International airports in the Syrian capital of Damascus, and the western city of Aleppo, have been hit in “simultaneous” missile strikes by Israel, the state SANA news agency reported on Thursday, citing a source within the Syrian military. The incident comes amid a major flareup of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The airports were struck at around 2pm local time, a source told SANA, adding that an attack on each of the two airports involved several missiles that damaged their landing strips and forced both facilities to close.
There have been no reports of casualties linked to the attacks and West Jerusalem has not commented on the incident, which took place as Syrian President Bashar Assad discussed the situation in Gaza with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Israeli PM Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
Assad and Raisi reaffirmed their support for Palestinians and what they called legitimate Palestinian resistance aimed at restoring their rights. The Syrian leader also called on the Israeli air raids on Gaza “targeting women and children” to stop.
The Israeli military fired artillery and mortar shells towards Syrian territory on Tuesday, following shelling targeting Israel’s border regions. Reuters reported at the time that a Palestinian faction in southern Syria had fired three rockets at Israel. The Israeli military said that they were targeting the alleged missile launch sites with return fire.
The developments came amid a major escalation between Israel and the Gaza-based Hamas group, which broke out after a massive militant attack on Israel. Thousands of rockets were fired at Israeli territory and fighters briefly overran Israeli settlements near Gaza over the weekend. The attack reportedly claimed the lives of more than 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians, according to officials.
West Jerusalem responded with a massive bombing campaign against Gaza, along with a “total blockade” of the Palestinian enclave that cuts off any water, electricity, or fuel until Hamas frees Israeli hostages, the nation’s energy minister, Israel Katz, said on Thursday. The death toll in Gaza linked to the Israeli air raids currently stands at 1,200, local officials have reported.