Operation House of Cards

Israel's operational focus in Syria expanded as the civil war progressed. In the conflict's early years, Israeli airstrikes primarily sought to prevent Iranian weapons shipments from reaching Hezbollah in Lebanon. As the Syrian government regained territory, Israeli leaders increasingly emphasized preventing Iran from establishing permanent bases and advanced weapons-manufacturing facilities in Syria.[3]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made Israel's posture explicit on May 6, 2018, stating: "We are determined to block Iran's aggression against us even if this means a struggle. Better now than later."[3] On May 8, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Iranian nuclear agreement, shortly before the overnight exchange of fire on May 9–10.[3]

Before House of Cards, Israeli strikes had reportedly killed dozens of Iranian officers and destroyed military assets developed by the IRGC in Syria.[4] The Institute for National Security Studies placed the operation within a broader April–May 2018 escalation in which Israeli attacks on Iranian targets were followed by attempts at Iranian retaliation.[5] Israel had also struck a rocket launcher two days before the main operation, before it could fire. A senior Air Force officer said Iranian forces then changed their arrangements; Israel did not identify the next launcher before it fired but attacked it shortly afterward.[1]

On the night of May 9–10, 2018, rockets were fired from Syrian territory toward Israeli military positions along the Golan Heights in what Israel characterized as a deliberate IRGC Quds Force attack. Initial Israeli accounts described approximately 20 Grad and Fajr-5 rockets launched from the suburbs of Damascus. Four were intercepted by Iron Dome, while the other 16 landed in Syrian territory; no Israeli casualties or damage were reported.[2]

The reported number was later revised. On May 22, Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin said that 32 rockets had been fired, "not 20 as previously reported."[6] A July 2018 Ynetnews account described a salvo of 30 rockets, while the Washington Institute for Near East Policy reported a contemporaneous figure of about thirty projectiles.[7][8]

A Ynet account said the initial barrage was carried out under Iranian command by Hezbollah specialists and Shiite militias using Iranian weapons; a later Ynet report described a local militia loyal to the Quds Force as the launching unit.[1][9] Iran denied firing at Israeli positions, while Syrian media claimed Syria was involved.[3] IDF sources attributed the order to Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, whereas Syrian military sources maintained that Syrian forces had acted independently. Whether Iran notified Damascus in advance remained unknown.[8]

Syrian parliamentary speaker Hammouda Sabbagh called the rocket fire "the beginning of a new era in Syria's struggle against its enemies."[8] Hezbollah's publication Al Ahed claimed the rockets struck Israeli reconnaissance, communications, intelligence, and military-leadership sites. The Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs presented this as Hezbollah's assertion, not as a verified account of damage.[10]

Israel's response, designated Operation House of Cards, began during the night and lasted about an hour and a half, striking more than 50 Iranian targets in Syria.[1] A Russian Ministry of Defense account cited by Ynet said 28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 aircraft took part and fired at least 60 missiles.[1] The Washington Institute separately reported a Russian military claim that Israel fired sixty air-to-surface missiles and ten surface-to-surface missiles.[8]

The operation was not limited to aircraft. The 282nd Golani Artillery Brigade fired shells at targets dozens of kilometers inside Syrian territory. Tamuz guided missiles and tanks were also employed against positions near the border.[7] The use of aircraft, artillery, guided missiles, and tanks made the operation a combined air-and-ground fire campaign.

A later Ynet account said sorties began around midnight and continued deep into the third watch of the night. It reported that approximately 160 Syrian surface-to-air missiles were fired at Israeli aircraft.[9] Air Force commander Amikam Norkin separately said Syrian defenses fired more than 100 missiles during the attacks on more than 50 Iranian targets.[6] A senior Air Force officer said every Syrian battery that fired at Israeli aircraft was destroyed, while the IDF said five Syrian air-defense batteries were attacked.[1]

Precision was a critical concern because some Iranian weapons were positioned close to Russian military facilities and major air-defense batteries. The September 2018 Ynet account noted that a navigation error of only a few meters involving a one-ton bomb could have had severe consequences.[9] A senior Air Force officer said coordination with Russia was maintained, Moscow was informed that Israel would operate in Syria, and coordination with the United States regarding the operation was complete.[1]

The target set included IRGC intelligence centers, weapons depots, storage facilities, observation posts, logistics centers, operations headquarters, and the rocket-launching site used in the initial attack.[2] Israeli reporting said the launcher that fired toward Israel was struck shortly afterward; another launcher had been destroyed two days earlier before it could fire.[1] Military compounds, positions around Damascus, and Quds Force military posts and munitions in the Golan buffer zone were also attacked.[8][3]

Among the major targets was an IRGC-Quds Force weapons depot at Damascus International Airport.[8][3] Satellite imagery published by ImageSat International showed damage to storage facilities near the airport. One warehouse was reported to be approximately 500 meters from the main terminal. ImageSat identified another damaged building as the "Glass House," a five-level command complex reportedly used by Iran to coordinate its military campaign in Syria; vehicles visible around it in September 2017 were absent from imagery dated May 11, 2018, which ImageSat interpreted as evidence that the site had been abandoned.[11]

IDF-published aerial photographs documented damage to Iranian intelligence and logistics installations at Tel Gharba, Tel Maqdad, Tel Kleb, and Nabi Yusha.[12] The CRS listed Quds Force intelligence and logistics centers, facilities at Al-Kiswah, a military base north of Damascus, ammunition depots at Damascus International Airport, intelligence systems and outposts, and positions and munitions in the Golan buffer zone among Israel's stated targets.[3] Independent Syrian media sources reported at least 24 strike targets in Suwayda alone, including radar and air-defense positions.[8]

