An Israeli strike in Syria early Wednesday targeted several Hezbollah leaders, U.S. magazine Newsweek reported.
The magazine quoted a U.S. Defense Department source as saying officials from the Shiite terrorist group were targeted minutes after boarding a plane bound for Iran.
The strike also reportedly targeted several Iranian ammunition depots in Damascus, which according to Newsweek housed "valuable, GPS-guided ammunition" supplied by Iran to its regional proxy.
Syrian state media quoted a military official as confirming that at least one arms depot was hit in the attack and that three soldiers were wounded.
"Our air defenses confronted hostile missiles launched by Israeli warplanes from above the Lebanese territories and downed most of them before reaching their targets," the military source said.
The IDF did not corroborate the report of a strike but did confirm that Israeli air defenses engaged an anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria at Israel.
No damage or injuries were reported by the Israeli military.
Some Arab media reports said that Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon fired missiles at areas near Damascus. Beirut's state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli fighter jets were flying at low altitude over parts of southern Lebanon.
Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Israeli airstrikes targeted three positions south of Damascus, in an area known to be used by Hezbollah and Iranian forces.
The strike is the first since U.S. President Donald Trump announced last week that he was pulling American troops out of Syria.
Following Trump's announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would "continue to act against Iran's attempts to entrench itself militarily in Syria, and to the extent necessary, we will even expand our actions there."
Israel is widely believed to have been behind a series of airstrikes in the past that mainly targeted Iranian and Hezbollah forces fighting alongside the government in Syria.
Russian MP Aleksey Pushkov said Wednesday that "according to the number of downed missiles, our S-300 systems has greatly improved the capabilities of the Syrian air defenses."
Russia delivered the S-300 air defense system to Syria in October, following the Sept. 17 downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane by Syrian forces trying to counter an Israeli airstrike.
Israel and Russia maintain a deconfliction mechanism aimed at preventing incidents. While the Sept. 17 incident stoked regional tensions, both nations have agreed to continue with their vital military cooperation in the region.
