This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows the rubble of a house that according to the Syrian authorities was attacked by an Israeli airstrike, in the Damascus suburbs of Hajira, Syria, Monday, April 27, 2020. The Syrian military and state media said Monday that Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon fired missiles toward areas near the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing three civilians. An opposition war monitor says four Iran-backed fighters were also killed. The military says Syrian air defenses shot some of the missiles down. The reports said the attack happened around dawn on Monday. (SANA via AP)
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says Iran is slowly pulling out of Syria in response to Israeli strikes, as well as growing domestic discontent over the economy and its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Israel and Iran have for years been engaged in a shadow war that has recently been playing out in Syria, where Israel says Iran has been boosting its military presence along the frontier. Amid the chaos of the Syrian civil war, Israel has carried out repeated strikes aimed at pushing back Iranian forces. The military says the apparent Iranian retreat is ”not massive” but also “undeniable.”
