Missile defense systems have been activated against targets over Damascus, according to Syrian state agency. It added that incoming missiles came from Lebanese airspace, which reportedly was earlier violated by Israeli aircraft.
The raid came in several waves and reportedly lasted for at least an hour-and-a-half, yet damage from it was somewhat limited, as the majority of missiles were intercepted before they reached their targets. According to a military source cited by SANA, an ammunition depot was damaged in the attack and three servicemen sustained injuries.
First videos of interceptor missiles were uploaded late on Tuesday, with media reports across the region suggesting that Israel was behind strikes, which was said to have targeted Iranian weapons caches west of the Syrian capital.
An Israel warplane was spotted flying at low altitude over Lebanon, according to the Lebanese National News Agency. Israeli is known to illegally use the airspace of the country, whose border is much nearer to Damascus than its own, to avoid detection and interception.
Shortly after news broke of the strike on Damascus, IDF tweeted that Israel’s air defenses intercepted a Syria anti-aircraft missile. There were no casualties of damage, it stated.
Also on rt.com Israel engages air defenses to intercept anti-aircraft missile from Syria – IDFHalf an hour after the first wave of attacks, a second engagement appeared to be unfolding over the Syrian skies.
Though it does not, as a rule, confirm or deny its attributed actions, Israel has launched scores of air raids on targets inside Syria during the past half-decade.
The strikes are usually focused on equipment, weapons caches and facilities belonging to either Iran or to Hezbollah militia, two allies of Syrian president Bashar Assad.
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