Syrian air defenses intercept Israeli strikes in vicinity of Damascus, state media says

BEIRUT (Reuters): Syrian air defenses intercepted Israeli strikes in the vicinity of the capital Damascus, state media said on Wednesday.

Syrian state media gave no further details about the attacks or the intended targets.

Pro-Iranian Lebanese television al Maydeen said a big explosion was heard in the heavily fortified Sayeda Zainab neighborhood of the Syrian capital where a major Shiite shrine is located. It gave no further details.

The Israeli military declined to comment.

Regional intelligence sources say Iran’s Quds Force and militias it backs, whose presence has spread in Syria in recent years, have a strong presence in the Sayeda Zainab neighborhood of southern Damascus where Iranian backed militias have a string of underground bases.

Iran has been a major backer of President Bashar Assad during Syria’s nearly 12-year-old conflict.

Its support for Damascus and the Lebanese group Hezbollah has drawn regular Israeli air strikes meant to curb Tehran’s extraterritorial military power.

Those strikes have ramped up during the Gaza war, with more than half a dozen Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers killed in suspected Israeli strikes on Syria since December.