Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised on Wednesday his country’s air force hours after its warplanes struck targets near the Syrian capital Damascus. He also repeated his frequent pledge that Israel will not allow Iran to establish a permanent military presence in Syria, and that the US withdrawal from Syria will have no effect on Israeli activities in the neighboring country. Speaking at a graduation ceremony for a new crop of air force pilots, Netanyahu did not directly comment on the airstrike, but said Israel is continually acting against Iran "including these days." But he said the Israeli air forces capabilities are unmatched, and can reach arenas "near and far, very far." Three Syrian soldiers were wounded in overnight Israeli strikes near Damascus, regime media reported Wednesday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the airstrikes targeted three positions south of Damascus that are arms depots for Lebanons Hezbollah group and Iranian forces. Russia condemned the attack, saying they had directly threatened two civilian flights, Interfax news agency reported. The Observatory said the Israeli missiles were launched from above the Lebanese territories and targeted western and southwestern Damascus rural areas. The Lebanese foreign ministry slammed Israel for its use of its airspace. Caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil instructed Lebanon’s envoy to the UN to submit a complaint to the Security Council against the “dangerous Israeli violations that threaten stability in the region”, the foreign ministry said in a statement. The statement also said Israel’s raids posed a danger to commercial air traffic that could have caused a major civil aviation disaster.