Syrian air defense units intercept, destroy Israeli missiles over Damascus

Syrian air defenses have thwarted another Israeli act of aggression against the war-ravaged Arab country, and shot down a number of “hostile” missiles in the skies over the capital city of Damascus.

Syria’s official news agency, citing a military source, reported that Israeli aircraft fired several missiles from the direction of Lebanon at areas in the vicinity of Damascus at 1:26 a.m. local time on Friday (22:26 GMT Thursday), but most of the projectiles were intercepted and destroyed before hitting any of their targets.

A short time later, residents of Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and the surrounding area in the Occupied Territories heard at least one blast, Israeli Hebrew language media outlets reported.

The Israeli military said it was investigating whether the blasts were caused by a Syrian surface-to-air missile (SAM) that might have been launched at an incoming Israeli missile and then flown into the Occupied Lands and landed somewhere near Tel Aviv.

On August 19, Syrian Army’s air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles in the surroundings of Damascus and the western city of Homs.

SANA, quoting an unnamed military source at the time, reported that Israel launched an air raid from the direction of southeastern Beirut against some posts in Syria.

“Our air defenses confronted the [Israeli] missiles and shot down most of them, and the outcomes of the aggression are being verified in the meantime,” the source added.

Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates later renewed its call on the United Nations and the Security Council to assume responsibilities based on the UN Charter and act firmly to prevent the recurrence of the Israeli regime’s attacks on Syrian territories.

ME