With Russia providing substantial defenses for their allies in Syria, repeated Israeli strikes have been limited in certain ways. Though the details were never totally clear, Israel and Russia made certain deals on what was and wasn’t off limits.

But top Israeli officials are telling the press that they intend to escalate their strikes against Syria, particularly against Iranian-linked targets, in the days to come, and that they intend to do so even if they violate deals with Russia in some cases.

The rationale behind specific Israeli strikes in Syria is often unclear, and officials rarely admit to specific strikes, let alone why they were carried out. In general, however, Israel attacks Syrian military targets, and especially any they’ve claimed have secret Iranian links in the past.

Yet last week, Israeli officials were admitting that Iran’s activity in Syria is greatly declining. It’s not clear, then, why these same officials are eager to pick up attacks against Iran.