Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said that it will take substantial time for Iran to replenish after the Israeli attack.
Conricus said that Israel struck back by destroying dozens of Iranian military sites in Syria, as well as Syrian anti-aircraft units that tried unsuccessfully to shoot down Israeli planes.
"We do not know yet the (Iranian) casualty count," Reuters cited him as saying.
"But I can say that in terms of our purpose, we focused less on personnel and more on capabilities and hardware ... to inflict long-term damage on the Iranian military establishment in Syria. We assess it will take substantial time to replenish," the spokesman added.
Israel said that Iranian forces in Syria launched a rocket attack on Israeli army bases in the Golan Heights early on Thursday. The attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights marked the first time Iranian forces have hit Israel from Syria, where they have deployed along with Shi'ite militias and Russian troops to support President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war.
Dozens of Israeli missiles hit a radar station, Syrian air defense positions and an ammunition dump, Syrian state media said, underscoring the risks of a wider escalation involving Iran and its regional allies.
