Video: Syrian State Media Says Explosions Heard in Damascus, Air Defence Systems Repelled Attack

SPUTNIK

23.12.2019

Syrian air defence forces on Sunday repelled a “hostile missile” attack coming from the direction of the “occupied territories”, the Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported.

According to a Sputnik correspondent, at least two large blasts occurred in Damascus at approximately 23:15 local time (21:15 GMT).

Four cruise missiles were believed to have been launched through Lebanese airspace toward Syria, according to Reuters, citing an unnamed source.

According to multiple media reports, the attack may have been initiated inside Israeli territory.

No further details of the incident were immediately available.

Netizens have shared video of the alleged attack in social media.

In November, Syria’s air defence system detected and shot down several missiles launched by Israeli war craft toward military positions in southern Syria.

Following the incident, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system had identified and intercepted four rockets launched from Syria toward northern Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the Israeli attack targeted Iranian military positions in Syria and was in response to a shelling of Israeli territory from Syrian territory.

Israel and Iran have a fraught relationship due to allegations that the latter supports Ansar Allah, also known as Houthis, in Yemen; Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Palestine. Tel Aviv is actively working to undermine Tehran’s influence in the region, including by demanding that other nations sanction Iran.

Israel and Syria share a border along the disputed Golan Heights. The area has been mostly under Israel’s control after Tel Aviv seized the territory during the 1967 Six-Day War, annexing the territory in 1981. The Tel Aviv legal gambit to annex the Golan Heights has been rejected by the United Nations.

The military conflict raging in Syria since 2011 significantly de-escalated this year, and the main priority of Damascus and the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire – Russia, Turkey and Iran – are to ensure the safe return of refugees and a political settlement in the region.