JERUSALEM, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday that the Israeli airstrike on Syria destroyed most of Iran's military infrastructure in the country.
"We damaged almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria," Lieberman told a conference in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.
"They have to understand: if you give us rain, you will get a flood."
Lieberman said that Israel is not interested in escalation. "We have no interest in conquering Syria. We do not interfere in the civil war. We hope that one day they will stop talking about the destruction of Israel," he said.
Lieberman reiterated an earlier statement issued by the military, according to which the Israeli strike came after Iranian al-Quds forces in Syria fired a barrage of rockets towards Israeli military posts in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
No Iranian rocket hit Israel, Lieberman said. The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted several rockets and the others failed to reach Israeli territory, he said.
No injuries or damage were reported.
Following the rockets, Israel launched a massive air raid, striking some 50 sites in Syria.
A military statement said the attack targeted Iranian military sites, including Iranian intelligence sites, logistics headquarters belonging to al-Quds forces, a military logistics compound in al-Kiswah, south of Damascus, an Iranian military compound north of Damascus, munition storage warehouses of al-Quds at the Damascus International Airport, intelligence systems and posts associated with al-Quds, observation and military posts and munition in the buffer zone.
In addition, the Iranian launcher from which the rockets were launched at Israel was also destroyed.
It was the largest military attack that Israel has carried out in Syria in the recent years.
The military said it "will not allow the Iranian threat to establish itself in Syria. The Syrian regime will be held accountable for everything happening in its territory."
Israel has been threatening for months that it will not allow an Iranian military presence in the territory of its northern war-torn neighbor, were Iranian forces are fighting alongside the Bashar al-Assad army.
Israel was blamed for several recent deadly air attacks in Syria that killed Iranians. Israel did not officially acknowledge it was behind these attacks but it has been making preparations for possible Iranian retaliation for weeks.
In addition, during the eight-year war in Syria, Israel's military has responded to numerous spillovers of fire from the internal fighting near the disputed border in the Golan Heights by attacking Assad's army positions.
U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal on Tuesday has sparked more tensions.
