its military presence in Syria.