Israeli warplanes target Syrian air defense battery; Damascus says most missiles intercepted

AMMAN (Reuters): Israeli warplanes targeted a Syrian air defense battery from which an anti-aircraft missile was launched toward Israel, an Israeli military spokesman said early on Sunday.

The warplanes also attacked other targets in the area, while no casualties were reported from the Syrian missile, said the spokesman, Avichay Adraee.

Syrian state media SANA earlier said the country’s air defenses intercepted an Israeli missile strike across central parts of the country and downed most of the missiles.

Quoting an army statement, the Syrian Arab News Agency said missiles that flew over parts of Lebanon’s capital Beirut hit locations in the vicinity of the city of Homs, resulting only in material damage.

Israel has in recent months intensified strikes on Syrian airports and air bases to disrupt Iran’s increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah

The Israeli strikes are part of an escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict that has been going on for years with a goal of slowing Iran’s growing entrenchment in Syria, Israeli military experts say.

Tehran’s influence has grown in Syria since it began supporting President Bashar Assad in the civil war that started in 2011.

Fighters allied to Iran, including Hezbollah, now hold sway in areas in eastern, southern, and northwestern Syria and in several suburbs around the capital.