Syrian military air defences struck an Israeli warplane and shot down Israeli missiles targeting the T4 air base in Homs province in response to an act of 'aggression' on Sunday night, Syrian state media said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that a missile bombardment killed an unspecified number of 'Iranian and pro-regime fighters' at the T-4 base and was 'likely to be Israeli'.

'Our air defences are responding to an Israeli aggression and intercepting a number of missiles targeting the airport, hitting one of the attacking planes and forcing the rest to leave the airspace,' the official SANA news agency reported.

In addition to the Syrian army, Iranian fighters and Lebanese Hezbollah troops are also stationed at the air base, according to the Observatory.

The facility has previously been targeted by repeated strikes Damascus blamed on Israel.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said Israel does not comment on foreign reports.

Israel has grown deeply alarmed by the expanding clout of its arch enemy Iran during the seven-year war in neighbouring Syria.

Israel's air force has struck scores of targets it describes as Iranian deployments or arms transfers to Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Damascus, as well as its allies Iran and Russia, blamed Israel for an April 9 air strike on the same Homs base, an attack that killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) members. Tehran vowed at the time to respond.

Syrian state news agency SANA said the missile attack on Sunday caused only material damage.

'Our air defence systems thwarted an Israeli aggression and brought down a number of missiles that were targeting the T4 airport,' it cited a military source as saying.

The air defences hit one of the 'attacking planes and forced the rest to leave' Syrian air space, it added.

In May, Israel said it attacked Tehran's military infrastructure in Syria, accusing Iranian forces of firing rockets at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, in the most extensive military exchange between the two foes.

An Israeli-Iranian showdown also flared over Syria in February, when Israel said an armed drone coming from the T4 base penetrated its air space.

Israel blew up the drone and carried out a raid on Syrian air defenses, in which one of its F-16 jets was downed. </s> Syria on Sunday accused Israel of targeting an airbase in the central province of Homs, saying its defences hit a jet involved in the third such attack in five months.

“Our air defences are responding to an Israeli aggression and intercepting a number of missiles targeting the airport, hitting one of the attacking planes and forcing the rest to leave the airspace,” the official SANA news agency quoted a military source as saying.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that a missile bombardment killed an unspecified number of “Iranian and pro-regime fighters” at the T-4 base and was “likely to be Israeli”.

In addition to the Syrian army, Iranian fighters and Lebanese Hezbollah troops are also stationed at the airbase, according to the Observatory.

The facility has previously been targeted by repeated strikes Damascus blamed on Israel.

An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the latest incident, saying: “We do not comment on reports in the foreign media”.

Syrian state outlets published a video of a flash in the dark sky, claiming it showed the air defences responding to the bombardment.

Since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Israel has repeatedly targeted positions of the Syrian army and Lebanon’s Shiite movement Hezbollah backing it inside the country.

Israel usually does not claim the strikes, but has long said it will not allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria.

On April 9, missiles targeted the T-4 airbase in the central province of Homs, killing up to 14 fighters, including seven Iranians.

Moscow, Tehran and Damascus accused Israel of also carrying out those raids.

The airbase was also hit on February 10, after Israel accused Iranian forces at the T-4 base of sending a drone into Israeli territory.

After bombing Iranian units in Syria in retaliation, an Israeli F-16 was shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft fire.

Israel then carried out what it called “large-scale” raids on Syrian air defence systems and Iranian targets, which reportedly included T-4.

Israel seized a large swathe of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in 1981, in a move never recognised by the international community.

The two countries are technically still at war.

In May there was an unprecedented escalation between Israel and Iran in Syria, with the Israeli army claiming it hit dozens of Iranian military targets across the border in response to what it said were rockets fired by Iranians at the occupied Golan Heights.

Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that Israel would “not tolerate the Iranian military entrenchment in Syria”.

“The consequences are not merely to the Iranian forces there but to the Assad regime as well,” he said.

Sunday’s strikes coincided with regime progress, backed by Russian support, in the nearby southern province of Daraa.

After a blistering military operation and a ceasefire deal with rebels, government forces are re-establishing control over the entire southern province on the border with Israel. </s> Syrian military air defenses shot down missiles targeting the T4 air base in Homs province in an act of “aggression” attributed to Israel, Syrian state media said citing a military source.

