Israel strikes Damascus, intercepts projectile

Attack appears aimed to disrupt arms transfers

BEIRUT • An apparent Israeli missile attack on a Syrian military installation near Damascus International Airport shook the capital early on Thursday morning and raised tensions between the two hostile neighbours.

After nightfall, the Israeli military deployed its Patriot missile defence system to intercept a projectile incoming from Syria above the Golan Heights. The military did not elaborate on what it described as a “target” on Thursday night but Israeli media said a drone that had infiltrated from Syria was knocked out.

The target of the predawn explosions near Damascus was not immediately known. The Syrian military said the attack was carried out by Israel and aimed to “raise the morale of terrorist groups” it says are waging war against President Bashar Assad’s forces.

The Syrian military said it would continue its “war on terror” — government parlance for the battle against groups trying to oust Assad.

Lately, Israel has appeared to be striking at military convoys and installations in Syria at a quickening pace, maintaining it has the right to prevent authorities in Damascus from transferring weapons across the border to the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group.

Hezbollah is a staunch ally of the Syrian government, which is mired in a six-year-long civil war, and also an avowed enemy of Israel, which occupied Lebanon for nearly two decades.

Israeli Minister of Intelligence Yisrael Katz would not comment directly on the incident but said any similar strike would be in line with established policy to interrupt weapons transfers.

“It absolutely matches our declared policy, a policy that we also implement,” Katz told Israel’s Army Radio.

Israel is widely believed to have carried out several airstrikes in recent years on advanced weapons systems in Syria — including Russianmade anti-aircraft missiles and Iranian-made missiles — as well as Hezbollah positions. It rarely comments on such operations.

Activists running the Damascus-focused Facebook page Diaries of a Mortar reported hearing several explosions before dawn, which they said could be felt across the Syrian capital.

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said Israel had fired several missiles from inside the Occupied Golan Heights, 60 km south of Damascus, striking a military installation southwest of the airport that serves both military and civilian flights. It reported several explosions and material damage but no casualties.

It was not clear how Israel was identified as the culprit.