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Explosions near Damascus as Syrian army says it intercepts Israeli missiles

Four cruise missiles are said to have been launched across the coast through Lebanese airspace toward Syria; explosions are heard near the capital Damascus.

by  Neta Bar , News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Published on  12-23-2019 08:19
Last modified: 12-23-2019 08:30
Explosions near Damascus as Syrian army says it intercepts Israeli missilesSocial media

Smoke trails from missiles over the Syrian city of Hama, Sunday night | Photo: Social media

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The Syrian army late Sunday night said its air defenses intercepted missiles coming from the direction of Israel that were aimed at targets on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, state media said.

Four cruise missiles were said to have been launched across the coast through Lebanese airspace toward Syria, a source in the regional alliance supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad told Reuters.

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Syrian state TV gave no further details but residents of Damascus said explosions could be heard near the capital. State TV said one of the Israeli missiles was shot down near the Damascus suburb of Aqraba.

There was also no immediate comment from Israel.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitoring group that has activists around the country, said the missile attack targeted Iranian and Syrian military positions near Damascus.

There were no immediate reports on casualties.

In neighboring Lebanon, Israeli warplanes were reportedly heard flying in the country's airspace at the time of the airstrikes in Syria. Damascus has said in the past that Israeli warplanes have fired missiles into Syria from Lebanon's airspace.

Last month, Israel said it struck dozens of Iranian targets in Syria in a "wide-scale" operation in response to rocket fire on the Israeli Golan Heights the day before.

Israel has repeatedly struck Iran-linked targets in Syria in recent years and has warned against any permanent Iranian presence on the frontier.

Iran has forces based in Syria, Israel's northern neighbor, and supports Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

Other media outlets in Syria reported that two armed drones were shot down, one near the coastal city of Latakia and the other in the Hama province. Sources in Syria claimed the drones belonged to rebel factions fighting the Assad regime, seeking to exploit the fog of war.

Yet another report said large explosions were heard near the town of Al Mayadin in eastern Syria, not far from the Iraqi border.

 Al-Arabiya correspondent Ziad Halabi posted on Twitter that Iran has recently started stationing drones at Syrian air bases in Hama province and wondered if that fact had anything to do with Sunday night's alleged Israeli attack.

Tags: Bashar Assadgolan heightsHezbollahIranIsraelLebanonmissilesSyria

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