“Our air defense systems thwarted an Israeli aggression and brought down a number of missiles that were targeting the T4 airport,” it cited the military source as saying.

The air defenses hit one of the “attacking planes and forced the rest to leave” Syria’s air space, it added

Damascus, as well as its allies Iran and Russia, blamed Israel for an April 9 air strike on the same Homs base, an attack that killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) members. Tehran vowed at the time to respond.

Israel has grown deeply alarmed by the expanding clout of its arch enemy Iran during the seven-year war in neighboring Syria. Israel’s air force has struck scores of targets it described as Iranian deployments or arms transfers to Iran-backed Hezbollah.

An army officer in the southern Syrian desert said the defense system brought down missiles coming from south of the Tanf region towards the Homs air base.

U.S. Central Command spokesman Captain Bill Urban said that neither U.S. nor coalition forces carried out strikes in that area. </s> Syria said Israeli jets attacked several military sites near the capital Damascus and the central city of Homs early Monday, lightly injuring several people.

State news agency SANA said that Syrian air defense had intercepted several of the incoming missiles that were fired from Lebanese airspace.

The report said explosions damaged some houses and lightly injured several people in Sahnaya, a neighborhood of Damascus.

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There was no response from the Israel Defense Forces, which rarely comments on reported strikes.

Israel accuses Iran of seeking to set up a military presence in Syria that could be used to threaten the Jewish state.

The Israeli military has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria in recent years on targets linked to Iran, which is backing President Bashar Assad’s regime in the Syrian civil war.

The reported strikes came just hours after an Israeli satellite imagery analysis company said Syria’s entire S-300 air defense system appeared to be operational, indicating a greater threat to Israel’s ability to conduct airstrikes against Iranian and pro-Iranian forces in the country.

Until now, only three of the country’s four surface-to-air missile launchers had been seen fully erected at the Masyaf base in northwestern Syria.

Israel has threatened to destroy the S-300 system if it is used against its fighter jets, regardless of the potential blowback from Russia. </s> Iran has strongly condemned the Israeli regime's attack on an air base in the Syrian province of Homs, saying it was a blatant violation of international law which would strengthen terrorists.and runs counter to all international regulations and principles," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Monday.Russia and Syria said on Monday that Israeli warplanes struck an air base in Homs and that Syrian air defense systems shot down five of eight missiles fired.The Interfax news agency cited the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that two Israeli F-15 warplanes carried out strikes from Lebanese air space on the T-4 air base on Sunday.The Syrian state media also reported that the deadly attack was carried out by Israeli warplanes."The Israeli attack on the T-4 airport was carried out with F-15 aircraft that fired several missiles from above Lebanese territory," a Syrian military source said. </s> The Israeli military has confirmed it attacked Iranian military targets in Syria, hours after carrying out a rare daylight air raid near the Damascus International Airport.

The statement was issued hours after Israeli missile defences intercepted an incoming missile over the Golan Heights in the wake of the airport raid.

“We have started striking Iranian Quds targets in Syrian territory,” the military statement said. “We warn the Syrian Armed Forces against attempting to harm Israeli forces or territory.”

Until now Israel has largely refrained from public admissions of its covert military operations in neighbouring Syria, in order to avoid large-scale involvement in the eight-year civil war. Eleven people were said to have been killed (SANA/AP)

The Syrian military said Israel carried out intensive airstrikes with successive waves of guided missiles shortly after 1am local time (11pm GMT), but added that Syrian air defences destroyed most of the missiles before they reached their targets.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday’s strikes lasted for nearly an hour and were the most intense Israeli attacks since May. It said 11 people were killed in the strikes.

The Russian military said four Syrian troops were among those killed.

On Sunday, Syrian state media said air defences repelled an Israeli air raid near the international airport south of Damascus.

State TV said Syria’s air defences “prevented” the attack from achieving its goals. It said Israel targeted six missiles on an area near Damascus International Airport, of which five were shot down and one diverted to nearby empty farmland.

