The Israeli military said it struck dozens of Iran-linked military targets in Syria on Thursday in response to rocket fire, marking a significant escalation in regional hostilities a little more than a day after the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. 

Israel said the attacks followed a volley of rockets directed at Israeli positions in the Golan Heights, which caused no casualties. 

The Israeli military blamed the attack on Iran's Quds Force, a special forces unit affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, and said this marked the first time that Iranian forces have fired directly on Israeli troops.