JERUSALEM () — Israel’s Air Force reportedly attacked a Syrian army position and a Hezbollah weapons convoy, according to reports originating in Arab media.

The reported attacks took place early Wednesday morning along the highway connecting Damascus and Beirut, and required the military airplanes to fly in Lebanese airspace.

SANA, the official news agency of the regime of President Bashar Assad, reported Wednesday in an article headlined “Israeli enemy’s air force fires two rockets on Damascus western countryside,” that there were no casualties in the attack, which it called “an attempt to divert attention from the successes achieved by the Syrian Arab army.”

The article did not mention the alleged attack on the Hezbollah weapons convoy.

The article cited an unnamed source as saying that the attacks are “a ‘desperate attempt’ by the Israeli occupation entity to raise the deteriorating morals of the Takfiri terrorist gangs after the heavy losses they have suffered in many areas, especially in the western countryside of Damascus.”

The Israel Defense Forces, as is its standard practice, has neither confirmed nor denied the reports, saying that it does not respond to foreign media reports.

The alleged attack comes three days after the Israeli Air Force struck an Islamic State-affiliated group in Syria, killing four of its members, hours after the group fired on Israeli soldiers across the border in the Golan Heights.

It was reportedly the first clash between Israel and the Islamic State. Most mortars and gunfire on Israel from Syria have been accidental spillover from the internal fighting. The IDF has responded to those with return fire.

The tension between Syria and Israel comes amid renewed fighting in the area between rebel forces and the army of Syrian President Bashar Assad in a more than five-year civil war. </s> Israeli fighter jets fired missiles on a government-held town west of Damascus according to Syrian state media.



Some reports indicate that four missiles had hit Hezbollah militia targets near Al-Saboorah, a government-controlled suburb of Syria’s capital. No casualties were reported, though there have been conflicting reports over the initial target of the raid.

According to SANA news agency, a Syrian military source said, “Israeli planes launched the airstrike from Lebanese airspace at dawn to “divert attention away from the successes of the Syrian Arab Army”

Al-Masdar news agency reported earlier that the Israeli Air Force had launched four air-to-surface Popeye missiles targeting Hezbollah positions. The jets themselves are not believed to have entered Syrian airspace.

There have been conflicting reports over the initial target of the raid with speculations swirling over what targets were actually hit during the sorties.

Lebanomn’s Mulhak News reported citing own sources that Syria’s army ammunition depot was destroyed in one of the raids, while in the other a number of cars left near to the Damascus-Beirut Highway were damaged. The outlet stated that no senior security or political commanders have been killed in the attack.

Al-Masdar News also cited unconfirmed reports indicating that one of the missiles struck a car repair shop which was used by Hezbollah. No casualties have resulted from the sortie as mechanics were not at the workplace at night hours, it reported.

Other reports indicate that Israeli forces targeted a Hezbollah arms convoy near Damascus.

However, Damascus Now, a popular FB page dedicated to local Syrian news, said the strike targeted army positions.

“At approximately 1:20 a.m. four explosions were heard in the vicinity of Damascus, which sources said were the result of an [Israeli airstrike] against a Syrian army position near the Beirut highway,” NOW’s English news cited Damascus Now as saying on its FB page.

While the circumstances of the attack are still unclear, locals have reported hearing multiple loud explosions after midnight on Wednesday.

Based on the assumption that the targeted area lies close to the Damascus-Beirut Highway, the major road used by Hezbollah, Al-Masdar News suggested the ultimate purpose of the mission was to kill one of the Shiite militia senior officials.

This is the second cross-border attack by Israel into the Syrian territory in four days. On Sunday, it carried out an airstrike on “an abandoned military facility” in the south of the Syrian Golan Heights which served as a location for Islamic State militants, according to the IDF spokesman. The attack was carried out in retaliation after IDF patrol was shelled by small arms and mortar fire across the border on the Israeli part of the Golan Hights by an IS-linked Shuhada al-Yarmouk group, Israeli media reported. </s> The Syrian military officials said that the aircraft targeted a military site near Palmyra, whereas Israel says that they were aimed at an alleged weapons shipment to Hezbollah.

Radio Sputnik discussed the issue with professor Eyal Zisser, an expert on Syria from Tel Aviv University.