Residents of the capital said they heard five explosions early on Sunday afternoon, apparently the sound of air defences firing into the air. The Israeli military said the missile strike which prompted the response was ‘pre-meditated’ (SANA/AP)

The Israeli military had initially declined to comment on the airstrike, though it said a rocket fired at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system.

Israeli warplanes have used Lebanon’s airspace recently to strike deep inside Syria, including attacking a warehouse near Damascus International Airport earlier this month, according to Syrian state media.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently confirmed that Israel has struck hundreds of targets in Syria linked to Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group, including a weapons facility two weeks ago.

Iran and Hezbollah are allied with the Syrian government in the civil war.

Two hours after the reports that Israel’s Iron Dome intercepted a rocket fired toward the Golan Heights, Mr Netanyahu, who currently is on a visit to Chad, said in a statement: “We have a defined policy: to harm Iranian entrenchment in Syria and to harm anyone who tries to harm us.”

Earlier on Sunday, a roadside bomb went off in the south of Damascus without causing casualties, state media reported.

The SANA news agency said the blast targeted a military checkpoint on a main road during rush hour.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which closely monitors Syria’s war, said the bomb targeted the vehicle of a “security personality” that it did not identify.

The Observatory’s chief, Rami Abdurrahman, said it was unclear whether the individual was killed or wounded. “It was not a random act,” he added.

Attacks have been rare in Damascus since Syrian government forces captured the last rebel-held neighbourhoods and suburbs of the capital last year.

Bombings have left hundreds dead over the course of the nearly eight-year civil war. </s> FILE PHOTO: A man sits near a poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the re-opening of the road between Homs and Hama in Talbisi, Syria June 6, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki/File Photo

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian military air defenses struck an Israeli warplane and shot down Israeli missiles targeting the T4 air base in Homs province in response to an act of “aggression” on Sunday night, Syrian state media said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said Israel does not comment on foreign reports.

Israel has grown deeply alarmed by the expanding clout of its arch enemy Iran during the seven-year war in neighboring Syria. Israel’s air force has struck scores of targets it describes as Iranian deployments or arms transfers to Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Damascus, as well as its allies Iran and Russia, blamed Israel for an April 9 air strike on the same Homs base, an attack that killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) members. Tehran vowed at the time to respond.

Syrian state news agency SANA said the missile attack on Sunday caused only material damage.

“Our air defense systems thwarted an Israeli aggression and brought down a number of missiles that were targeting the T4 airport,” it cited a military source as saying.

The air defenses hit one of the “attacking planes and forced the rest to leave” Syrian air space, it added.

In May, Israel said it attacked Tehran’s military infrastructure in Syria, accusing Iranian forces of firing rockets at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, in the most extensive military exchange between the two foes.

An Israeli-Iranian showdown also flared over Syria in February, when Israel said an armed drone coming from the T4 base penetrated its air space. Israel blew up the drone and carried out a raid on Syrian air defenses, in which one of its F-16 jets was downed. </s> Israel's military launched an air raid in Syria. The attack was allegedly targeting sites that are linked to the Iranian military.

Israel's army has launched what it calls a large-scale attack in Syria. That's after an Israeli jet attacking targets in Syria came under fire. It's the latest in cross-border attacks there. NPR's Middle East correspondent Ruth Sherlock joins us. Ruth, thanks for being with us.

SIMON: And from what you can tell, what's happened?

SHERLOCK: Well, the Israeli army says that this all started when an Iranian-made drone crossed from Syria into Israeli territory. Israel shot down that drone, and then in retaliation sent eight fighter jets to bomb a Syrian military base - the T4 base near Palmyra - where they said the drone had been operated out of.

But the Israeli military then said that the Syrians responded with substantial anti-aircraft fire. In the middle of that, two Israeli pilots ejected from an F-16 jet, which then crashed in Israel. That prompted the Israelis to then launch a counterattack, which they called a large-scale attack, hitting 12 military sites. Eight of them are thought to be Syrian, the other four Iranian. So it says it hit air defense batteries and military possessions belonging to the Syrian regime, as well.

SIMON: The Israeli military has struck targets in Assad's areas before, but is this an escalation?

