Alleged Israeli airstrike reported in southern Syria
This is the third alleged Israeli airstrike reported in Syria in the past two weeks.
By TZVI JOFFRESyrian air defence batteries responding to what the Syrian state media said were Israeli missiles targeting Damascus, in a picture taken early on January 21st, 2019(photo credit: STR / AFP)
An alleged Israeli airstrike targeted locations in southern Syria as explosions were heard in the skies over Damascus on Wednesday night, according to Syrian state media SANA.The strikes were launched from the Golan Heights, a Syrian military source told SANA, claiming that most of the incoming missiles were intercepted by Syrian air defenses.Footage on Syrian state television reportedly showed a multi-story building on fire due to the strike.The opposition-affiliated Halab Today TV reported that more than five strikes targeted sites near the First Division of the Syrian military in the Al-Kiswah area, south of Damascus. The Syrian Step News Agency reported that the strikes also targeted Iranian militia sites in Al-Dimass, located west of Damascus near the Lebanese-Syrian border, and Sahnaya, located south of Damascus.Weapons depots, observation points and radar sites belonging to the First Division were targeted in the strikes, according to Halab Today, adding that at least eight Syrian soldiers were killed and a number of others were injured. The strikes also targeted radar sites belonging to the Syrian military and pro-regime militias near As-Suwayda, killing a Syrian soldier from the Aleppo area and damaging equipment, according to Halab Today.Official Syrian sources have not confirmed any casualties.On Thursday, Syrian media reported that the Israeli Air Force dropped leaflets in southern Syria warning residents against collaborating with pro-Iranian militias and threatening Basil Abu Eid, the commander of the 112th Brigade in Quneitra, located near the border with Israel, according to the Step News Agency.The leaflets warned the commander that continuing to allow the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group to operate in Syria would place his life and the lives of his family at risk.This is the third alleged Israeli airstrike reported in Syria in the past two weeks.Last week, one soldier was killed and three were wounded in an airstrike targeting Al-Zabadani, located near the Lebanese-Syrian border and just north of Al-Dimass.
Al-Zabadani is believed to be part of a major smuggling route for weapons sent through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.Earlier in December, Syrian media reported that air defense systems responded to another alleged Israeli airstrike in the northwest of the country. Four buildings, part of a munitions factory in Masyaf, were damaged.The area of Masyaf has been a target in several attacks in recent years, mostly attributed to the Israeli Air Force. The last time an airstrike attributed to Israel targeted the area was in early June, when it targeted Syrian defense factories near the city. At least nine people, including four Syrian nationals, were reported dead as a result.Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
