According to the Syrian news agency SANA, air defenses around Damascus were activated early Wednesday in order to repel an Israeli missile strike.
According to Syrian military officials, a “Israeli missile attack” targeted multiple targets “in the vicinity” of Damascus. The strike began about 25 minutes after midnight, with missiles launched from the occupied Golan Heights.
Syrian air defenses “intercepted and shot down the majority of the missiles,” according to the SANA source, but those that got through “injured two soldiers and caused some property damage.”
The Jerusalem Post reports that this is Israel’s first attack on Syria in two weeks. Early in July, IDF planes hit targets in Homs province and struck an IDF base.
The Israel Defense Force has made no comment on the attacks, in keeping with its long-standing policy of not discussing operations undertaken outside of Israel. Over the last decade, Israeli airplanes have frequently struck sites inside Syria, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed “hundreds” of raids.
When the IDF does comment on the attacks, it claims to be targeting Iranian and Hezbollah targets in pre-emptive self-defense operations against Tehran’s rising influence in Syria. Damascus has frequently condemned the raids as a violation of Syrian sovereignty and international law, but to no avail.
