The source of the recent rocket fire from Syrian territory remains uncertain, and no one has claimed responsibility for it.
While fringe Palestinian organizations and even the Islamic State have been suggested as possible culprits, their involvement has not been confirmed. To prevent further attacks, the IDF launched strikes against the suspected launch sites using artillery and UAVs.
IDF retaliates in Syria
(Footage: IDF spokesperson unit)
In addition, the IDF also carried out further attacks that same night. Fighter jets were dispatched to strike a radar station located north of Damascus and a major base for Syria's military division 4, which is under the command of Maher Assad, the brother of the Syrian President and could be seen as a message to the regime, to cease cooperating with Iran and their cohorts.
These attacks were in the general vicinity of Damascus, but not where rockets were believed to have been fired from
The reason for the IDF's attacks, authorized by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was to deliver a forceful message of deterrence to the Syrian government, which allows different organizations and militias, some of whom are financially backed by Iran, to fire rockets into Israel.
In fact, this action stems from the same operational mechanism Defense Minister Gallant implements when it comes to rockets launched from Gaza - To hurt the organizations that fund and operate the attacks, as opposed to focusing solely on those who physically carried them out on the ground.
Division 4, is loyal to Iran and is considered by Russia as a hindrance to normalization, supporter of the drug trade and a bother.
The Syrian regime is in a process of reconciliation with Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan and has been invited by Egypt to take part in the forthcoming Arab League session, indicating a return to the Arab world's embrace. That said, this process could be severely compromised should the Syrians continue allowing Iranian influence to permeate throughout the country.
As Russian presence in Syria subsides, as much of their forces were now needed to reinforce the Kremlin's efforts on the Ukrainian front, leaving a vacuum that the Islamic Republic is more than happy to fill.
The Israeli military was still probing the possibility that the Islamic State was responsible for the rocket launches. The group is believed to be present in Syrian villages and towns near the Syria-Jordan-Israel border triangle where the incident occurred, and their fundamentalist Sunni Muslim background suggests a motivation to defend al-Aqsa.