Rocket sirens sounded in and near Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel, as Syrian state media reported an alleged Israeli airstrike near Damascus on Tuesday night. The IDF confirmed that an anti-aircraft missile fired from Syria set off the sirens and that the missile exploded mid-air.
Shrapnel from an air defense missile fell on a residential building in the city of Qudsaya near Damascus, according to Syrian reports. No injuries were reported in the incident.
The IDF confirmed early Wednesday morning that it hit Syrian air defense sites in response to the anti-aircraft missile which flew into Israeli airspace. The targets included a Syrian radar and air defense batteries.
A military source told the Syrian state news agency SANA that airstrikes were launched from over Lebanon on Tuesday night, followed by an attack by surface-to-surface missiles fired from the Golan Heights targeting sites near Damascus. The source added that Syrian air defenses intercepted some of the Israeli missiles and that authorities are examining the results of the attack.
Ambulances were heard in some neighborhoods of Damascus after the airstrikes, according to the Syrian Capital Voice site. The strikes reportedly targeted sites belonging to the Assad regime and Iranian militias.
This is not the first time that a Syrian air defense missile flew into Israel. In April, a Syrian air defense missile fell near Dimona after it was fired towards IAF jets during an alleged Israeli airstrike targeted Syria.
The strike on Tuesday night was the second alleged Israeli airstrike reported in Syria this year.
The airstrike comes a little over a week after an alleged Israeli airstrike targeted sites near Damascus, causing some material damage. According to the opposition-affiliated Halab Today TV, the strikes targeted sites belonging to the Assad regime near Al-Qutayfah, northeast of Damascus, causing injuries and material damage.
A series of cargo flights on airlines used to transport Iranian weapons have traveled between Iran and Syria in recent weeks, according to independent flight trackers.
Last week, an Iranian cargo vessel called the Parnia docked at the Latakia port in northwest Syria, according to the open-source intelligence social media account Intelli Times. The port was targeted by two Israeli airstrikes in December. The
| Update from The Times of Israel at 1:20 a.m. ET: |
It said that Israel had carried out two separate strikes, with jets firing missiles from southeast of Beirut in neighboring
...a formerly French, now an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. .... About 15 minutes later, a second barrage of surface-to-surface rockets was fired from the Golan Heights toward targets in the Damascus region.
"Our air defenses have confronted the aggressor’s missiles and shot down some of them," the report said, adding that in addition to the casualties, the strikes caused "material damage."
Analysts generally dismiss such claims of shooting down Israeli missiles — heard after nearly every
...
KABOOM!...
— as false, empty boasts.
Reports from Lebanon said that Israeli jets were seen in the skies at the time of the incident.