Operation House of Cards
The May 2018 Israel–Iran clashes were a series of short military confrontations between Israeli and Iranian forces in Syria. On 10 May 2018 the Israeli military stated that Iranian forces in Syria launched 20 rockets against Israeli army positions on Western Golan Heights. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the attack occurred after Baath, a town in the demilitarised zone, was bombarded by Israeli forces. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) some missiles were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome system, while some fell short in Syrian territory.
| May 2018 Israel–Iran clashes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Israeli–Syrian border incidents and the Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian civil war | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
| Israel | ||||
| Units involved | |||||
| Quds Force | Israeli Air Force | ||||
| Strength | |||||
| Unknown | 28 aircraft | ||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
|
27 killed (SOHR claim) 4 killed (Syrian claim) 4 SAM systems (Israeli claim) | None | ||||
Following this, Israel launched an extensive strike in Syria against Iranian targets, called Operation House of Cards (Hebrew: מִבְצָע בֵּית הַקְלָפִים; mivtza beit haKlafim ) targeting Iranian military bases in Syria. Syria state media called the attacks an act of Israeli aggression on Syrian territories. Iran denied Israeli claims, stating it had neither fired rockets against Israel nor had any military bases in Syria. During the operation, the Israel Air Force destroyed a number of Syrian air defense batteries, including a Pantsir-S1 system, a S-75 Dvina system, a S-200 missile system radar, and a Buk missile system.
The clash came during rising tensions between Israeli and Iranian forces in Syria, including threats by the leader of Iran's Quds Force in Syria, Qasem Soleimani, to attack Israel. The incidents also came just a day after the US announced it was withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear deal.