“Syrian air defences intercepted an Israeli aggression coming from Lebanese airspace,” state media said. Earlier, state media said large explosions were heard.
A Syrian military source was quoted on SANA saying the strikes targeted parts of central and southern areas, without elaborating on the locations, adding they left only material damage.
Not all missiles were shot down and some caused damage.
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights claimed that violent explosions were felt in Damascus and around the city, followed by Israeli strikes on military positions of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
It also claimed that 8 pro-government fighters were killed in the strikes. Some reports don’t mention casualties, while others claim 10 died.
“Air strikes also took place in the south of Homs province and in the border zone between Homs and Tartus,” Observatory chief Rami Abdul Rahman told AFP.
The Israeli army, which rarely acknowledges its strikes in Syria, told AFP it would not comment on “information coming from abroad”.
This is the first strike attributed to Israel in nearly a month, and it coincides with Netanyahu’s struggle to remain in seat. There is no official confirmation from the IDF on carrying out the strike.
Western intelligence sources said Israel’s stepped-up strikes on Syria since last year are part of a shadow war approved by the United States. The strikes are also part of an anti-Iran policy that in the last two years has allegedly undermined Iran’s extensive military power without starting a major increase in hostilities.
There was no immediate confirmation from Israel, which does not generally comment on individual airstrikes in Syria.
This is the first alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria in the past month, with the last such strike reported on May 10.
In the May 10th strike, a young man was injured after an Israeli helicopter allegedly targeted a house in Ain Eltinah, west of the town of Hader in the Quneitra governorate of Syria, east of the border with Israel, according to SANA.
The IDF has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the war in 2011.
source:southfront.org
