Syria said it repelled a missile salvo on Sunday from Israel, where police reported that remnants of a Syrian anti-aircraft missile struck a remote town without causing injuries. Israel has in recent months intensified strikes on Syrian airports and air bases to disrupt Iran’s increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Syrian state media said air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles across central parts of the country, downing most of them. A Syrian army statement said missiles that flew over parts of Lebanon’s capital Beirut hit locations in the vicinity of the city of Homs, resulting only in material damage. Israeli warplanes targeted a Syrian air defense battery from which an anti-aircraft missile was launched towards Israel, an Israeli military spokesman said early on Sunday. The warplanes also attacked other targets in the area, while no casualties were reported from the Syrian missile, said the spokesman, Avichay Adraee. The Associated Press has the story:
Israel hit Syria; Syrian missile blasts over Israel
Newslooks- BEIRUT (AP)
Israel carried out airstrikes on areas near the central Syrian city of Homs early Sunday causing material damage but no casualties, the Syrian military said in a statement.
A Syrian anti-aircraft missile exploded over Israeli territory, the Israeli military said, prompting another round of strikes.
Syrian state media quoted an unnamed military official as saying the air defenses shot down some of the missiles fired by Israeli warplanes flying over neighboring Lebanon.
Israeli authorities did not comment on the airstrike on Homs. But the military said one of the Syrian air defense missiles exploded over Israeli territory without causing any damage. Israeli police said the rocket’s remains landed in the southern Israeli city of Rahat.
In response to the rocket, Israeli jets struck the air defense battery from where the anti-aircraft rocket was launched. The military said it also struck other targets, without elaborating.
Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment next door, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of neighboring Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges them.
The last suspected Israeli airstrike on Syria was on June 14, near the capital Damascus that left one soldier wounded.
Israel has also targeted the international airports in Damascus and the northern Syrian city of Aleppo several times over the past few years, often putting it out of commission.
