Israel carried out airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday after midnight where they attacked targets near Damascus and wounded four soldiers, Syrian state media reported, most recently in a series of raids attributed to the Jewish state.
The state-run SANA news agency said Syrian air defenses had engaged Israeli missiles near the capital Damascus, without giving details of the targets.
SANA said the missiles were fired from the Golan Heights and Lebanese airspace, injuring four soldiers and causing some material losses.
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“Our air defense intercepted the attack and fired most of the missiles,” SANA told a military source. Defense analysts regularly dismiss such allegations by the Syrian regime as empty boasting.
Al-Manar TV of the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon said one of the Syrian anti-aircraft missiles exploded near the border between Lebanon and Syria and was heard in parts of southern Lebanon. It later said the missile crashed near the Lebanese border town of Houla.
The Israeli army did not comment on the late-night strikes, in line with its policy of not confirming or denying its operations in Syria, except for those launched in retaliation for an attack on Israel’s northern neighbor.
The British Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes targeted “military positions” near Damascus.
They later added that the strikes hit several positions near the city and “destroyed a weapons depot belonging to the Iranians.”
It was the first reported Israeli strike in almost a month since an alleged strike at reported weapons depots near Damascus airport.
In February, there were also reports of Israeli strikes in the area of Damascus International Airport, through which Iran allegedly flew advanced ammunition, as well as military sites around the suburb of Damascus el-Kisweh, a longtime base of Iranian operations.
The strikes came days after a consignment of advanced weapons carried by Iraq was bombed by Iraq to eastern Syria.
Since the start of the civil war in 2011, the IDF has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria against Iran’s moves to establish a permanent military presence in the country and efforts to transport advanced, game-changing weapons to terrorist groups in the region, mainly Hezbollah. . .
Tensions have been high in the Middle East over the past few months as Iran and the US team for position ahead of nuclear negotiations.