SHERLOCK: That's right. Israel has carried out airstrikes in Syria against targets - towards its enemy Iran. The difference here though is that the Israelis had not previously publicly acknowledged these strikes. They usually refuse to comment, whereas today they were briefing journalists. And an Israeli military spokesman also warned that Iran is playing with fire by infiltrating Israeli airspace.

This time, Syria has also signaled an aggressive response. I mean, responding with anti-aircraft batteries and...

SHERLOCK: Excuse me - responding with anti-aircraft batteries. And they've warned that there could be a tough and serious response.

So both the Syrians and the Iranians deny that this drone had anything to do with an attack on Israel or that - they just said it was carrying out routine intelligence on ISIS targets in Syria.

SIMON: What can you foresee as the likely consequences of this today?

SHERLOCK: So the bigger picture here is that Israel has been alarmed about Iran's involvement in the Syrian war for a long time. Iran supports the Syrian regime - Bashar al-Assad - and Israel carried out airstrikes in Syria to try to contain Iranian influence. But the regime is getting stronger. It's winning territory back. And as it gains the upper hand there, Iranian influence is growing.

And Israel is also worried about the strengthening of Hezbollah. That's the Iranian proxy on its border in Lebanon that has been known to receive weapons funneled through Syria. So this is all unacceptable to Israel, and it also seems to be the first time in decades that an Israeli jet was downed under enemy fire. So this is a serious escalation. But people are calling for calm. Russia is seriously concerned about this. It's previously had troops on the base - one of the bases that was struck today, and it called it unacceptable.

Everybody knows that war would be incredibly costly here, but the - for all sides. You know, both Israel and Syria know it would be a very damaging war. And the Israelis signaled that they don't want to take this beyond what happened today. But the fact that it happened at all is a sign of the kind of growing tensions here about - that's born from the reality of the politics.

SIMON: NPR's Ruth Sherlock, thanks so much.

SHERLOCK: Thank you very much. </s> An Israeli F-16 fighter jet crashed Saturday in northern Israel after coming under "massive anti-aircraft fire" from Syrian forces, according to the Israeli army.

The incident came after an Israeli combat helicopter successfully intercepted an Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle that had been launched from Syria, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Both pilots aboard the Israeli jet are safe, the Israeli army said, although one pilot was severely injured as a result of an emergency evacuation from the plane.

The crash happened as Israeli forces attacked 12 targets in Syria, including three aerial defense batteries and four targets described as Iranian, the IDF said.

The IDF statement described the four Iranian targets as "part of Iran's military establishment in Syria."

The statement concludes: "The IDF will act determinately against such severe violations of Israeli sovereignty by Iran and Syria and will continue to act as necessary."

Syrian state news agency SANA reported that Syrian air defense forces had responded Saturday to what they called an Israeli "aggression" by hitting more than one Israeli plane, following attacks on a Syrian military base by Israel jets.

"The Israeli enemy entity early morning at dawn conducted a new aggression against one of the military bases in the central region," SANA said, citing a military source.

IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus told CNN that only one Israeli aircraft had come down, with all others returning safely to base. The cause of the F-16 crash is being investigated, Conricus said.

He said in a tweet that "Iran is responsible for this severe violation of Israeli sovereignty."

Earlier this week, the Syrian regime claimed that Israel warplanes fired several missiles from Lebanese airspace targeting a Syrian military position in the Damascus countryside, SANA reported.

The Syrian regime said they intercepted the missiles and destroyed most of them, according to SANA.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the incident.

Tensions between Israel and Syria have escalated in recent months.

Israel has conducted dozens of strikes inside Syrian borders to defend what it calls its red lines, and to prevent what it says is Iran's proxy Hezbollah -- fighting alongside the Syrian regime -- from acquiring advanced weaponry.

Authorities also accused Syria in November of violating the 1974 ceasefire agreement by "conducting construction work" in the northern part of the Golan Demilitarized Zone.

The United Nations called Tuesday for a month-long humanitarian ceasefire throughout Syria as fighting escalates in certain areas.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime recently intensified airstrikes on rebel-held areas such as Syria's northwestern Idlib province, prompting tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes, according to UN officials.

A Russian warplane was shot down in Idlib last week.
It is revealed a recent airstrike mounted by Israel against an airbase in Syria targeted an Iranian Tor missile air defence system.