Syrian air defenses were targeted throughout the operation. Ynet reported that Syrian forces fired missiles including the SA-5 and published IDF video showing the destruction of an S-22 interception system that had attempted to fire at Israeli aircraft.[1] Israel reportedly destroyed five Syrian anti-aircraft batteries of Russian origin.[3] A later Ynet account also listed Iranian command-and-control headquarters, intelligence facilities, advanced surface-to-surface missile depots, and air-defense systems among the assets attacked.[9]

The aircraft were accompanied by unmanned aerial vehicles, and more than 50 locations across Syria were attacked during the series of sorties.[9] The 282nd Golani Artillery Brigade extended the operation's reach to targets dozens of kilometers inside Syrian territory, while Tamuz missiles and tanks engaged positions closer to the border.[7]

No Israeli personnel were killed or wounded during Operation House of Cards, no damage was reported in Israel, and all Israeli aircraft returned safely.[2] Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman declared: "Not one Iranian rocket landed in the State of Israel. Nobody was hurt. Nothing was damaged."[2]

Casualty figures in Syria differed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at least 23 deaths, while the Syrian military claimed three people were killed and two wounded and acknowledged damage to a radar station, an ammunition warehouse, and air-defense units.[13] A separate Ynet report relayed an Observatory figure of at least 28 killed.[1] The CRS recorded a reported toll of 23 without identifying the victims or their affiliations, while the Jewish Virtual Library described the dead as 23 Iranians.[14][15]

Russian officials claimed Syrian air defenses intercepted more than half of the Israeli missiles. The CRS recorded this as a Russian assertion rather than a verified count.[3] Israeli statements instead described the operation's objectives as having been achieved and its aircraft as returning safely.[2]

Israeli officials characterized the operation as a major setback for Iran. Lieberman said the IDF had "damaged nearly all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria," Manelis called it "one of the greatest operations of the Israel Air Force in the past decade," and the IDF said Iranian capabilities had been set back by "many months."[2] A senior Air Force officer nevertheless cautioned that Iran retained rockets in Syria, including weapons with ranges exceeding 40 kilometers.[1]

ImageSat's analysis provided independent visual evidence of damage at the Damascus airport complex. Its comparison of images from September 2017 and May 11, 2018 indicated that the reported "Glass House" command facility had been abandoned after the strikes, although the imagery did not independently establish the operation's complete target list or the full extent of damage claimed by Israeli officials.[11]

Several sources described Operation House of Cards as Israel's largest military action in Syria in decades. The Congressional Research Service called the response larger than any Israeli operation in Syria since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[3] Ynetnews characterized it as the widest Israeli operation in Syria since 1974, while a later Ynet account called it the largest Israeli aerial attack in Syria since that year.[7][9]

The operation was significant for what it represented in Israeli strategy. Israel's stated campaign sought to prevent Iranian military entrenchment in Syria, block transfers of advanced weapons to Hezbollah and Shiite militias, and prevent Hezbollah and Iran from building a military front on the Golan Heights.[4] INSS placed House of Cards within the broader "campaign between wars," a strategy of sustained offensive activity intended to reduce existing and emerging threats while avoiding broader hostilities.[5]

Mako described House of Cards as a turning point in that campaign. Unlike earlier operations focused primarily on weapons smuggling, the May 2018 strikes directly targeted the infrastructure of Iran's military entrenchment in Syria. The account said Israel waited for Iran to act on threats of retaliation following earlier strikes and then attacked more than 50 command, intelligence, missile-storage, and air-defense targets.[4]

The operation reflected a broader shift in Israeli priorities. A campaign initially focused on stopping weapons shipments to Hezbollah had expanded into an effort to prevent Iran from establishing permanent bases and advanced weapons-manufacturing facilities in a neighboring country.[3] The wider campaign extended well beyond House of Cards: the IDF later said that more than 200 Iranian or pro-Iranian targets had been attacked from the beginning of 2017 using 800 bombs and missiles, an amount the report characterized as roughly half that used in a "real" war.[16]

Accounts of Operation House of Cards differ on the size of the preceding rocket barrage, the number of targets struck, responsibility for the attack, its precise date, and the extent of the resulting damage. Many operational details originated in statements by the Israeli, Syrian, or Russian militaries rather than independently reconciled investigations.

Initial Israeli reporting cited approximately 20 rockets.[2] Air Force commander Amikam Norkin later revised the figure to 32, while a July 2018 Ynetnews account described 30 and the Washington Institute reported about thirty.[6][7] Contemporaneous accounts described more than 50 Israeli targets, but Gadi Eisenkot later said 80 targets were struck, and a 2022 Jerusalem Post retrospective reported 100.[17][18] The sources do not explain whether the differing totals reflect revised assessments or different definitions of a target.

Attribution was disputed from the outset. Israel identified the Quds Force as responsible, while Iran denied firing the rockets and Syrian media claimed Syria was involved.[3] IDF sources attributed the order to Qasem Soleimani, whereas Syrian military sources said Syrian forces acted independently.[8] Dates also varied: the Jewish Virtual Library gave May 8, UN Watch gave May 9, and a separate Jewish Virtual Library page gave May 10.[15][19] The CRS treated the confrontation as an overnight exchange spanning May 9–10.[14]

Claims about the operation's effects remained similarly contested. The CRS attributed to Lieberman the claim that Israel hit "almost all" Iranian infrastructure in Syria and treated statements that Iran had been set back for months as Israeli assessments.[3] It likewise recorded, without verification, Russia's claim that Syrian defenses intercepted more than half of Israel's missiles.[3] Reported deaths ranged from the Syrian military's figure of three to Syrian Observatory estimates of at least 23 or 28.[13][1] The CRS reported 23 deaths without an affiliation breakdown, while the Jewish Virtual Library identified 23 Iranians.[14][15]