“For the last several years when the Israeli intelligence gets information about a shipment of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah through Syria, Israel sends aircraft to attack that specific weaponry. The idea was not to interfere in the Syrian war or attack Syrian army positions but to attack shipment of weapons to Hezbollah,” Zisser said.

He further spoke about which weapons Israel was trying to destroy saying that it was probably air missiles, as Hezbollah has so many of those already.

Regarding Liberman’s response to this incident threatening to destroy Syria’s defense systems, the professor said, “The response is mainly rhetoric although sometimes in the Middle East rhetoric does lead to action and that needs to be avoided.”

Russia and Israel sort of had an agreement that any military equipment going from Iran to Hezbollah to fight against Daesh would not be used to attack Israel. Talking about this agreement, the professor said that any escalation of tension between Syria and Israel also threatens Russia’s military positions.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Russian President Vladimir Putin only a week ago and they discussed those issues. Of course I think now there is an open channel aimed to avoid incidents like these … but Russia is working together with Iran to keep stability in Syria and that concerns Israel,” Zisser said.

“It is very good that Russia is playing the role because Russia has open channels to all sides and it’s in Russia’s interest but it can help all sides to avoid escalation and deterioration and so on,” the professor said.

Zisser further spoke about Hezbollah and whether it actually poses any threat to Israel.

On Friday, Israeli Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Yisrael Katz confirmed the attacks saying that it targeted a convoy which was supposedly carrying weapons to the Shiite Hezbollah movement.

"The Israeli Air Force carried out airstrikes on a convoy in Syria, carrying a batch of weapons for Hezbollah," Katz said in a statement, distributed by his press service.

The Syrian Army command said in a statement it had downed one of the Israeli Air Force jets that violated its airspace, while the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied these claims to Sputnik. </s> JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Syrian man was killed when the truck he was driving in the Quneitra region of the Golan Heights on the road to Damascus allegedly was fired on by an Israeli drone, Syrian media is reporting.

The Israel Defense Forces is not commenting on the alleged air strike, neither confirming nor denying the Syrian reports.

The alleged victim has been named as Yasser al-Sayed, with some reports calling him a terrorist member of Hezbollah and others identifying him as a civilian.

Hours before the strike, Syrian media reported that Syrian army forces had repelled an Israeli drone in the same area.

The actions come after the IDF confirmed carrying out aerial strikes in Syria and intercepting missiles launched at its aircraft from the ground on Thursday night.

No Israelis were hurt during the strikes Thursday night or from the anti-aircraft fire, the first time that Israel has used the Arrow anti-missile system.

According to the nrg news site, the strikes Thursday were against targets affiliated with Hezbollah, possibly on a weapons shipment to the Shiite terrorist group, which is based in Lebanon but is fighting in Syria alongside Assad’s forces against rebels and Sunni militants.

The incidents on Thursday are reported to be the most serious between Syria and Israel since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war six years ago. At that time, Israel Air Force planes struck targets in Syria and Syria’s air defense system fired an anti-aircraft missile at the Israeli planes.

Israel is believed to have carried out several attacks on Syrian soil in recent years, but usually refrains from confirming or denying reports on its alleged actions there.

Also on Sunday, Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman in an interview with Israel Radio threatened to take out Syrian air defense systems.

“The next time the Syrians use their air defense systems against our planes we will destroy them without the slightest hesitation,” Liberman said. “Each time we discover arms transfers from Syria to Lebanon we will act to stop them. On this there will be no compromise.” </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption A photo taken from a rebel-held town showed what appeared to be a blaze at Damascus airport

An Israeli missile strike has caused a large explosion and fire at a military site near Damascus international airport, Syrian state media report.

A fuel tank and warehouses were damaged, the Sana news agency said.

But Syrian rebel sources said an arms depot run by Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, which is fighting in Syria as an ally of the government, was hit.

Israel said the explosion was "consistent" with its policy to prevent Iran smuggling weapons to Hezbollah.

But it stopped short of confirming it was responsible.

Israel regards Hezbollah, and its key backer Iran, as its biggest threat. It went to war with Hezbollah in 2006 and the group has grown considerably more powerful since then.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that the powerful blast was heard across the capital at dawn on Thursday and that it was believed to have happened near the main road that leads to the airport.

Sana said several missiles had been fired at a military site south-west of the airport, causing explosions that resulted in some material losses.

