Syria: 2nd Incident In 24 Hours Of Missiles Fired From Israel

Syria says air defenses intercept Israeli missiles, in 2nd incident in 24 hours

Syria claimed its air defenses on Saturday night shot down a number of missiles fired from Israel, for the second time in less than 24 hours.

The official SANA news agency said the military intercepted “hostile targets coming from direction of occupied territories.” Syrian state TV said the missiles were shot down over Quneitra and near Damascus.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Israel fired at least three missiles. Two of the strikes targeted a Syrian army brigade which supervises the country’s Quneitra province, he told AFP, while the third missile was destroyed by Syrian defenses.

On Friday night, Syrian state TV reported sounds of explosions near the capital, and aired footage of what it claimed were air defenses intercepting missiles fired from Israeli jets seen over Quneitra in the Syrian Golan Heights.

“Aerial defenses detected hostile targets coming from the direction of Quneitra and dealt with them,” the official SANA news agency quoted a military source saying, referring to a Syrian town in the Golan Heights bordering Israel.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported several explosions in the Al-Kiswah area outside the city, in the vicinity of Iranian and Hezbollah storage facilities and air defense batteries. The group added that it was not immediately clear if the explosions were caused by Israeli airstrikes or surface-to-surface missiles.

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

Syrian state media says projectiles fired from Israeli territory

Syrian state media accused Israel of launching a strike against targets outside Damascus Saturday night and claimed the country’s air defenses intercepted a number of missiles, the second time in less than 24 hours.

The reports of additional airstrikes came a day after the regime accused the Jewish State of striking targets outside the capital on Friday night. 

Aerial defenses detected hostile targets coming from the direction of Quneitra and intercepted them,” a military source was quoted as saying on Friday.

The state television channel showed footage of the night sky with a point of light firing up into it and the sound of shooting, and reported that air defenses had brought down some objects. It did not immediately report casualties or material damage.
 

According to pro-opposition reports, the strikes targeted the First Division HQ of the Syrian Army near al-Kiswe, south of Damascus.

Other local reports said that the strikes targeted Iranian arms depots.

Israeli officials have repeatedly voiced concerns over Iran’s entrenchment in Syria and the smuggling of sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah from Tehran to Lebanon via Syria, stressing that both are red-lines for the Jewish State.

In an effort to prevent sophisticated weaponry from reaching Hezbollah, Israel frequently carries out airstrikes against Iran and its allies in Syria. In January Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel has a set policy of preventing Iran's entrenchment in Syria. 

In April Israeli planes targeted a military position near the province of Hama in Syria, but Syrian air defenses intercepted and downed some of the rockets, Syrian state television reported.