Israel hits Hezbollah-bound missiles

Israel has hit a Syrian air base in the northern province of Latakia, targeting a shipment of surface-tosurface missiles destined for Lebanon’s Shi’ite movement Hezbollah, Al-Arabiya television has reported.

A US official confirmed that ‘‘there was an Israeli strike’’ but gave no detail on the location or the target.

‘‘Historically targets have been missiles transferred to Hezbollah,’’ ready declared stocks of prepared chemicals, consisting of 1000 tons of the most serious agents such as sarin and 290 of less serious ‘‘category two’’ agents, were now allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the official said.

Citing unnamed ‘‘exclusive sources’’ Dubai-based pan-Arab AlArabiya said on its website on Thursday: ‘‘Israel was behind a series of explosions that rocked a Syrian air base in the northern Latakia province.’’

‘‘The bombing targeted a shipment of surface-to-air missiles (SAM) that was headed for Hezbollah in Lebanon,’’ the report under tamper-proof OPCW seals.

The organisation said its inspectors had observed the destruction of the manufacturing processes. said. Israeli media carried similar reports quoting Al-Arabiya, which is Saudi owned.

Israeli government officials refused to comment.

Meanwhile, Israeli news website Ynet quoted Lebanon’s MTV, which it said cited unnamed sources in Jerusalem as saying Turkey was behind the Latakia attack, in revenge for the recent shooting down of a Turkish plane in the same area.

The deal’s many critics say it leaves Assad in place and ignores the many more deaths attributable to non-chemical means. The Syrian Observatory for Human