Pro-government Al-Mayadeen TV cited sources as saying that missiles had been fired by Israeli jets flying inside the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Two senior rebel sources based in Damascus told Reuters news agency that the missiles had hit an ammunition depot in a closed military area that was used by Iran-backed militias operating alongside the Syrian army, led by Hezbollah.

Appearing to confirm Israeli involvement, Intelligence Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Army Radio: "I can confirm that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel's policy to act to prevent Iran's smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah in Iran. Naturally, I don't want to elaborate on this."

"The prime minister has said that whenever we receive intelligence that indicated an intention to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah, we will act."

The Israeli military declined to comment on the reports.

Israel's tacit understanding with Russia, by Jonathan Marcus, diplomatic correspondent, BBC News

Image copyright AFP

In the wake of the US cruise missile attack on a Syrian air base at the start of this month, there was a lot of talk about Russia and Syria strengthening their air defences and the likely implications of this for Israel.

Would it hamper the Israeli Air Force's freedom of action in the skies over Syria, where it has been conducting an intermittent air campaign to prevent sophisticated weapons transfers to the Lebanese Shia militia group Hezbollah?

Well, Thursday's attack near Damascus airport seems to provide an answer. Israel - which is widely seen as being behind the strike - clearly intends to continue its campaign against Hezbollah weapons shipments and one must assume that it has a tacit understanding with Moscow.

Sophisticated Russian air defences cover much of Syrian airspace and have a more than adequate capability to interfere with Israeli attacks if Moscow so wished.

Israel is thought to have bombed arms shipments intended for Hezbollah several times since the Syrian conflict began.

In a rare step last month, the Israeli military confirmed that its jets had struck several targets inside Syria in a raid that prompted the Syrian military to fire a number of ground-to-air missiles, one of which was intercepted over Israeli territory.

On Wednesday, a high-ranking Israeli military officer briefed reporters that approximately 100 missiles intended for Hezbollah had been destroyed in the raid.

Recent suspected Israeli attacks in Syria

23 April 2017: Alleged Israeli attack on a training camp used by militia in Syria's Golan Heights region, kills three members of the Syrian pro-government National Defence Forces, according to the group. The Israeli military said it was not familiar with the incident.

17 March 2017: The Israeli military says its aircraft attacked several targets in Syria and shot down a Syrian missile.

22 February 2017: Israeli aircraft reportedly bomb several Syrian air bases near Damascus, including a Hezbollah convoy travelling with the Syrian army.

12 January 2017: The Syrian government accuses Israel of firing several rockets on the Mezzeh air base from the Sea of Galilee.

30 November 2016: Israeli aircraft fire missiles on the Syrian town of Saboura, west of Damascus, according to Syrian military sources.

18 January 2015: Six Hezbollah fighters and several Iranian soldiers, including a general, die in suspected Israeli air strikes in Syria's Golan Heights region.

19 December 2015: Suspected Israeli missiles hit Jaramana district of Damascus, killing nine Hezbollah fighters, including leading figure Samir Qantar. </s> DAMASCUS, Syria — Israeli jets fired two missiles from Lebanese airspace toward the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus early Wednesday, the official Syrian news agency said, in a strike on an unknown target that caused loud explosions.

The news agency, SANA, said the missiles struck the Sabboura area, west of Damascus, and did not cause any casualties. Citing an unnamed military source, SANA did not specify what the missiles struck. Damascus residents reported on social media hearing loud blasts around 2 a.m.

The Israeli military declined to comment, but Israel is widely believed to have carried out a number of airstrikes in Syria in the past few years that have targeted advanced weapons systems, including Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles and Iranian-made missiles. The arms are believed to be destined for the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah militant group, a close ally of the Syrian government and a fierce enemy of Israel.

The strikes come days after Israeli aircraft hit a machine gun-mounted vehicle inside Syria, killing four Islamic State-affiliated militants inside after they opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan Heights. The violence appeared to be a rare case of an intentional shooting ambush by Islamic militants targeting Israeli troops.

Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war raging next door, suffering only sporadic incidents of spillover fire over the frontier that Israel has generally dismissed as tactical errors of the Assad regime. Israel has responded to these cases lightly, with limited reprisals on Syrian positions in response to the errant fire. </s> Israel has begun a bombing campaign in Syria, carrying out multiple air strikes in the country under the guise of targeting Hezbollah.

