Israeli fighter jets struck dozens of targets in Syria linked to Iran’s Quds Force, a senior Israeli security official said Wednesday morning.

At approximately 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, Israeli Air Force jets took departed for a series of retaliatory attacks on Iranian military targets in Syria, following rocket attacks from Syria on northern Israel attributed to Iran’s Qud’s Force.

The airstrikes hit more than 20 Iranian targets in Syria, including the Quds Force’s central command center, the Israeli security official said.

The primary objective of the strikes, the official added, was to hit Iranian-backed terrorists operating out of Syria, with a secondary objective of destroying Syrian surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries. Six SAM sites were destroyed in the attacks.

“Other than those, there were another two to three Syrian targets on the Golan front,” the official said.

“In a nutshell, the operation was a major attack on the Quds Force, aimed at giving our aircraft freedom of action [in the area].”

“We’re changing the rules of the game and the equation. We will respond to even relatively small attacks, even if the effect is limited, our response will be very harsh. We will not accept Iran firing at the State of Israel.”

Despite the increased intensity of Israel’s retaliation, the official said the IDF was still not attacking targets in Iran itself, but may strike closer to home if Iranian forces continue attacks on Israel.

“We still haven’t hit and haven’t threatened the head of the Iranian ‘octopus’, but it’s possible to see the attacks moving from the hand to the arm, and approaching the head.”