The Syrian state media reported that Israel launched an aerial attack on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Friday evening. Syrian air defenses responded to Israeli missiles targeting areas south and west of Damascus late Friday into Saturday.
According to a reporter from the German news agency (DPA), “Four powerful explosions were heard distinctly south and west of the capital Damascus due to the Syrian air defenses intercepting Israeli missiles.”
A source close to the Syrian government forces told DPA, “Israel launched several missiles from above the occupied Syrian Golan Heights towards areas south of the capital Damascus. The Syrian air defenses shot down a number of them, and an assessment of the targeted sites is currently underway.”
Residents in southern Damascus reported seeing “several Israeli missiles shot down by air defenses and exploding in the sky,” and heard ambulances on the road near Damascus International Airport, close to the town of Sayyida Zeinab south of Damascus.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul Rahman, told AFP that the Israeli air force struck “Hezbollah targets” in the Sayyida Zeinab neighborhood south of Damascus. Ambulances rushed to the site following the strikes. This Israeli air raid comes just a day after violence renewed in the Gaza Strip following a week-long temporary humanitarian truce.