According to Arab news outlets, Israeli aircraft used Lebanese airspace in order to hit a weapons cache and a convoy of military vehicles belonging to Hezbollah and the Syrian army.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has neither confirmed nor denied the attacks in line with the position Israel always takes when it comes to sensitive operations.

The aerial assault is believed to have taken place during the night of 29-30 November. According to the London-based Rai al-Youm newspaper, the Israeli warplanes hit the convoy on the Damascus-Beirut highway.

Both the weapons facility and the convoy were under the command of the Shia militant group Hezbollah, which has long been fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. At least four huge explosions were reported near the Syrian capital during the strikes. There is still no word on any casualties.

In the past, several air strikes in Syria and at multiple locations bordering Israel were alleged to have been carried out by Israeli forces though the Israeli government hardly confirms any of these.

The current attack comes close on the heels of the IDF confirming it targeted an Islamic State (Isis)-held position near the Syrian border. The IDF said on 28 November, that the air strike was a response to the attack on Israeli soldiers in the region. Israeli forces “will not hesitate to act against terror groups that operate against the State of Israel”, the IDF warned in a statement. </s> Syrian state media say Israeli jets have fired two missiles from Lebanese airspace which struck outside Damascus.

A military source told the Sana news agency that the missiles landed in the Sabboura area but caused no casualties.

The source did not say if anything was hit, but the highway from Lebanon to Damascus runs through the town.

The Israeli military has not commented. It is believed to have bombed weapons shipments intended for Lebanon's Hezbollah movement in the past.

Hezbollah, which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006, has sent thousands of fighters to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the country's civil war.

Profile: Lebanon's Hezbollah movement

The Syrian military source said Wednesday's missile strikes were "an attempt to distract attention" from the Syrian army's "successes" and a "bid to raise the morale of the collapsing terrorist gangs", an apparent reference to recent rebel losses in Aleppo.

The pro-government Al-Masdar News website reported that the Israeli warplanes had fired Popeye missiles at Sabboura, 8km (5 miles) north-west of Damascus

Image copyright AFP Image caption The Israeli military declined to confirm or deny the reported air strikes

"The overnight explosions were so loud they could be heard by an Al-Masdar News field correspondent in downtown Damascus," it added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, and social media users also reported hearing loud explosions overnight.

Al-Masdar said it was likely the strikes targeted a Hezbollah location or a senior member of the Shia Islamist movement.

The London-based Arabic news website, Rai al-Youm, meanwhile cited sources as saying that the first target was an arms depot belonging to the 38th Brigade of the Syrian army's 4th Division.

The second target was a group of vehicles believed to be part of a Hezbollah weapons convoy, the sources added, stressing that no leaders were targeted.

The Israeli military declined to confirm or deny the reports.

The reported strikes come days after the Israeli military said its aircraft had targeted and killed four militants linked to so-called Islamic State in the Syrian-controlled Golan Heights, after they opened fire on a patrol on Israeli-occupied territory. </s> An Israeli fighter jet was downed by Syrian anti-aircraft systems as a squadron of warplanes violated the Syrian airspace.

“At 2:40 a.m. this morning, a squadron of four Israeli warplanes violated the Syrian airspace through Lebanon near Al-Bureij area, and targeted an Army position near Palmyra in Homs eastern countryside,” said the official statement issued by the Syrian Army’s General Command.

“The Syrian Army’s air defence systems responded and managed to shoot down a fighter jet, damage another one, thus forcing them to withdraw,” the statement continued.

The escalation was also reported by Avijaa Adraei, spokesman of the Israeli Army, who tweeted that “while targeting several objectives in Syria, the Israeli warplanes were targeted by anti-aircraft missiles fired by the Syrian Army.”

Adraei pointed out that one of the missiles was intercepted by the Iron Dome and crashed in an area to the north of Jerusalem.

Israeli fighter jets have conducted several airstrikes inside the Syrian territories during the Syrian war. The airstrikes killed several prominent anti-Israeli figures from both Hezbollah and the Syrian resistance, and destroyed weapons destined for Hezbollah according to Israeli claims.
Allegedly Israeli fighter jets strike a suspected Hezbollah weapons convoy near Damascus, Syria.