Syrian air defense systems confronted “Israeli aggression” targeting several different locations in the Damascus countryside, Syrian state TV reported early Wednesday.
Other stories:
According to reports, loud explosions rocked several areas on the outskirts of the Syrian capital.
Sham FM Radio reported that the attack took place in the Al-Kiswah area, where Israel has reportedly attacked several times in the past.
A Syrian security source in Syria told the Arabic-language Sputnik news agency that "air defense systems operated against an Israeli attack on several targets in the Damascus area. The attack was carried out by Israeli Air Force planes using missiles that were launched from Israeli territory in two waves. Syrian air defense systems successfully intercepted most of the Israeli missiles before they hit their targets."
Sputnik also reported that a fire broke out in the area of the attack in Al-Kiswah as a result of an Israeli missile strike.
The previous attack on Syrian soil attributed to Israel occurred two weeks ago and also targeted Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based opposition war monitor, reported at the time that “the Israeli attack was carried out in two waves,” targeting “a Syrian air defense base with active members of Hezbollah” and the international airport area of Damascus.
According to the watchdog, a Syrian interceptor might have crashed in a residential area in Damascus, and ambulances were dispatched to the scene.
Early last month, the Aleppo International Airport was shut down following an attack attributed to the Israeli Air Force.
Opposition sources in Syria claimed that in the attack, the third in eight days, targets belonging to pro-Iranian forces near the airport were struck. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attack destroyed a Hezbollah weapons depot.
In the days leading up to the attack in Aleppo, Syria has attributed two other attacks on its soil to Israel. One of the attacks reportedly destroyed a Hezbollah arms depot in the Homs Province. The attack came half a day after Iran’s foreign minister met with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and observed from the Lebanese border with Israel.
Just days later, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israel had shelled a Hezbollah observation post near the Syrian border. According to the report, over 20 shells were fired at the post located west of the village of Khader in the Quneitra province, but no casualties were reported.