Israel said it was not targeting an Iranian general in a deadly Jan. 18 airstrike on Syria.

Citing an unnamed Israeli senior security source, Reuters reported that Israel believed its strike in Quneitra, close to the border on the Golan Heights, was hitting only low-level guerrillas who were aiming to attack Israel.

Gen. Mohammed Ali Allahdadi and at least five Hezbollah members were killed in the strike, including Jihad Mughniyah, the son of the late Hezbollah military leader Imad Mughniyah.

Allahdadi was in Syria to advise its army in the country’s nearly four-year civil war, according to Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency.

The Israeli source declined to be identified because Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it was behind the airstrike, according to Reuters. His remarks are believed to be an attempt to contain an escalation of violence with Iran or Hezbollah.

Both Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to retaliate against Israel.

Israel reportedly has prepared for possible retaliation by deploying Iron Dome anti-missile defense systems in the north. — jta